Timor-Leste, 2008

First of all, I

would like to congratulate Mr. d’Escoto Brockmann on

his well-deserved election to preside over the

sixty-third session of the General Assembly. The

sustained increase in the cost of energy, the growing

demand for oil by industrialized countries and

emerging economies, higher food prices, the lack of

arable land and water in many regions and climate

change are only some of the indicators of

non-conventional threats to security that we all face

today and increasingly in the future.

But crises also offer opportunities. Throughout

the decades, hundreds of millions of people all over the

world abandon their ancestral lands and move to cities

in search of work and a better life, as Governments

focus their attention and resources on cities and

neglected rural populations. But as urban populations

swell in numbers, the dream of a better life is turning

into desperation. However, the twenty-first century

may witness their return to their places of origin, if

Governments can learn from this crisis and seriously

invest in job creation programmes for rural areas,

particularly in agriculture, in order to increase food

production.

Increasing food costs, whatever the cause may be,

are neutralizing the progress achieved in many

developing countries towards the achievement of the

Millennium Development Goals. If the international

community does not redouble and coordinate its efforts

to significantly boost development assistance and

market access, it will be nearly impossible for poor,

non-oil-producing countries to achieve even the modest

goals that we had set for them in 2001 with a view to

reducing poverty in the world by half by 2015. Donor

countries must quickly readapt their aid for

development, emphasizing agriculture, particularly in

support of small family and community projects,

preservation of land and rainwater recovery, by

increasing the percentage of official development

assistance (ODA) from a modest 3 per cent in 2006 to

at least 30 per cent. I note that in 1980, the percentage

of all foreign aid dedicated to agriculture was 17 per

cent, which had dropped to 2.9 per cent by 2006.

Timor-Leste accordingly supports the initiative of the

Secretary-General to establish a High-Level Task Force

on the Global Food Security Crisis and an integrated

framework in order to deal with immediate food needs

worldwide and to provide the most vulnerable

countries with the capacity they need to become self-

sufficient.

As a newly independent country, Timor-Leste has

benefited much from the generosity of the international

community. Donors will say that they have contributed

hundreds of millions of dollars to my country in the

last few years, and that is true. However, we must ask

ourselves if the aid has helped to improve the lives of

the majority of our population. The answer is yes and

no. But we all could do better if the bulk of the aid was

not used to cover the costs of the endless study

missions and redundant reports, but was invested on

the ground in small rural development initiatives.

(spoke in English)

Timor-Leste is a least developed country.

However, Almighty God has bestowed on us some

modest oil, gas and other mineral wealth. Our oil and

gas revenues are modest, averaging only $100 million

to $150 million a month. It could be argued that, for a

country of slightly over one million people, this

amount is not too bad. By the end of this year, our

Petroleum Fund, which was established in 2005, will

have accumulated in excess of $3 billion, all invested

in United States treasury bonds. A writer in The

Economist recently stated that those who invest in

United States treasury bonds are people who like to

lose money. We may be among them. We agree with

that remark, and Timor-Leste is seeking to reinvest our

modest revenues in diversified portfolios around the

world.

While our first obligation is to make use of our

oil wealth for the sustainable development of our

country and to address the immediate needs of our

poorest, we are not indifferent to the suffering of our

fellow human beings in other parts of the world. When

the Asia region was hit in December 2005 by a tsunami

of major proportions, our Government immediately

contributed $50,000 for the victims in Indonesia, and

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our citizens took up their own collection of donations

and raised an additional $70,000.

Now, in response to several natural disasters that

have affected tens of millions of our fellow human

beings, Timor-Leste promptly decided to donate

$500,000 for the victims of the earthquake that hit the

Chinese province of Sichuan; $500,000 for the victims

of Cyclone Nargis that hit Myanmar on 2 May, to be

channelled through the Association of Southeast Asian

Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat; and $500,000 for Cuba

to assist the victims of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, to

be channelled directly to the Cuban authorities.

Starting in 2009, Timor-Leste will contribute

$1 million annually to assist child-related programmes

in Myanmar and Somalia through United Nations

agencies like UNICEF and the Office of the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

(UNHCR).

We believe that, even though we are poor, or

because we are poor, we should better understand and

feel the pain of the poorest of the poor and must be

among the first to help others less fortunate than us.

In my address today, I shall touch upon three

international issues: Myanmar, the United States

embargo against Cuba and the question of Western

Sahara.

Timor-Leste’s stance on Myanmar is aligned with

the stance taken by our immediate neighbours in the

Association of Southeast Asian Nations. We believe in

particular that while strong denunciations of abuses are

justifiable and that sanctions might be morally

justifiable, there cannot be a long-term solution in

Myanmar without the consent and full partnership of

that country’s army. Hence, the challenge for those

involved is to persuade the military that their own

interests as a group will not be compromised in any

future democratic arrangement. Any other strategy

seeking to sideline the military or that the military sees

as undermining their power and future safety will not

succeed and will only prolong the agony of all in that

sad country.

Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which brought

devastation to the Caribbean, ruined the Cuban

economy. The country’s material losses are staggering,

with initial estimates showing the losses to approach a

total of at least $5 billion. Timor-Leste has nearly

700 East Timorese medical students in Cuba, and over

140 East Timorese are studying medicine in our

national university with Cuban medical instructors. In

addition, there are nearly 300 Cuban doctors working

in our country, distributed through all districts and

sub-districts. Cuban adult education specialists assist

us in our adult literacy campaign, benefiting thousands

of adults. The costs of those programmes are borne

almost entirely by Cuba.

Mr. Siles Alvarado (Bolivia), Vice-President, took

the Chair.

While I commend the United States and any

country that stands for universal democratic values and

that provides moral support for those promoting

democracy in their own countries, I submit that

punitive measures imposed on poor developing

countries for the perceived sins of their leaders cannot

be morally justified.

As a friend of the United States, I humbly appeal

to its next Administration and to Congress to lift the

embargo against Cuba. Such a gesture would be

honourable, and my admiration for the United States

would only increase. As it is, as I witness the impact of

United States sanctions on a small developing country,

as well as its refusal to provide unconditional

assistance to Cuba following the devastation caused by

Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, my heart bleeds in sorrow

and my admiration for the United States seriously

diminishes. In that connection, I wish to express once

again our most heartfelt sympathy and solidarity with

the people of Haiti and others in the Caribbean region

who were affected by the recent natural disasters.

With regard to the situation in Western Sahara,

Timor-Leste is guided by the stance taken by the

regional organization that is most competent on this

matter — the African Union — and guided by the

relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the

Security Council and the Advisory Opinion of the

International Court of Justice, all of which clearly and

unequivocally recognize the inalienable right of the

people of Western Sahara to self-determination. That is

the core of the issue and the root cause of the ongoing

conflict. Hence, Timor-Leste joins with the African

Union in calling for strict respect for the inalienable

right of the Saharawi people to self-determination.

I now turn to the situation in my own country. On

11 February, I was shot and nearly died as a result. I

escaped by an act of God and thanks to the

professionalism and dedication of doctors and nurses at

the Australian army medical centre in Dili and the

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doctors and nurses at the Royal Darwin Hospital. To

them, and to all who have prayed for my life and my

recovery, I once again express my eternal gratitude. I

stood at the frontier between life and death; I saw the

darkness of death and the beauty of life, which I nearly

left behind.

The attack against Prime Minister Gusmão and

myself shocked the nation, and my near-death served to

unite the people in opposing violence. Since then, the

situation in Timor-Leste has been more peaceful than it

has been in many years, without any politically

motivated violence so far; even common crime has

been significantly reduced. The Government, led by

Mr. Gusmão, a resistance hero, has made enormous

efforts in stabilizing the country and delivering

services to the people. Progress is visible. A growing

number of internally displaced persons are returning

home. Most camps are now empty. More than

700 former soldiers involved in the 2006 mutiny have

accepted a Government financial package and have

returned home.

On the economic front, our real gross domestic

product (GDP) will show a 7 per cent increase by the

end of this year. However, if oil and gas revenues are

factored in, our economic growth will be

approximately 19 per cent. While our real annual GDP

per capita is less than $400, that figure jumps to more

than $4,000 if oil and gas revenues are factored in.

However, we would not have succeeded in pulling back

from the brink without the prompt and steadfast

support of the international community. I thank the

Secretary-General and, through him, the entire

United Nations family, in particular those serving in

my country in various capacities, for their selfless

contributions to the preservation of peace in

Timor-Leste.

I also thank Australia and New Zealand for

maintaining a robust and credible security force in my

country in support of, and in close coordination with,

our Government and the United Nations Integrated

Mission in Timor-Leste, under the leadership of

Mr. Atul Khare, Special Representative of the

Secretary-General, who is a most compassionate

human being and a dedicated and tireless professional.

The professionalism of the International Security

Forces is visible to all, and the behaviour of the

soldiers is irreproachable. The same can be said of the

United Nations police force in my country, comprising

police from 40 countries, with particular reference to

formed police units from Portugal, Pakistan, Malaysia

and Bangladesh. We are blessed by the Almighty with

non-negligible resources, and we can count on the

generosity of our development partners, but challenges

remain complex and multifaceted. However, I am

confident that, with a shared vision and a commitment

to serve the poorest of the poor, we will meet the

Millennium Development Goals. We cannot fail. We

shall not fail.