First, a little geography and history lesson.
Timor is an island NW of Darwin, Australia. East Timor is the eastern half, 2 smaller islands and an enclave, Oe’cussi in W Timor (part of Indonesia). In the 16th century, the Portuguese arrived, colonised the island, exploited the sandalwood and converted the people to Catholicism (mostly). The W half of Timor was a Dutch colony. Needless to say, the Portuguese and Dutch couldn’t agree who should control Timor, until by treaty in 1913. In 1974 the Portuguese accepted a regime favouring withdrawal from the colonies, and shortly after this the revolutionaries declared independence.