Alfredo Reinado

Good morning! (At least it's morning here). I know I haven't
posted for a long time....being a visual person, I've been a
little enthralled by the various video/photo options for this
blog, but I think I might have to limit the video, because it
can take a long time to upload and it's a little bit complicated.
(I have to upload it to another site first, then link it to this
blog.) It's probably a good thing (you may not be into my
somewhat random videos) but if you're concerned, don't
despair - I'm sure more will come, sooner or later.

Unfortunately, I was recharging my camera batteries
yesterday and forget to put them back in my camera, so
I won't be uploading even any pictures today. But I plan
to come in early next week (before Christmas) and do
that - hopefully! That's the plan.

But even if I can't post pics, I can still write - right? So...
I decided the other day that my knowledge of the situation
in this country could do with a little improvement...my
Tetun is, of course, still not great. My Portuguese - well -
and my Bahasa - I do know a few words (from many years
ago) but not very much, really. As you may know, Tetun
(-Dili, as opposed to Tetun-Terek) has a lot of loan words
from Portuguese. In fact, when I watch TVTL (Televisao
Timor-Leste) sometimes at first I'm not sure if they're
speaking Portuguese or Tetun. Also, speaking Tetun in a
Portuguese style (with very Portuguese pronunciation)
apparently has, or used to have, some prestige. I guess
it was a sign of having been educated.

Which is a long way of saying that none of the local newspapers
here are in English. (At least none of the ones that are
provided free at the World Bank, where I work everyday).
So, I look at the pictures, and I do read - but I'm reading to
try to see how much I can understand, not because I
understand already (obviously). So I decided the other day
that I need to inform myself better on the present situation.

The Crisis in 2006 was precipitated by complaints of
discrimination in the armed forces. According to a (Timorese)
friend of mine, soldiers from the 'west' had for years been
insulted by those from the 'east', who claimed that they (from
the east) had fought longer and harder against the Indonesians.
It is true that FRETILIN, the resistance, was eventually reduced
to a very small number of fighters, and they survived longest in
the east. But if you know anything about the history of the
Indonesian occupation, you will know that the number of dead
in the late 70's was horrendous - it was something like 200,000
people, out of a population of 6-700,000. This is why it has been
referred to as a genocide (1/3 of the population). Not all of those
people were killed by the Indonesian army (although many were)
- many were also killed fleeing the army or by forced dislocation
by the army and to a smaller extent by FRETILIN. (That's from
a report called Chega! (Enough!); the report of the Commission
for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation - I read some of it at the
XG Reading Room, although it should also be on-line).

Anyhow, the Indonesians originally invaded from Dili and West
Timor. I'm not sure to what extent they came from West Timor
(which has always been Indonesian territory - Timor-Leste
shares a land border with them, like Haiti and the Dominican
Republic). But I am sure that once the invasion had begun the
Indonesians would have come over their border, from the west.
So it would seem, to me, that one could say that the 'easterners'
'held out' longer, or one could say that the 'westerners' bore the
brunt of the invasion. Neither is completely true. People all over
'held out' and resisted in various ways for the duration - 25 years
- of the occupation, and, obviously, people all over were killed.

Whatever is 'true' or not, there are beliefs that are useful and can
be built on, and there are those that are not. So this "east-west"
division is not. It will make things difficult to build this country
on this belief if it persists. Some reports say that the east-west
division has actually existed for a long time, but was subdued by
Portuguese and Indonesian repression. Another says that young
people believe the division has been fabricated for political
purposes.

Anyhow, no matter how long it has or hasn't been simmering, to
some extent or another it is now an issue. The reason it is an issue
is because the soldiers from the west alleged discrimination. To
try to be brief 9and hopefully not inaccurate), their concerns were
not addressed. They walked off the job (in protest), and then they
were fired. 600 of them. Not the best idea.

(Ex?) Major Alfredo Reinado emerged as a leader of this group,
called the Petitioners. He and some of his men ran off to the
mountains, (with, apparently, a sizable amount of weapons), and
until some time this past summer they were wanted men - being
searched for by the Australian military. But then Xanana and
Ramos-Horta (or whoever) decided (sincerely?) that they needed
to resolve the issue, and invited Reinado to talk. They met once
in August, but last week Reinado failed to show up (for the second
time) to a dialogue with them. Apparently Xanana said they would
give him one more chance, but if he doesn't show up then.....?
Horta said something must be done. What?

For more information (or the same, in a somewhat more official
package); this is an article from The Australian, with a not very
uplifting headline:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22933200-2703,00.html

Maybe I'll edit it and put the name of the article instead of just the
link, but I'm not doing that right now because then I'll feel I have
to comment on it, and right now I'm hungry. I need to go look for
food.