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NEWS & LETTERS, July 2002
Which way ahead for independent East Timor?
New York—At a recent meeting of the East Timor Action
Network, several activists and independent media reporters described the May 20
independence day events in East Timor. That small half an island won freedom
from Indonesia after a bloody, quarter-century-long struggle. A third of its population was killed from the time it
was invaded and annexed by Indonesia in 1975 through the devastation of the
country by rampaging Indonesian soldiers after it voted for independence in
1999. The U.S. supported the invasion and repression, and the UN stepped in in
1999 only after thousands died or were displaced. To what extent must East Timor now cooperate with
Indonesia for survival? To what extent can a tiny country emerging in the 21st
century escape the demands of world capitalism? Although the speakers at the
meeting here, who had spent more than a decade in support work for East Timor,
did not pose these questions directly, their talks made clear that these
questions emerged immediately upon independence. They reported that the former freedom-fighters now
running the new government chose to side-step what the speakers described as a
universal demand among the population for "justice," that is, for
trials of the perpetrators of the violence against them. Although Indonesia is
currently holding some "show trials" of militiamen who participated in
the killings, it has no intention of trying the military and government
officials who directed it, many of whom remain in power and are now in charge of
similar repression in Aceh and other rebellious provinces. The new government refuses to press the issue of
"justice" or to support independence for Aceh, because Indonesia
remains both a threat and an economic partner. At the independence day
celebrations attended by many world leaders, President Xanana Gusmao, a former
guerilla fighter, actually thanked former Indonesian and U.S. presidents, as if
it were not they who caused the slaughter of East Timorese. Another immediate issue is whether it is possible to
rebuild the new country without its becoming enslaved to world capital. East
Timor is trying to obtain foreign aid instead of incurring large debt to the
World Bank, and ETAN's support work now includes a campaign to keep the country
debt-free, as well as trying to prevent the U.S. from restoring military aid to
Indonesia, finally cut off in 1999. The speakers did not directly address whether East Timor
might escape economic control by the world market, but Brad Simpson of ETAN
found most encouraging the presence of about 200 new organizations within civil
society that are discussing what the new country should do. They are attempting
to develop an alternative to the neo-liberal model by concentrating on
traditional forms of agriculture, crafts and medicine. He quoted people there
who spoke of economic independence as "meaningful democracy." —Anne Jaclard |
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