IMPERIALISM
OUT OF TIMOR EAST AND INDONESIA!
For
the Independence of East Timor from Indonesia!
For
Armed Self-Defence of the East Timorese Communities!
For
a Socialist Federation of South East Asia!
International
Secretariat
International
Trotskyist Opposition
Revised
16 November 1999
The
invasion of East Timor by imperialist troops under UN cover must be
opposed
by all socialists. This is not "UN peacekeeping", it is an
imperialist
invasion. The UN is purely a cover. Imperialism is occupying
East
Timor as surely as NATO is occupying Kosova, and it is necessary to
be
absolutely clear about this and discuss this issue in these terms. It
is
necessary to call things by their proper names. Imperialism is trying
to
tighten its grip on the entire Indonesian archipelago, now that its
man
Suharto is out and the Indonesian military is weakened. Taking
direct
control of East Timor is part of this.
East
Timor is an oppressed nation, oppressed both by Indonesia and
imperialism.
The people of East Timor have suffered vicious repression
from
the Indonesian state for many years. This was the same regime that
murdered
a million Indonesians in 1965. The Maubere people had to defend
themselves
against murderous attacks by Indonesian troops and militia.
And
the arming of the East Timor resistance continues to be a crucial
task
of the international East Timor solidarity movement.
However,
the imperialist invasion simply replaces one form of
oppression
and violence against the workers and peasants of East Timor
by
another. The situation is reminiscent of Ireland in 1969. Pogroms by
Orange
thugs against the Catholic ghettos resulted in British troops
being
sent to Ireland on the pretext of "ending the violence". The
troops
were openly welcomed by Catholics in the streets, who even
offered
refreshments and gifts to them. The newspaper of the
International
Socialists (forerunner of the British Socialist Workers
Party)
supported the sending of the troops at the time, essentially on
the
same basis. Over the past two decades, and with the benefit of
hindsight,
we can now see the results of the British occupation of
Ireland.
British imperialism was hardly a solution to the problems of
the
Catholic population.
It
is with this hindsight that we must now view the spectacle of the
people
of East Timor welcoming the imperialist troops into their country
(and
also that of the people of Kosova welcoming NATO into their
country).
It is with this hindsight also that we must view the equally
sorry
spectacle of sections of the left either supporting the
imperialist
invasion of East Timor (Solidarity/US, AWL/Britain,
DSP/Australia)
or failing to call for the withdrawal of the imperialist
forces
(Socialist Outlook/Britain and other USFI sections).
Imperialism
has always sought to legitimise its military interventions
into
the Third World, and the Eastern bloc also, on the basis of its
"democratic"
pretensions. It has always sought to play
opportunistically,
and hypocritically, upon the internal tensions and
contradictions
within the semicolonies for its own ends. National
tensions
are one example of this. While promoting such tensions it also
pretends
to play the role of neutral arbitrator, stepping in militarily
to
"end the violence" which it has helped to create. In this way,
Anglo-American
imperialism has established bridgeheads in various parts
of
the world over the past decade: the Persian Gulf, the Balkans, and
now
East Timor. Kuwait, Bosnia and Kosova are now effectively colonies
of
Anglo-American imperialism. East Timor is becoming one. The violence
and
repression of the Indonesian militia will be replaced by the rifle
butt
of imperialist troops wearing the UN uniform.
A
mass Trotskyist party in East Timor, supported by a reconstructed
Fourth
International, would have organised the working class vanguard
for
the self-defence of communities attacked by the Indonesian militia.
It
would have established strong links with the workers of neighbouring
countries,
including the vanguard of the Indonesian workers' movement,
in
order to promote the kind of solidarity needed to resist Indonesian
repression.
The
toppling of Suharto by the Indonesian masses was, in fact, a key
factor
in forcing Indonesia out of East Timor, since it weakened the
Indonesian
regime and gave the East Timorese population the confidence
to
vote for independence in the referendum. It is necessary to emphasise
strongly
the fact that East Timor's "independence" from Indonesia was
won
by Indonesian students, workers, and urban poor in the streets last
year,
not by Australian troops this fall.
East
Timor "independence" is a fiction while imperialist troops
control
the
towns and villages of this small nation. True independence can come
only
through expelling both the Indonesian oppressors and the
imperialist
troops operating under cover of the UN. And even true
independence
would not solve the problems that come with being a small
country
in a big world. Only a genuinely voluntary association of
socialist
republics, a Socialist Federation of South East Asia, would
provide
the necessary economic and political framework to liberate the
people
of East Timor from oppression and impoverishment.