The head of state of Timor-Leste, José Ramos-Horta, recounted this Thursday episodes of the Timorese resistance abroad that he intends to include in a book “homage to Portugal”, including a conversation with former US President Bill Clinton.
José Ramos-Horta, who is in Portugal on a state visit, was speaking with the Portuguese president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, at the presentation of the book “Testimonies of four years of the presence of the Portuguese National Forces in Terras do Sol Nascente ( 2000- 2004)”, at the Military Academy, in Amadora, district of Lisbon.
In an impromptu intervention, after mentioning that he did not plan to speak on this occasion, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate recalled the time he spent abroad during the Indonesian occupation and the support that the Timorese resistance obtained with the help of Portuguese diplomacy.
“When I was with Bill Clinton, he told me this: the person who convinced me the most, who moved me the most, was António Guterres. [então primeiro-ministro de Portugal]”, he reported.
According to Ramos-Horta, years later, “António Guterres confirmed that this conversation took place”, that “he was in Porto, he was in the car, and the phone call came”, in which he told Bill Clinton: “Mr. No I can contain my people on this, we will have to leave Kosovo.
“What about Tony Blair? He was very suspicious of the British. And from the American side they said: no, Tony Blair was with us from the beginning, for Kosovo. I won’t say more, because maybe he is part of it.” of a book I’m writing,” he added.
The President of the Republic of Timor-Leste declared that he is “writing a book on Portugal’s role in the Timor-Leste issue”, a project that has since slowed down due to his recent return to political functions.
“And why the book? To give thanks, to record in history the extraordinary role of Portugal, of Portuguese diplomacy. But also as a study book, a diplomacy lesson,” he justified.
“For me it is a tribute to Portugal. The way Portugal handled the whole Timor issue over the years and how through diplomacy we won this battle. I say we won, we all win, the international community, but the Portugal’s role was fundamental. I told some small episodes, but there is much more,” he said.
Ramos-Horta also mentioned a conversation with the former president of South Korea, Kim Dae-jung, about the division of efforts with the United States of America in the contacts on the Timorese issue within the framework of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation). ). summit. ) 1999 in Auckland, New Zealand.
“Kim Dae-jung told me in South Korea that he called Jiang Zemin [então Presidente da China] and Jiang Zemin told him: if you raise the issue of Timor at the APEC summit, I will withdraw from the meeting, was Jiang Zemin’s response. Because? Obviously, China and some other countries don’t want to set a precedent.”
The Timorese head of state praised the Portuguese diplomacy, arguing that it should not be underestimated and that it wins every time it enters the UN campaign.
Ramos-Horta gave an example of how he contributed to one of these campaigns, to the UN Security Council, a few years ago, when João Gomes Cravinho, the current minister, was Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in conversation with the president of Kiribati.
“The other candidates were Germany and Canada. I told him: my brother, imagine that today you arrive in Berlin, you try to be with Merkel, she is very busy; you go to Canada, you try to be with the prime minister, he is also very busy; then you arrive in Lisbon, at the airport they are confused, they have never heard of Kiribati, they call the Minister of Foreign Affairs and they immediately pick you up at the airport and that evening you are having dinner with the President of Portugal,” he said.
Source: TSF
