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.