Fwd (GLW): EAST TIMOR: Independence poses new challenges

["Alan Bradley" <abradley1@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>From Green Left Weekly, May 22, 2002.

EAST TIMOR: Independence poses new challenges
BY JON LAND

As the official festivities wind down in East Timor following the May 20
independence celebrations and the international dignitaries fly back to
their comfortable and privileged lifestyles, a beckoning question for most
East Timorese remains, what does independence hold?

The plethora of government heads, former prime ministers and presidents who
gathered in Dili for the May 20 independence celebrations would like to
think they played the main role in East Timor gaining independence. However,
most of their governments for 24 years blocked - or at best ignored - the
East Timorese nation's struggle for self-determination.

The triumph of the East Timorese can first and foremost be attributed to
their own efforts. Two other important factors proved decisive though.
Firstly, the dramatic political upheavals sparked by pro-democracy activists
and organisations within Indonesia that toppled the dictator Suharto.
Secondly, the support from an international solidarity network that
challenged and forced the big Western powers to change their hypocritical
policies towards East Timor.

< The remainder of the article can be found at
http://www.greenleft.org.au/current/493p19.htm >



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