Carvalho was one of the ten children of Mateus and Margarida Loped de Carvalho. Mateus was a
Liurai of Cassa, a village of the
Ainaro district. Carvalho's brother Cancio de Carvalho established the Mahidi militia in 1988, due to the emergence of pro-independence sentiment in the town of
Ainaro. An account stated that Carvalho became its intelligence officer. The militia was accused of committing murders included the killing of individuals who supported East Timor's independence from Indonesia. Carvalho was accused of participating in several of these atrocities, which included the massacre in Maununu after the villagers refused to evacuate to West Timor. Together with 800 of his followers, Carvalho surrendered after crossing a UN-administered territory. == References ==