Interviews with Jose Ramos-Horta

The Portuguese– authorities on the island– packed and left. The international community decided not to do anything at all. The United Nations had a chance between August ´75 and December ´75, or even before. If the United Nations, if the Secretary General at that time, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, and others around him– when the Portuguese– colonial regime was toppled– and– had they had the wisdom and the– a sense of– commitment and– immediately offered to assist Timor Leste, maybe the Indonesian invasion could have– been prevented.

For three months, we tried to mobilize international support. It didn´t come. December 7, 1975, Indonesia invaded. Four days before– three days before, actually, I was– told to leave the country by my compatriots in the leadership. And I– did the journey towards New York. So, I arrive in New York already after the invasion to address the U.N. Security Council. The Security Council adopted a unanimous resolution condemning the invasion, calling on Indonesia to withdraw its troops from East Timor without delay.

It was a unanimous resolution, which was in itself a feat– a diplomatic fit for us. And I thought, with that– resounding victory in the U.N. Security Council, Indonesia, a respectable member of the international community, would comply with it and would leave Timor-Leste, and I will return in diplomatic triumph. Well, that didn´t happen. That was my first lesson in organized international hypocrisy. The same– members of the Security Council that voted on that resolution also ignored that resolution and– continue on business with Indonesia for the next 24 years. So, I had to wait f– 24 years before I finally return.

José Manuel Ramos-Horta was the president of East Timor (Timor-Leste) from 2007 to 2012. In 1996, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his advocacy of human rights and self-determination for the Timorese people.

Born in Dili in 1949 to a Portuguese father and a Timorese mother, Ramos-Horta was educated in Catholic schools and became a journalist. His articles advocating independence for the territory led to his deportation at the age of 18. He returned to Timor in 1971 and, after the 1974 revolution in Portugal, joined with other young Timorese pro-independence activists to found the Social Democratic Association of Timor, later known as the Revolutionary Front of Independent Timor-Leste (FRETILIN). When FRETILIN declared the independence of East Timor in 1975, Ramos-Horta was appointed the minister of external affairs and was instructed to go abroad to seek international recognition and support. He was just 25 years old.

Ramos-Horta left East Timor three days before the invasion by Indonesian troops that led to a 24-year occupation. A few days later, he became the youngest diplomat ever to address the United Nations Security Council, successfully urging the Council to adopt a resolution that recognized the right of the people of Timor-Leste to self-determination and independence.

After the 1999 referendum in which the people of East Timor voted overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia, Ramos-Horta returned to his homeland for the first time in 24 years. He served as foreign minister under the provisional United Nations administration (2000–2002) and during the first four years of independence (2002-06), and was selected as prime minister after the political and social crisis that led to the resignation of the first government in 2006. In 2007 he was elected president of the Republic, receiving over 70 percent of the votes cast.

On February 11, 2008, Ramos-Horta was shot twice and severely wounded. Evacuated to Australia, he remained for 10 days in an induced coma and spent several months recovering from his injuries. Upon his return to Dili, he was received in triumph by an estimated 100,000 people of all ages, walks of life, and political perspectives.

After initially stating he would not seek reelection, Ramos-Horta decided to run as an independent candidate. He placed third in the balloting. In 2013, he was named the United Nations Special Representative to Guinea-Bissau.