By Arun Pradhan
For Helio Tavares of the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT), political life started young. Today a member of UDT's regional directorate, since the age of 16 he has seen his country through a civil war and an invasion by Indonesia. He has been imprisoned by Fretilin and captured by the Indonesian army. "I have seen many people killed. I was just lucky to get through unharmed", he told Green Left Weekly.
Many people have heard of Fretilin, but Tavares points out that the first political party formed in East Timor was UDT. "Once Fretilin changed its name from ASDT (Timorese Social Democratic Association), they became more like a radical movement than a party. UDT was a more centrist party." However, the key difference between the two lay in their attitude towards Portugal's role in independence.
"East Timor had been neglected by the Portuguese administration for so long. Even in terms of education, we had less than 10% literacy and out of them, 90% would reach primary school. Because they were a colonial power it was in their interest to keep everyone in the dark.
"UDT demanded that Portugal take up its responsibility. In a period of eight to nine years, and possibly even up to 15, we demanded that Portugal actually put in the resources to develop East Timor before we go for self-determination and independence."
Civil war
Despite their differences in January 1975, UDT and Fretilin signed a coalition agreement to strive for independence. Tavares emphasised the destabilisation role Indonesia played. "They tried to divide UDT and Fretilin. There's no doubt that if we continued to work together, independence would have been more realistic."
However, the destabilisation was successful. UDT withdrew from the coalition in late May and staging a coup in August. Fretilin was able to mobilise supporters in the general population and the army to defeat the coup. Many people on both sides were killed in the fighting. Tavares was one of many UDT members captured and later released in 1976, following the Indonesian invasion.
"We still believed in our nationalism, so many of the UDT members who were liberated immediately joined the armed forces to fight the Indonesians. We had been at war with Fretilin, but there was no way we were going to accept the Indonesians."
Leaving his prison with just a pair of shorts and a shirt, Tavares travelled east with the army and ended up staying with a family he knew in the countryside. "We were under attack all the time. We were targeted by the planes, there were bombardments from warships and mortar attacks ... they couldn't tell the difference between UDT and Fretilin. As long as you were Timorese that was it!"
The community of 300 people who Tavares stayed with were soon captured by the Indonesian army. "We were on the top of a hill, and I saw the army coming. We said goodbye and then the people amongst us who were armed, left; the rest of us allowed ourselves to be captured. We were mostly women and children with no guns, so they didn't see us as a threat. We were taken to a village. We didn't get brutal treatment, but in some instances where there was a fight, the Indonesians would wipe out everyone, including civilians."
Unity in resistance
Throughout the early '80s the resistance broadened. Links between UDT and Fretilin were formalised by the signing of a Declaration of National Convergence in 1986.
"The convergence brought the parties together. Falantil [the armed forces] became non-partisan, and Xanana stepped down as leader of Fretilin. He no doubt had the same ideas as Fretilin, but he had to do it to become a leader and a symbol of the whole resistance. It got to the stage were every fighter is identified with him and he is the one that inspires everyone to continue the fight."
This unity has continued inside and outside of East Timor. On a grassroots level, activists such as Tavares work tirelessly with Fretilin activists organising protests, rallies and other events. On an international level a diplomatic delegation, which met Indonesian foreign minister Alatas a few months ago, is composed of the external leaders of the two parties and the special representative of the National Council for Maubere Resistance.
As for UDT's politics today, Tavares says, "If we look back, the only party that hasn't changed the core of their ideology is UDT. We realised early on that East Timor lacked infrastructure and had underdeveloped resources, which is why we aimed for a longer process. We were labelled, people who didn't agree with us used to say that 'UDT would eat Portuguese shit', but we just wanted a transition period."
UDT's immediate demands include the freedom of Xanana Gusmao and that he be involved in negotiations with Indonesia. Tavares stressed that the aim of any talks must be "total self-determination and independence. There's no way we will consider some form of autonomy as a solution."
Solidarity
Tavares emphasised the importance of solidarity in achieving independence. "Support from the Indonesian democracy movement is essential, and since the occupation of the embassy there is now greater consciousness about East Timor. I even hope that East Timor will be a major contribution to the downfall of the Suharto regime, and that the movement there uses it to bring down the government.
"Successive Australian governments have played a public relations role for Indonesia. In 1974 the capitalist world were scared that East Timor would be another Cuba, and so Australia and the United States became accomplices in the invasion. Even with APEC you can see that Australia has a lot to gain economically from the invasion. Now Evans calls for autonomy, but that is only because Indonesia is already talking about it.
"In Australia we need to continue what we've been doing in the last few years. We're working with groups such as Resistance, Aksi, the Australian East Timor Association and the Democratic Socialist Party to organise actions. This year we had the biggest demonstrations across Australia, which shows what impact we can have. The politicians in Canberra will only act when they have to, which means we have to build these things even bigger."
Still optimistic, Tavares points out the key time is yet to come. "I believe next year is crucial for the future of East Timor. In East Timor we are not just relying on the armed resistance. Resistance has become much more widespread, more generalised, and today the masses are prepared to go out and protest. At the same time, international solidarity is constantly growing.
"We are still prepared to struggle, and we won't settle for second best. It's independence or nothing!"