Democracy Now! May 16, 2002

9:01-9:03 Headlines 9:03-9:27 LOOKING BACK AT THE HISTORY OF EAST TIMOR AND U.S. FOREIGN POLICY: A REBROADCAST OF THE 1991 RADIO DOCUMENTARY MASSACRE: THE STORY OF EAST TIMOR. The Bush Administration has announced that former President Bill Clinton and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke will lead the U.S. delegation to East Timors independence ceremony on May 20. The remarks of U.S. officials praising East Timors independence will likely ignore the ugly history of American support for Indonesias invasion and occupation of East Timor from 1975-1999. Their remarks will also likely ignore the efforts of the Bush Administration to restore full military aid to the Indonesian armed forces in the name of the so-called war on terrorism. This despite Indonesias unwillingness to bring to justice high ranking military officials responsible for the campaign of terror and destruction inflicted on East Timor by the Indonesian military and its paramilitary proxies following the populations overwhelming vote for independence in an August 30, 1999 referendum sponsored by the U.N. Indonesian General Hendropriyono, who helped to orchestrate the militarys campaign to force nearly 300,000 Timorese from their homes into neighboring West Timor, is now head of Indonesian intelligence and the Bush Administrations chief liaison for its counter-terrorism efforts in Indonesia. After surviving the November 12, 1991 Santa Cruz massacre - in which Indonesian troops killed more than 270 East Timorese in a cemetery in the capitol of Dili Amy Goodman and journalist Alan Nairn produced the 1992 radio documentary Massacre: The Story of East Timor. As East Timor nears its independence, Massacre offers a chilling reminder of the priorities which guided U.S. policy toward Indonesia and East Timor during a quarter century of occupation, priorities which remain in place today. Tape: MASSACRE: THE STORY OF EAST TIMOR, Amy Goodman and Allan Nairns 1992 documentary about the Santa Cruz Massacre 9:20-9:21 One Minute Music Break 9:22- 9:28 LOOKING BACK AT THE HISTORY OF EAST TIMOR AND U.S. FOREIGN POLICY: A REBROADCAST OF THE 1991 RADIO DOCUMENTARY MASSACRE: THE STORY OF EAST TIMOR. 9:28-9:41 FROM GUERRILLA LEADER TO FOUNDING PRESIDENT OF A NEW NATION: AN INTERVIEW WITH EAST TIMORESE PRESIDENT XANANA GUSMAO Four days from now Xanana Gusmao will complete a remarkable 27-year journey when he presides over East Timors independence celebration and becomes the countrys first President. When Indonesia invaded East Timor on December 7, 1975 Xanana Gusmao fled to the mountains where he remained for the next 17 years fighting the Indonesian military. In 1979, after the head of East Timors guerrilla army FALANTIL was killed by the Indonesian Army, Xanana became the leader of FALINTIL. In 1986, Xanana and his colleagues in the mountains created the National Council of Maubere Resistance (CNRM) the umbrella organization against Indonesian rule in East Timor. He was captured by the Indonesian army in November 1992 and sentenced to life in prison the following year, where his stature among the East Timorese continued to grow. In late 1999, however, as East Timor held its historic referendum on Independence, Indonesia released Xanana from prison under intense international pressure. Widely acclaimed as the political leader of the East Timorese people, Xanana was named head of East Timors transitional government. He was elected East Timors first president by an overwhelming margin in the countrys first presidential elections in April 2002. Guest: Xanana Gusmao, first President of Democratic Republic of East Timor ON VIDEO FROM EAST TIMOR 9:41-9:42 1-minute music break 9:41-9:58 FROM GUERRILLA LEADER TO FOUNDING PRESIDENT OF A NEW NATION: AN INTERVIEW WITH EAST TIMORESE PRESIDENT XANANA GUSMAO Guest: Xanana Gusmao, first President of Democratic Republic of East Timor ON VIDEO FROM EAST TIMOR 9:57-9:59 Outro and Credits