Global Voices

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The world is talking, are you listening?

The East Timor Law and Justice Bulletin features the worsening drug trafficking problem in Timor Leste. It quoted a government report which recognized that the country is being used as a “transit zone for criminals smuggling drugs into both Indonesia and Australia.”

Julio Gil da Silva Guterres writes about Timor Leste's application to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN. He warns that “ASEAN without Timor Leste is the same as a state without sovereignty.”

Olavio Quintas, from the eastern tip of Timor, expresses his frustration with “development” in his country to Radio Liberdade Dili. He says “Timorese people have become observers to foreigners’ investments” lamenting the lack of employment for young people, as investors and government do not trust Timorese to do the smallest tasks.

The La'o Hamutuk NGO links to an editorial of the influential Petroleum Economist which discusses the problems faced by East Timor's economy:

Timor-Leste was once seen as the poster child for developing nations. It had natural resources, a comprehensive legal framework covering their extraction and an oil fund. Now, almost 11 years after attaining independence, the country better resembles a problem child.

The most popular East Timorese politician on Facebook, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão, with a page that counts up to 6,737 likes, doesn't update it at all. Despite having used Facebook quite intensively during 2012′s electoral campaign, President Matan Ruak, with 6,603 likes and a Twitter profile (@MatanRuak), seems to have abandoned social media since roughly one month after taking office. Former President Ramos-Horta – recently appointed UN envoy to Guinea-Bissau – can be followed on Facebook (1,657 likes), as well as FRETILIN's leader and President of the National Assembly Francisco Guterres “Lu OLo“.

Following the report of the murder of an alleged witch in Maubisse, Timor Leste, on December 21, 2012, Australian anthropologist Matthew Libbis writes a comment on witchcraft and dispute resolution on the blog East Timor Law and Justice Bulletin.