Tens of thousands of East Timorese — dancing, cheering, brushing away tears and hugging each other — greeted independence early on Monday with a huge surge of emotion.
”This is the first time we are really truly free. It took so long,” said Felices Martez (26) quivering with emotion.
”Now we are a state. Now we have a government. Now when people ask us what country are you from, we can say we are from the nation of East Timor. We are real citizens with a real country.”
The mood at the independence venue at Taci Tolo just outside Dili was one of subdued elation until the moment when a giant black, red and gold flag was hoisted and fireworks lit up the night sky.
”This is the moment. Unbelievable happiness,” said a man who gave his name as Abaro, gulping with emotion and shaking his head.
The raising of the flag — symbol of the resistance during a bloody 24-year Indonesian occupation — triggered shouts of ”Freedom!” and ”Viva East Timor!”
The independence proclamation, some 25 minutes later than scheduled, ends more than 450 years of foreign rule.
After four centuries of neglectful rule by Portugal and 24 years of brutal Indonesian occupation, the United Nations took over in October 1999 to prepare the tiny impoverished territory for independence.
At least 100 000 East Timorese died amid a guerrilla revolt against Jakarta’s rule.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan hugged new president Xanana Gusmao after presiding over the lowering of the UN flag.
There was even applause for Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who braved domestic opposition to attend the ceremony in a mark of reconciliation.
Megawati earlier visited a cemetery for Indonesian soldiers killed during the guerrilla war in company with Gusmao — a former guerrilla leader jailed for seven years by Jakarta.
Security at the cemetery was tight, with photographers banned for fear flash guns might be mistaken for hostile fire. Indonesian TV crews were not allowed to use lights. Until the actual moment of independence, people in the tiny, staunchly Catholic territory were savouring the birth of the world’s newest nation — and one of its poorest — in a joyful but reverential mood.
Around sunset a procession of red-robed bishops and white-clad priests and altar boys carrying crucifixes and candles entered the stadium. A choir of nuns and church groups burst into a hymn as the hushed crowd listened.
A flock of doves and bunches of white balloons soared into the twilight sky to cheers and applause.
”Now we are really free for the first time,” said Alfonso Marques (16). ”We never dreamed of anything like this.” But organisers of the independence ceremony also stressed the heavy price paid for freedom from neighbouring Indonesia.
The crowd was transfixed as old television footage showing corpses of resistance fighters and graphic scenes of torture victims was played on a huge screen. Footage of the November 1991 Santa Cruz cemetery massacre, which fuelled international protests against Indonesia’s bloody occupation, was also shown. Organisers of the ceremony said Taci Tolo was used in Indonesian times as a dumping ground for the corpses of resistance fighters.
After midnight it will be dedicated as a national park to be known as ”the Garden of Heroes.” ? Sapa-AFP