Letter from Xanana Gusmao to the Timorese National Convention
Translated from Portuguese, full text.

CONVENÇÃO NACIONAL TIMORENSE NA DIÁSPORA
Lisboa e Peniche, 23 a 27 de Abril de 1998

Message to the delegates from Xanana Gusmão

Mr. President,
Prime Minister,
UN Representative,
Ladies & Gentlemen,
Dear Friends of East Timor,

In the name of the heroic people of East Timor, I wish to thank you all for gathering here today. Your comradely presence has given this historic event a profoundly human dimension.

I know that from today, we East Timorese will have to live up to great expectations. There is no doubt that this event has raised many questions. Although it was greeted with skepticism, it has helped to bring many issues to light. The aim of this Convention is to clarify these issues, to design a political project that can bring all East Timorese together in such a way as to be able to coordinate their actions.

The National Convention of the East Timorese in the Diaspora is above all a challenge. It challenges our minds, our habits, our behaviour and our allegiances. We do not promise to produce anything extraordinary but we promise to act responsibly and to be serious. We do not promise to be perfect but we promise to be honest and admit our mistakes.

Dear Compatriots,

Who would have thought that it would take the East Timorese 24 years to realize that we have wasted so much moral, psychological, intellectual and political energy since the Carnation Revolution? It has taken us far too long to acknowledge the just principles of our struggle. It has taken us far too long to realize that we must not continue to swim against the tide of challenges that have constantly confronted us, to realize that we must unite so as to be able to face up to these challenges, to achieve more tangible and worthwhile results. It has taken us far too long to realize that we were riding in different compartments of a single train, running along the same track harbouring the same desires, the same determination to win.

There is irony in the happy coincidence that the Convention is taking place on the anniversary of the Portuguese 25th of April Revolution. Our political wandering since April 1974 has been long and bitter. The celebrations for April 25 should encourage us to reflect seriously and deeply on the political consequences of all this, in order to remind ourselves of the historic significance of that event for the fate of East Timor.

A few moments of retrospection will show that we have never been open to the concept of unity, of working together to solve the problems of our Nation. Unfortunately, our history teaches us that good intentions are not enough if we do not accept the same principles. Our history teaches us that the lack of consistency in our commitment to our People and our Nation has led to confusion, preventing us from advancing towards a new stage in our struggle. In 1974, the creation of a coalition was a significant political step in our advance towards decolonization. The breakdown of that coalition weakened the nationalist movement; it was a fatal, historic mistake. In 1986, the Nationalist Convergence was formed in an attempt to dispel the climate of suspicion that existed between the political parties but once again, good intentions were not enough to create harmony between our separate objectives.

Along with the creation of the Nationalist Convergence and the desire to broaden the struggle to encompass all social and political participants in the National Resistance, an attempt was made to imbue the struggle with a new spirit. The CNRM was founded. However, this desire to unite the East Timorese society was again defeated by the sectarian mentality that still prevailed in some circles. Faced by this serious challenge, we made a pledge to our People to staunchly uphold the principle of "UNITE IN ORDER TO BE ABLE RESIST BETTER"! Side by side with our People, who easily understood the objectives of the CNRM, we were ready to cope with all the consequences. But there were distortions in the way the CNRM was perceived. It was seen as a party and incorrectly regarded as yet another player on the scene. It would have been better had this not been so and we have never stopped hoping that, one day, East Timorese politicians and intellectuals would listen to the People.

Sovereignty lies with our People, it is our People who deserve honor and respect. It is our People who give the orders and draft the mandates. It is not up to us, weak, imperfect individuals as we are, to decide. Our decisions, our commitments are legitimate only in so far as they comply with the will of our People. Too often, we are more preoccupied with the reactions we provoke in people than with the feelings and the suffering of our People. Too often, we try to satisfy other people's opinions without stopping to think that we might be offending our People, insulting the blood of our young ones, the tears of our mothers and the sacrifices made by one and all.

We ignore our responsibility to the suffering of our People every time we think more about ourselves than about the heroic greatness of our People. We act as if it was our People's duty to struggle, suffer and die to give legitimacy to our personal positions, status and ambitions.

We have fostered too many contradictions, we have nurtured too many internal conflicts, fueling a highly polluted environment. Instead of mutual respect we have sought power. Instead of understanding, we have created distrust. Instead of supporting each other, we have undermined each other. And we all know that the atmosphere is still weighed down by doubt, mistrust, discontent and complaints. Bearing all this in mind, we are gathered here with the resolve to join hands, to move ahead, to begin a new chapter in the history of East Timor.

Dear companions of struggle,

We are now convening the National Convention of the East Timorese in the Diaspora as it cannot be held on our own soil which is occupied by the Indonesian armed forces. This will be the first gathering of representatives of all Timorese political and social formations. Our beloved, martyred People are watching us in the conviction that we will be able to produce something positive for our struggle. Above all else, our People believe that their interests will be the basis for our debates and that the interests of our abused Nation will dictate the decisions that we make.

We shall make it crystal clear, and as forcefully as possible, to the Indonesian regime and to the world that the East Timorese People demand the right to self-determination and independence. Centuries of history and culture have given the East Timorese People an identity of their own. International law, universal principles, the UN Charter and resolutions legitimize our right to determine our own future. We have been fighting for this right while resisting the criminal aggression of the Indonesian military. And we shall keep on fighting as long as necessary. This does not mean that we advocate confrontation. Many people look upon us as the aggressors, but in fact we are the victims of aggression. Many people tell us that we should halt all armed activities, while they go on selling weapons to Indonesia so that the forces of occupation can go on killing us. The East Timorese People love peace. The East Timorese were forced to take up arms to resist the brutal military invasion of 7 December 1975. The East Timorese People long for peace. Our People will only be able to realize their full potential, to build a happy future for the coming generations when a real and lasting peace is achieved in East Timor.

But a real and lasting peace can only come about as the result of a just resolution of the conflict, which enables our People to feel truly free and in control of their own future. The illegal Indonesian military occupation has had disastrous consequences for East Timor: suffering, famine, disease, death and an intolerable physical and psychological repression have been the fate of our People. The occupation has also prevented our People from building a just, democratic and free society.

We advocate respect for Basic Human Rights, a pluralist democracy for East Timorese society. We are in favour of peace and disarmament. We defend the principle of dialogue to solve conflicts and we will contribute to peace and harmony between peoples and nations. In order to reach these objectives which are fundamental to our struggle for freedom, we are compelled to resist the occupation of the Indonesian forces.

In this era of globalization, no country can hope to prosper in isolation and ignore the complex relationships between peoples and governments. We therefore appeal to His Excellency the Secretary General of the UN, not to lessen the frequency of his initiatives nor to undermine the significance of actions already taken to establish open and serious negotiations which include the East Timorese resistance, to find a solution that can bring an end to the suffering of the East Timorese People.

We appeal to the international community in general and to the US Government and the European Union in particular, to give effective support to the efforts of the UN Secretary General in the search for a just and peaceful solution that will respect the legitimate interests of the East Timorese People as enshrined in universal principles and international law.

We appeal to Portugal in its capacity as the administering power, to take any course of action necessary to defend the inalienable right of our People to self-determination and independence. We appeal to the Indonesian government to acknowledge that it is time for us all to correct the errors of the past, and display the political will to regard each other not as enemies but as neighbours who are able to build a future of freedom, mutual respect, friendship and cooperation between the two nations.

Respected friends,

I want to take this opportunity, on behalf of the East Timorese people, to express our deepest gratitude to the Portuguese State and our brothers and sisters, the Portuguese People, for the support and solidarity they have showed towards the East Timorese cause to this day. We also extend our deepest gratitude to the governments of the PALOPs and our Lusophone brothers and sisters, to friendly governments, and to the international solidarity movement that has always supported us very effectively.

We also wish to express solidarity with the martyred peoples of Western Sahara and Palestine, as well as with the Democratic Movement in Myammar. We also want to tell the Indonesian people that we closely follow the progress of the democracy movement in Indonesia. The Indonesian and Timorese peoples are fighting for different objectives which are based on the same principles of law, justice, freedom and peace. The two peoples, brothers, sisters and neighbours, are oppressed by the same repressive regime. Independence for East Timor will mean freedom for the Indonesian people. Justice and democracy in Indonesia will mean the liberation of the Maubere People.

Together, we will fight for peace, for justice, for freedom and for the right of all the peoples of the world.

Long live East Timor!
Nation or Death!
Resist and Win!
The struggle continues on all fronts.

//signed//

Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão

(Translated from Portuguese by Rosa Isabel Goretti Loro Sae)