History
A brief history of East Timor for those of you who, like me, didn't really pay that much attention to the news last September:
East Timor became a Portuguese colony way back when, when that sort of thing happened all the time. Around 1975, the Portuguese departed and left East Timor as an Independent state - essentially. That is, until the Indonesian army invaded and declared sovereignty over East Timor. So it goes, and the East Timorese people have been fighting for their independence for the last 24 years, while the Indonesians have tried everything to keep East Timor as part of Indonesia. They improved the infrastructure to try to win them over, they sent Indonesians over by the thousands to try to breed their way in, they used military might and torture to try to beat them into submission, but the East Timorese would have none of it. They have always wanted to be independent, or at the very least, be a colony of Portugal again.
So you ask yourself WHY? Why would Indonesia want to go through all the heartache to hold on to this rocky chunk of land so far from Jakarta? What makes the East Timorese people think they can make it out in the cold hard world of international finance, when all they have is a load of illiterate farmers trying to grow what little food they can to subsist? Oil my friend! Same ol' story. The area between East Timor and Australia is called the Timor Gap, and it's chock full of oil. Right now, Indonesia and Australia have it all divvied up and neither one of them really feels like giving up their portion of the pie. So Indonesia violates all kinds of human rights laws to pull good old East Timor into the fold, while Australia turns a blind eye to keep the peace with Indonesia, and keep their portion of the oil flowing. Simple enough... until the election.
I'm not sure if it was by international pressure, or if Indonesia just folded, but in September East Timor held a vote on the issue of independence. The election was monitored by UNEMET (United Nations Election Monitors for East Timor.) The results sided with the movement for independence by a landslide and the East Timorese people partied for two or three days straight in celebration. Then came the resounding "Oh Sh*t!", as the people started to realize that the Indonesian forces still in the country might not like their decision. They didn't. The Indonesians with all their guns and their torches and other weapons of destruction went on a rampage, and the East Timorese people ran for the hills. The UN got caught up in the middle of it and ended up running to Darwin, Australia. About three weeks later, when people started slowly heading home, it quickly became apparent that whole country had been destroyed. At that time the UN was still in Australia, but it was becoming apparent that there would be a huge refugee problem on the horizon.
The UN was out of the picture about 4 weeks. They quickly transformed UNEMET into the temporary governing body (UNTAET) which will essentially be the government, the police, and the justice system in East Timor for the next two or three years. They will work with East Timorese leaders to start a new government from scratch. That's a hefty task for three years. The local power structure being formed is called the CNRT. I don't know what it stands for, but they will most likely be the ruling party when the UN pulls out.
In mid October, the NGOs start flowing into the country. Mid November - I show up. So the history goes.