Portuguese ambassador Gomes feeling right at home

Portuguese ambassador Gomes feeling right at home

Mehru Jaffer, Contributor, Jakarta

Portuguese ambassador Ana Gomes has lived and worked in some of
the most exciting cities in the world -- London, New York and
Tokyo.

But the posting that will remain engraved in her heart
forever is Jakarta, the mother of four grownup children says.

Gomes' husband is posted at the moment in Brazil and the
former lawyer finds all this intercontinental communication with
her family complicated but manageable. Ana lives alone in Jakarta
and does so fearlessly.

She feels she has total freedom of movement here, and in fact
is basking in the pleasure of living in a country where a woman
is in charge.

"I have enjoyed all my postings. I love New York and feel very
at home there. But Indonesia is special for all kinds of
different reasons," said Gomes, whose arrival here in 1999
reestablished diplomatic ties between Indonesia and Portugal
after two and a half decades.

The relationship between the two countries froze in 1975 when
East Timor, then a Portuguese colony, became part of Indonesia.
But after president Soeharto stepped down after 32 years of
autocratic rule, both decided to restore partial links by opening
an interest section in each other's country and working together
toward independence for East Timor.

To be here at this time has been particularly rewarding for
someone like her, who was part of the struggle for democracy and
against colonialism in her country.

Being in Indonesia at this particular time is a reminder of
those days in the 1970s and 1980s when Portugal went through
similar birth pangs in the country's journey toward democracy. As
Ana watches Indonesian friends struggling to democratize their
society and to put the economy back on tracks she often has a
feeling of deja vu, she said at her temporary offices on Jl.
Rasuna Said in South Jakarta.

The Portuguese government has owned a house in Menteng since
the 1950s which is now being renovated as the new embassy and
cultural center. Gomes looks forward to continuing her efforts
from the more permanent premises in creating better understanding
between the people of Portugal and Indonesia.

Call it a result of collective guilt on the part of Portuguese
people like Gomes for having abandoned East Timor in 1975, or a
fight for principles, but she had always held the view that East
Timor deserved the opportunity to choose the kind of future it
wanted for itself.

"If the East Timorese people had chosen to remain part of
Indonesia, I would have defended that stand too.

She said she has to make up for all the time lost to
rediscover Indonesia. This is the most important objective of her
work now.

After her term in Jakarta she hopes to write a book on her
experiences here.

Here is an excerpt from an interview with Gomes, when all the
questions and answers invariably led to talk of East Timor, a
topic that still has the power to get the ambassador wide-eyed
and excited.

Question: If you were asked to return this minute, how would
you look back on your posting in Jakarta?

Answer: As one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
Also as the most fascinating one. Already in 1994 I had given an
interview to a Portuguese magazine saying that it was my dream to
come to Indonesia as ambassador.

I belong to a generation of Portuguese who spent their youth
battling against colonialism and domestic dictatorship. And
people who cared about what happened to East Timor after 1975
belong to this generation.

East Timor became a highly emotional issue throughout Portugal
after the Santa Cruz massacre of 1991.

Now that issue is finally resolved and what is important is to
see how both Indonesia and East Timor are thinking of ways to
live together as prosperous and democratic neighbors. The way the
relationship between Indonesia and East Timor is developing is to
the credit of both. It seems like a far happier one. It was not a
very happy relationship in the past.

Q: When was it that you first heard of the word Indonesia?

A: In school, in geography class. I must have been about 10 years
old when we were studying about the navigational skills of the
Portuguese and how the discovery of the Spice Islands enriched
them materially as well as culturally. But Indonesia was
part of a lesson that involved the entire world.

Q: When was it that you felt personally involved with Indonesia?

A: Perhaps after the Indonesian Army moved into East Timor in
1974. I was a militant student activist at this time and against
all dictators.

Later as a diplomat I was advisor to my president who received
a lot of letters from Xanana Gusmao (one of the presidential
candidates in the elections on Sunday) from his hideouts in
the mountains.

The letters went to the president through me. I read them and
was very moved by the plight of Gusmao and impressed by the way
he presented the problems of his people.

From that time I kept thinking how I could help solve this
problem. I also felt a bond with the people of Indonesia who had
to suffer a dictator. I always felt that the problem of East
Timor could only be resolved once there was a political change in
Indonesia.

Q: The separation of East Timor from Indonesia is seen by many as
the former colonial powers design to break up Indonesia into
several small states...

A: I do not subscribe to this accusation at all. In this day and
age it is in the interest of Portugal and its partners in the
European Union to see that Indonesia is strong, united,
prosperous and a democracy.

But Indonesia itself has to find ways to keep the trust of
its people. It has to define its own means of development,
democracy and respect for human rights.

Q: Now that you have seen your dream of an independent East Timor
realized, what next?

A: Look, my goal was not that East Timor should be independent.
My goal was that East Timor should be what the people there want
it to be. And now that problem is resolved a more important goal
is to rebuild the historical ties with Indonesia.

I feel extremely close to this country and feel sorry that one
of the worst consequences of the breakup in relationship between
the two countries is incredible ignorance about Indonesia among
the Portuguese.

Because Soeharto was a dictator and not a democrat, people in
Portugal tend to think that all Indonesians are similar.

This is just not fair. I want to introduce to Portugal the
larger, more diverse reality that is Indonesia.

Even during this short period tourists are already visiting
each other's country. The first tourist guidebook on Indonesia
has just been published in Lisbon, a result of the visit of a
group of 30 Portuguese last year.

Another book on a seminar held between historians tracing
links between Indonesia and Portugal for 500 years will be out
soon and a team from one of the countries main television
channels is here to make a report on Indonesia.

We still have a long way to go to make up for all the time
lost but we are on the right path.

Q: Finally, when the resolution to East Timor took place
the consequences were so bloody and violent. Does it bother you
as a diplomat that you failed to find a more peaceful solution to
the same problem?

A: After the fall of Soeharto, Indonesia, Portugal and the
United Nations were all hopeful that the problem in
East Timor should be solved in a peaceful manner. At
first hectic plans were made to give East Timor
autonomy.

Then former president Habibie took us all by surprise with his
announcement for a referendum. This was the president of
Indonesia speaking and we could not disregard what he said. After
all this is what we had been saying for over two decades how
could we disagree with Indonesia now?

The East Timorese too seized the opportunity. They felt that
some day in the future they would eventually go to the ballot
box, then why not now? This was an offer just to difficult to
refute by any of us.

But everyone was for an international presence in East
Timor and the evacuation of the territory by the
Indonesian Army.

The Indonesian police force was reinforced but the
Army did not leave before the referendum and everyone
knows that the police and Army here were part of the
same organization at that time.

When the Army refused to leave we suspected trouble but
especially the East Timorese by this time were ready to take the
risks involved. There were no surprises at what happened, only
the extent of the violence was horrifying.

Q: Are you saying that if the United Nations had taken
responsibility and the Indonesian Army had withdrawn, the
transition to independence would have been peaceful?

A: Of course.

Q: How did you cope with all the accusations and threats
of violence in the days that followed the referendum
in East Timor?

A: The year 1999 was indeed a very complicated year. But
personally I have never felt threatened here. There was a lot of
explaining to do, which I did. But I hope there are more
opportunities in the future to clear up any other
misunderstandings that still remain among Indonesians. I would
love to set the record straight.

Right now I am busy rediscovering Indonesia and watching my
friends make so many exciting changes to their lives here just
like we did after 1974.

Q: Did it seem proper to send a woman as ambassador at a
time when it seemed so rough and tough even for the
most macho of men?

A: Sometimes being a woman helped in those difficult days. A lot
of things I said were just dismissed by the more macho men and
because I am a woman I was left alone.

Q: What is it like for a woman to be living alone in a
traditional society like Indonesia?

A: I am able to manage quite well. Look, I am in a country where
a woman is president.