East Timor: one man's perspective
The Diplomat
Directed by Tom Zubrycki
Produced by Sally Browning and Wilson da Silva
Distributed by Gil Scrine Films
Chauvel and Valhalla Cinemas, Sydney
REVIEW BY NICK EVERETT
The Diplomat follows East Timorese Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Ramos Horta's efforts to secure independence for his country. The film provides insights into Horta's perspectives on his nation's struggle, but is lacking in its analysis of the forces that secured an end to Indonesia's 24-year-long brutal occupation of East Timor.
Horta left East Timor in December 1975 and arrived in New York as Indonesia began its invasion. From there he began a 24-year campaign as a roving ambassador to win support for East Timorese self-determination.
During those years, Horta played a significant role in uniting the East Timorese resistance abroad. Those efforts resulted in the establishment of the National Council of Maubere Resistance (CNRM), an alliance between Fretilin and the UDT (Timorese Democratic Union) announced in 1987, and the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT), which brought into this alliance some formerly anti-independence individuals, including the former governor of East Timor, Mario Carrascalao.
Both of these initiatives secured greater diplomatic support for the resistance, but they were accompanied by a rightward shift in Fretilin's ideology. In the 1980s, Fretilin abandoned a Marxist-Leninist ideology and annulled its November 28, 1975, declaration of East Timor's independence. Horta and Xanana Gusmao, the commander in chief of Falantil (the resistance's armed forces), had both resigned from Fretilin and urged Fretilin's leaders to abandon their strongly anti-imperialist legacy so as to gain greater support for CNRM from Western governments.
The film begins with the formation of the CNRT in Peniche, Portugal, in April 1998. A letter from Xanana, smuggled from his prison cell, was read out at the founding conference. It called for greater collaboration between East Timorese opposing Jakarta's occupation. Following Indonesian dictator Suharto's fall in May 1998, Horta was able to establish regular contact with Gusmao, who was transferred from prison to house arrest in Jakarta.
The Diplomat captures the sentiment for unity at the CNRT founding conference, but it fails to acknowledge the mass character of the movement that was then unfolding against Indonesia's New Order rule. "Ironically, while the East Timorese were at last coming together, Indonesia was tearing itself apart", the film declares.
Xanana, from his prison cell, had been able to secure better contact with the East Timorese resistance and with Indonesian opponents of New Order rule. These forces, including the People's Democratic Party (PRD) and Indonesian People's Solidarity with the Maubere (SPRIM), helped East Timorese independence activists occupy foreign embassies in Jakarta from December 1995, which gained world attention for their struggle.
Following Suharto's fall, when meetings and demonstrations for independence involving tens of thousands of people began to occur in East Timor, numerous other solidarity organisations emerged in Indonesia. A network of Timorese students and workers in the cities of Java and southern Sumatra began to link up with the radical PRD and the growing anti-dictatorship movement, winning wider support amongst Indonesians for East Timor's struggle.
In January 1999, much to the surprise of many (including the CNRT leadership), Indonesia's new president, B.J. Habibie, announced that there would be a ballot on autonomy for East Timor. At the same time, Habibie and Wiranto, Indonesia's chief military commander, began to arm and organise pro-integration militia in East Timor.
Talks between the East Timorese resistance and pro-integration East Timorese were facilitated by United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan, but the question of self-determination was kept off the agenda at the request of the Indonesian government. The CNRT entered the talks to negotiate on the question of a withdrawal of Indonesian troops and the release of Gusmao.
While the CNRT commenced the talks united, the film demonstrates some of the CNRT's internal contradictions. While the UDT's Joao Carrascalao and Fretilin's Mari Alkatiri sought agreement on a statement with the pro-integration forces, Horta, unable to secure any resolution on Gusmao's release, walked out declaring, "These so-called East Timorese are nothing but puppets of the Indonesian government".
However, Horta's position changed following an April 1999 agreement between Portugal and Indonesia on the terms of an autonomy referendum. The terms included responsibility for security in East Timor in the lead up to and during the referendum being in the hands of Indonesia's armed forces (TNI) and police.
As the referendum date draws closer and the militia violence intensifies, the CNRT leadership increasingly appears under pressure for its support for a referendum on these terms. Joao Carrascalao and Horta appear divided on the question, with Horta pledging greater faith in the TNI to secure a peaceful environment for the referendum to take place.
The Diplomat graphically portrays the consequences of the agreement. Jakarta's determination to destroy East Timor and its people becomes bloodily apparent in the days following the September 4 declaration of the ballot result, which was overwhelmingly in favour of independence.
Zubrycki follows Horta to New York, where he lobbies the United Nations for a multinational peace-keeping force to enter East Timor and restore order. However, the mass solidarity demonstrations that were occurring in Australia's cities (and other cities throughout the world) escape the film-makers' attention. They therefore cannot explain the Australian (and other Western) governments' sudden withdrawal of support for the Indonesian government and its efforts to achieve a "final solution" in East Timor.
The Diplomat is a timely portrait of a key figure in East Timor's long resistance to Indonesian occupation. It captures the strengths and weaknesses of Horta, his frustrations during years of exile and his elation with East Timor's triumph in September 1999.
However, the film is not a documentary about the heroes of East Timor's struggle who continued to fight inside East Timor for independence against extraordinary odds. Nor is it a documentary that will tell you anything about the motivations of politicians who, in the case of the Australian and US governments, have waited less than a year to resume military aid to Indonesia's repressive armed forces.