Timor-Leste triumph of self-determination.

• Author: Alam, Omar

On the eve of Timor-Leste becoming the 191st member of the United Nations, Prime Minister Man Alkaitiri and Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta engaged in a candid discussion at the Asia Society in New York about the future of their country. Timor-Leste--formerly known as East Timor, governed by Indonesia following centuries of Portuguese rule and engulfed in violence and chaos in the wake of the 1999 referendum for independence--had become the newest nation-State on 20 May 2002.

After reading a speech by President Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, Mr. Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Laureate, had a discussion with Mr. Alkaitiri and lan Martin, Vice-President of the International Center for Transnational Justice, on the challenges facing Asia's newest and poorest nation. Mr. Martin, formerly Head of the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET), was responsible for conducting the referendum and had worked closely with both Ministers over the past years to help realize their country's dream of independence.

Mr. Ramos-Horta said that "the UN agencies and the international community have been extremely supportive", and three years' worth of budgetary needs would be met by the various pledges made. However, describing the country's fledgling infrastructure, he spoke of the dangers of building a nation with so little foundation. The Ministers urged developed countries to offer not lust financial assistance but also aid through education, experience and training, without causing the much-dreaded "brain-drain" syndrome that has afflicted other developing countries.

Both Ministers commended the resolve of the people of Timor-Leste for "keeping the flame alive" and being committed to a belief in self-governance, however remote it may have seemed. Mr. Ramos-Horta also praised the endurance of the Indonesian people who had returned to democracy after being stifled as well by a dictatorship for years. He was quick to point out that there are many other peoples across the globe, equally courageous and often with greater resources, who are not yet free. He emphasized that Timor-Leste's victory was...