agricultural sector. Coffee exports were promoted by the government. However, the economy did not improve substantially, and infrastructure improvements were limited. Growth rates remained low, near 2%. The role of the Catholic Church in Portuguese Timor grew following the Portuguese government handing over the education of the Timorese to the Church in 1941. In post-war Portuguese Timor, primary and secondary school education levels significantly increased, albeit on a very low base. Although illiteracy in 1973 was estimated at 93 percent of the population, the small educated elite of Portuguese Timorese produced by the Church in the 1960s and 1970s became the independence leaders during the Indonesian occupation. End of Portuguese rule Following a 1974 coup (the "Carnation Revolution"), the new Government of Portugal favoured the immediate decolonisation process for Portuguese territories in Asia and Africa. When Portuguese Timorese political parties were first legalised in April 1974, three major players emerged. The Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) was dedicated to preserving Portuguese Timor as a protectorate of Portugal, and in September announced its support for independence. It was formed by members of the existing National Action Party and plantation owners. Fretilin, formed by trade unionists and anti-colonialists, endorsed "the universal doctrines of socialism", as well as "the right to independence", and later declared itself "the only legitimate representative of the people". A third party, APODETI, emerged advocating Portuguese Timor's integration with Indonesia expressing concerns that an independent East Timor would be economically weak and vulnerable. Smaller political parties included the Association of Timorese Heroes, a party advocating union with Australia, and the Timorese Labour Party. The rapid political changes fed down to the local level, where political allegiance was affected by existing internal divisions and intra-suco divisions. On 14 November 1974, Mário Lemos Pires - an Army officer - was appointed by the new Portuguese Government as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Portuguese Timor. Meanwhile, the political dispute between the Portuguese Timorese parties soon gave rise to an armed conflict, that included the participation of members of the Colonial Police and Timorese soldiers of the Portuguese Army. In August, a UDT faction seized control of government buildings in Dili and began to arrest members of Fretilin. While hundreds were arrested, most of the Fretilin leadership escaped south to Aileu. While there were some similar actions in other towns, UDT was unable to build upon its initial surprise action. Fretilin, with the support of