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.