East Timor: starvation and economic crisis

General Suharto, the second president of Indonesia, invaded East Timor in 1975 and killed 200,000 of the East Timorese people. He also oppressed his own people, and forced many Indonesians into slave labor for the western factories. The West supported him for his anti-communist ideology and because he was buying weapons from western countries. During the Indonesian occupation there were extreme human rights violations in East Timor.

East Timor gained independence 7 years ago. Today East Timor's economy is struggling to improve, but it's difficult. The government continues using all money to subsidize food for the poor who spend all of their earned money on basic needs. Meanwhile, East Timor has found hope in offshore drilling in a spot known as the "Greater Sunrise." However, the boundary lines in the ocean are disputed, and now Australia is claiming that they should process the natural gas in Darwin, Australia, then get 50% profit. They claim that a 1972 treaty leaves the territory open to their drilling, and the East Timor is too unstable to handle the processing. However, as Pires, East Timor's Secretary of State for Natural Resources, says below, is it really fair for such a well-off nation to take so much from a suffering, developing country?




And below is Shakira's song, "Timor."

"If we forget about them, don't worry
If they forget about us then hurry
How about the people who don't matter anymore?
East Timor, Timor, Timor
We'll be tanning while it's sunny
They'll risk our hides just to make their money
Now don't you find that funny?"