Then ruling party Frelimo joined in, creating a group on Facebook, using Youtube, and creating a tweet. (Frelimo also has a Hi-5 group.)

Blogger Elísio Leonardo of InfoMoz recapped [pt]

[No Hi-5] Daviz Simango – 1580 amigos e 250 comentários sobre o perfil […]

Frelimo – Tem um grupo no Hi5, com 440 membros […]

O Partido Frelimo possui vários grupos no Facebook, sendo que o primeiro retornado possui 134 membros. Além disso, o perfil do Partido Frelimo possui 142 amigos, e o evento campanha eleitoral da Frelimo possui 67 presenças confirmadas.

Não encontrei nenhum grupo reelevante referente ao Partido MDM, mas encontrei o perfil do MDMWIKI, que possui 19 amigos. Nenhum evento reelevante relacionado ao Partido MDM foi retornado.

Frelimo also created a professional site called “Frelimo online” that includes text of speeches, photos, and even a chat section. Interestingly, Frelimo's blog “A Voz da Revolução” (”The Voice of the Revolution”) includes links to critical blogs and even opposition bloggers.

Also new in the Mozambican online world is the blog of President Armando Guebuza, who is running for a second term. His party Frelimo has ruled Mozambique since independence in 1975. Hosted on Blogspot, in the header image of the blog, Guebuza appears dressed informally, without a suit a tie.

The blog so far has two entries, the first entitled “Exploring other forms of consolidating citizenship” and the second “Employment: a crosscutting problem requiring multisectoral interventions”. The blog has open comments, with over 50 comments on the first entry and at least half that on the second, including signed comments by public intellectuals like Edígio Vaz [pt].

Photo by Flickr user Maanskyn

Quoting from Guebuza's first entry [pt]

No âmbito da Presidência Aberta e Inclusiva, visitei os Centros Multimédia Comunitários de Chitima, na Província, de Tete, de Chokwe, na Província de Gaza e da Catembe, na Cidade de Maputo. Os jovens gestores e beneficiários destes Centros, interpretando o sentimento de outros compatriotas nossos, pediram-me, na altura para fazer o uso das tecnologias de informação e comunicação para com eles e com outros compatriotas interagir.

[…] Na verdade, para além daqueles jovens, o nosso belo Moçambique orgulha-se hoje de possuir já uma massa crítica de internautas que, entre si, trocam informações e escalpelizam a Nação nas suas diferentes dimensões. Este é um grupo que dá conteúdo à grande capacidade crítica e analítica do heróico Povo Moçambicano.

Decidi pois avançar já em dar expressão ao conselho que me foi dado por aqueles jovens e juntar-me ao cada vez mais crescente círculo de debate virtual sobre esta Pérola do Índico. Sei que esta é uma forma de interagir também com internautas de todo o mundo que se interessam por Moçambique e pelo seu progresso e paz.

Comments on the blog, overwhelmingly enthusiastic, reflect what for some might seem a certain formality, with writers addressing the President as “Your Excellence”, “Mr. President of the Republic”, “Illustrious Mr. Guebuza”. Others opt for “Comrade President”, alluding to the socialist roots of Guebuza's party.

Blogger Nelson Livingstone at Meu Mundo writes in a rather tongue-in-cheek way [pt]

Alguns dos comentários não tem nada a ver com nada. Uma auténtica “graxa”. Não se trata aqui de “proibir” que as pessoas opinem. Não se trata de concordar ou discordar com seja oque for ou seja lá quem for mas fazê-lo na “medida certa”. […]

Seria bom, muito bom que quem fosse lá(blog do Senhor Presidente) não o fizesse pura e simplesmente para “engraxar”, mas para estimular e amadurecer as ideias do Senhor Presidente que muitas vezes virão em forma de “raw material”.

It does appear that comments are indeed quite open, as one anonymous commenter attacked the use of funds for decentralization, and commenter Artur Matavele challenges Frelimo's policy on sanitation and water [pt]

O combate a pobreza pressupõe a satisfação das necessidades mais elementares das pessoas, em primeiro lugar, o acesso a água potável e saneamento adequado são parte desses serviços básicos. Sem água não há vida.

Todavia o manifesto do Partido não põe a devida ênfase neste elemento. Como combater a pobreza dos nossos compatriotas sem se satisfazer estas necessidades básicas? Como reter as raparigas na escola sem que elas tenham fácil acesso a água potável? Como dignificar as nossas mães, esposas, irmãs e filhas com o fecalismo a céu aberto-Saneamento inadequado?

Guebuza seems to have responded to certain comments on his blog, saying that he awaits more “interventions, teachings and advice” from readers.

Aside from the beginnings of debate online, the campaign on the ground has seen various moments of tension and conflict as documented by the Centro de Integridade Pública (Center for Public Integrity).

Another online monitoring project was set up by the weekly free paper A Verdade, using Ushahidi crowd-sourcing software [pt]. The tag line of the site reads “VOCÊ pode ajudar seja um CIDADÃO REPÓRTER!” (”You can help, be a CITIZEN REPORTER!”) With four weeks to go before the vote, the site has already received nearly 200 reports of intimidation from all over the country, the majority of which are deemed to be “confirmed”.

The real question about all of this online activity is whether it can impact the results of the election, in a country where in 2007, only 9-10 out of 1000 people had internet access according to the World Bank.

One thing is certain, the Mozambican appetite for interaction with politicians is undeniable, and bloggers and internet users will continue to demand this well after the Presidential vote. As commenter Maguezzi writes [pt]

Entrar na Internet é bom. Vai sempre encontrar gente aqui. Mas mais do que encontrar gente, é como responde a essas pessoas; é dar respostas aos anseios desses compatriotas.

East Timor, a territory only 3/4 the size of El Salvador, has a relatively disperse rural population and Dili, the capital, is the only major urban area. There are very few large landholdings in Timor, with the exception of the colonial-era coffee plantations in the central mountain districts. (It is worth remembering here that coffee is estimated to make up an estimated 80% of the productive non-oil economy.)

Ermera, coffee growing region. Photo by Sugu

The policy of the UN, and the first governments of independent Timor, was to attempt to build up other crucial institutions before touching the issue of land rights, which all were aware was quite controversial.

Pedro Xavier, the Timorese official who presided over Land Registration the UN Transitional Administration's Land and Property Unit provided background in a paper presented to the East Timor Conference on Sustainable Development in 2001

Much proof of land ownership (sertifikat [Indonesian]/alvara [Portuguese]) was destroyed along with property and possessions in 1975 and 1999. At present, proof of cultivating the land and statements from the community are available though they may be contested.

Regulation No. 1/1999 gave UNTAET the mandate to administer all movable and immovable assets in East Timor. […] On the 25th of October 2000, the UNTAET Cabinet decided […] Land rights would only be decided conclusively after independence.

While land conflicts continued unabated, the first independent government of East Timor did not pass any land law. Bits and pieces were added by way of decree laws, but nothing addressing the structural issues. Donor nations, especially the US, pushed for a law, arguing that it would be hard to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) without a framework for land ownership. USAID began sponsoring a Land Law Project in 2003. Ben Moxham wrote in Zmag in 2005

[The US] is funding a number of studies on FDI promotion, agribusiness development, a finance sector framework, and developing a land law regime friendly to the private sector. My unnamed diplomatic source sees this last policy as Timor's only option to attract investors. “The government has tons of land, about two thirds of the country,” he proclaims, “some of which of course is tied up in Adat [traditional title]. This is one incentive they can offer. They can give out land for FDI.”

But there was an important, unresolved social aspect to urban land rights, as International Crisis Group wrote in its 2008 report “Timor Leste's Displacement Crisis”

Timor badly needs new land laws, a land register, a system for issuing titles, and mediation and dispute-resolution mechanisms. […] These problems underlie many displacements – people took advantage of the 2006 chaos to chase neighbours out of disputed properties – and risk undermining long-term stability and economic growth. Draft land laws exist, but successive governments have considered them too controversial. They need to be passed but, important as it is, land law reform will take time and alternative ways are needed to house IDPs whose houses are the subject of ownership disputes.

USAID continued to fund work on land, and in 2007 the “Ita Nia Rai” Program was launched, which would include the drafting of a Land Law and two pilot land registry campaigns in Liquiça and Manatuto districts. Before the draft Law was finished, work began on the land registry campaign. Warren Wright wrote recently in the East Timor Law and Justice Bulletin, an online publication,

The question that arises is why should the government proceed in such an exercise before there is legal clarity about the status of the 40000 odd land rights (over most of the most valuable land in East Timor) created during the Indonesian occupation, or about the abolition of the Portuguese land rights created during the colonial period, or, even, indeed, about the status of land rights that exist over most of the national territory by virtue of local customary law.

In June, the Government of East Timor presented a Land Law, stating it would allow two months of public consultation on the draft. Under Timor's NGO Forum, a fairly dormant “Rede ba Rai” (Land Network) was reactivated in 2008 in anticipation of the draft Land Law. The Land Network sent a letter to Minister of Justice Lucia Lobato in June calling for at least five months of consultations, with simple language documents explaining the Law.

Rice Paddies in Maliana District. Photo by SReyes.

Civil society's challenge has been to create intelligible versions of a highly technical legal language which discusses two legal regimes: Indonesian hak milik, and Portuguese propriedade perfeita, as well dealing with land with no title.

During the months of July and August, the Land Network has followed the consultation process in the districts, making strong criticisms of their length and content. It called a recent consultation in Manufahi “a charade”:

The date of the Manufahi consultation moved several times and fell on the same day as a large NGO organized meeting. Many people therefore couldn't participate in the Land Law meeting.[…]

“Although we are happy to see more discussion on land issues, the Same meeting raised few constructive comments on how to improve the law,” said Inês Martins of the Land Network.

“This is because people have only 61 minutes to speak, they haven't seen and don't understand the law, and the meeting is organized at the last minute. Also, because the Minister alone replies to all questions or comments on the law she often provides information that is misleading or wrong.”

The Ministry of Justice responded last month to concerns in Aileu district about the Law by saying that once the “consultation” period is over, they are planning a public education campaign about the law down to the local level.

Questions remain about key aspects of the law: who will sit on the bodies vested with power to decide land conflicts, the future of now-squatted coffee plantations, and the question of “community lands”. Pedro from Haburas Foundation recently asked in a Land Network press release

“There are important questions to be discussed - Who will get compensation, and how much? Who will be in a position to make key political decisions about land allocation? Why has the state been given strong rights over community lands? Who receives the money from projects run on community land? Who will help vulnerable people to claim their land rights?”

The question of land ownership in East Timor complicated by deeply-held cosmological beliefs about land, life and death. For most Timorese, the landscape is also populated by powerful spirits who are called rai na'in, literally meaning owners of the land.

Village in the Mountain of Maliana - Timor-Leste. Photo by SReyes.

Writes blogger “Mau Lear” (Manuel Carlos D'Oliveira) in TIMOR, lendas, prosas e narrativas [Pt]

As montanhas e as planícies de Timor estão cheias de seres invisíveis para a maioria dos mortais, e esses entes influenciam definitivamente a vida dos Timorenses […] Esses seres invisíveis que tem o nome de Rai Na’in, são os espíritos donos da terra que tanto se encontram nas árvores seculares que povoam a ilha, como em animais ou pedras e são respeitados e muitas vezes adorados pelo povo simples e ainda animista.

Former Peace Corps volunteer Michael Jones shares an anecdote from 2003 in Manatuto district, where he explains that Rai Na'in dictated that a fence simply could not be constructed near his house

The family said Tiu [Uncle] was the expert on the Rai Nains (spirit owners of the land), and that he would know what was allowed and what wasn't. Sra. Lina's husband, Domingo, had explained to me once that a man had cut his heel while working on the fence behind the house once and later become quite ill, near-to death. The counsel of elders said it was a holy spot [lulik], that the large stones jutting out along the ridge dividing the living area from the lower rice paddy were actually a spirit path, along which the spirits walked when descending from the hills to the beach and back. The fence must be taken down, after which, the ill man would recover. It seemed to have unfolded this way.

Tiu had a much more complete story. He said that at one time, an elder had become ill and the cause was that the fence angered the Rai Nain. So they took the fence down and the man recovered. They built the fence back up, and other people became ill. So they took the fence down and the people recovered. They did this three times, until finally resolving that no one should build a fence or carryout any activity on this land, ever. I asked about the land adjoining the house, between the house and the kitchen area, away from these impressive stones, figuring this would not be on the spirit path. “Lulik hotu!” exclaimed Tiu. He would have none of it and made as if to leave at the very thought of trying to delineate the lulik area.

Writer Pedro Rosa Mendes recently wrote in a beautiful online essay “Shadows, Dreams, Shapes: The Lulik Reality” [En]

Reality, including politics and its codes, does not exist outside of the lulik. The Timorese inhabit a magical realism that is as palpable and evident as it is invisible or fantastic for us.

The Land Law refers to “community land” and states that “local communities participate” in resource management and conflict resolution, which seems an allusion to Timorese customary law. Many would like the Land Law to more formally contemplate what is known as Tara Bandu.

Haburas Foundation's Demetrio do Amaral de Carvalho explained to Grist Magazine after winning the Goldman Prize in 2004

Tara Bandu is an East Timor tradition, a customary law that we recognize as traditional ecological wisdom. It involves a kind of agreement within a community to protect a special area for a period of time. During the occupation this practice was prohibited, so we are trying to revive it, to remind people about it.

But the language of the Law does not provide strong guarantees over community lands, stating merely that the state will “protect” these areas. And given the global scenario of increased pressure on productive land, many in Timor have raised concerns about foreign ownership of land. One precedent, an MOU between the Ministry of Agriculture and an Indonesian firm which surfaced in 2008 promising 100,000ha, raised alarm and continues to linger in people's minds.

Lafahek Rai Maran created a joke advertisement after the MOU, that says bidding for all of East Timor will start at US $200 million [Tet], but with some clever negotiation, the price could be halved.

The issue of the Land Law will mostly likely be one of the most hotly debated and potentially most protested in the last half of 2009 in East Timor.

This post is the fourth of a series to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the popular referendum in East Timor, which led to the territory's internationally recognized independence. In the first post we highlighted the support of the international community for the freedom of East Timor. In the second, we interviewed Abe Barreto Soares who is one of the organizers of the celebration events for solidarity taking place in East Timor in August and September 2009. The third post amplifies Timorese bloggers' celebrations while questioning the current versus the past state of the Nation. Next, we will write on the crimes committed during “Black September” in 1999 and the controversy over the Timorese leadership's decision to not seek justice.

Ohin loron , loron ALEGRIA nian ba timor oan hotu. iha loron ida ne'e ita sei hanoin fila fali tinan sanulu liuba (30 de Agosto de 1999) nebe ita hotu decidi atu liberta ita nia nação husi ocupação indonésio. ALEGRIA nebe ita hetan iha tinan 10 liu ba ne ALEGRIA ida BOOT tebes ba ita timor oan hotu(mas iha 21,5%triste). Ita hotu expressa ita nia alegria ida ne liu husi haklalak, hakilar, hananu e tanis. Mesmo too agora ALEGRIA ida ne ita sei sente nafatin maibe, durante tinan 10 nia laran ne susar no terus sedauk sés husi ita (caso boot liu mak iha tinan 2006). Ema barak (balun husi rai leur) hare ba caso 2006 ho 2008 (11 de fevereiro) dehan katak “ESTADO FALHADO” maibe sira nia teoria ida ne sala boot.

photo by Rusty Stewart

Aquarius Vinte Três wrote that for him things started the moment Indonesian President B. J. Habibie suggested the popular referendum [Tet]

Lia fuan ” MATE ka MORIS DUNI BAPA SAI” mosu ho Espontánia iha tinan 1999 baihira Prezidente Indonésia B.J.Habibie hasai opsaun rua maka hanesan: Simu autonomia no Rejeita Autonomia (dua opsi:Menerima Otonomi dan menolak otonomi) iha loron 27 Janeiru 1999. Durante manifestasaun pro-independénsia ruma iha Dili laran, joven sira uza liafuan ida-ne’e ” MATE ka MORIS DUNI BAPA SAI”, hodi hamánas liutan ita-nia espíritu nasionalizmu to'o didi'ak ‘Konsulta Popular' iha fulan agostu ‘99.

photo by Rusty Stewart

Others used the opportunity to lament the lack of unity and vision of Timorese people, like Abel Pires da Silva, who wrote on the RENETIL blog [Tet]

Fulan Agostu iha tinan 10 liu ba, povu Timor maioria fiar metin katak Timor-Leste ukun rasik an sei diak liu fali Timor Leste ne’ebé hamutuk ho Indonezia. Iha tempu rezisténsia, ita iha inimigu KOMUN, ne’ebé halo ita hamutuk kumu liman kontra inimigu ne’e. Iha tempu ukun rasik an, ita lakon inimigu komun ne’ebé halo ita hamutuk nu’udar forsa nasaun. Hanesan konsekuensia husi situasaun ne’e, entidade barak iha nasaun Timor-Leste ida-idak hakarak buka atu hetan sira nia interese rasik. Grupu barak mak komesa reklama sira nia “kontribuisaun” no ezizi estadu atu “tau matan”. Moras ezizi estadu atu “tau matan” ne’e mos kontinua akontese

On a lighter note, the band Outravez, made up of Timorese students based in Indonesia, proudly announced the release of their new album, with a song dedicated to the referendum day [Tet], and shared they would play at today's concert in front of the government palace in Dili.

The best window into the concert and the mood in front of the Palace today was from the tweet of the CJITL - Centru Jornalista Investigativu Timor Leste (Investigative Journalist Center of Timor Leste). The main attraction was clearly Indonesian pop star Krisdayanti. Quoting a selection of Twitter posts from Gil @CJITL:

9:11 AM Aug 30th: populasaun kuaze nain rihun sanulu halibur an ohin kalan iha palacio governu, iha konsertu bo'ot n'e

9:16 AM Aug 30th: Bonoite dili, ida ne'e mak liafuan primeiru husi krisdayanti nia ibun bainhira kanta muzika Rai dili rai cidade

9:54 AM Aug 30th: tuir mai distritu 13 sei hato'o nia mensajen ho dialeitu idak idak nian..kris deskanca oitoann

10:06 AM Aug 30th: Ramos Horta hateten”loron ohin ne'e importante tebes, ita tenki halo reflesaun ba sira ne'ebe mate hodi fo liberdade ba ita”

This post is the third of a series to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the popular referendum in East Timor, which led to the territory's internationally recognized independence. In the first post we highlighted the support of the international community for the freedom of East Timor. In the second, we interviewed Abe Barreto Soares who is one of the organizers of the celebration events for solidarity taking place in East Timor in August and September 2009.

Photo: Ferréz, used with permission

Images of the violent eviction, in which the “shock troops” police used rubber bullets and tear gas, were broadcast live on major Brazilian TV stations and used extensively by print media, provoking reactions in the blogosphere and on twitter. Ferrez, who is a neighbor, blogged his outrage [pt], writing after witnessing some of the evictions he “couldn't even take anymore”:

Hoje o helicóptero voltou de madrugada, dezenas de famílias ficaram com suas coisas durante a noite, beirando o córrego amontoram as coisas e ficaram no sereno, uma mulher me perguntou se depois a mídia ou os polícia ia levar eles pra algum lugar, eu engoli seco e não consegui responder, ela entendeu, pois o silêncio também é uma resposta.

Não tiveram pra onde ir, ninguém veio buscar. entre uma conversa e outra, um vacilão falando que tinha muito oportinista na favela, muito cara que pegou casa sem precisar, pois já tinha seu barraco, logo foi calado pela multidão que beirava o córrego, com gritos um tiozinho chegou e falou que ninguém tava brincando de ter lucro ali não, que ninguém tava fingindo que precisava morar, que ele havia perdido tudo pro trator.

Photo: Ferréz, used with permission

The majority of opinions on twitter were in sympathy with the evicted people, like @fefoguimaraes, who tweeted that the eviction “was an affront to human dignity” and tweeted to the Mayor's Secretary asking where the families would go.

UN Special Rapporteur for Adequate Housing Raquel Rolnik, who is from São Paulo, wrote on her blog [pt]

As imagens do despejo mostram a urgência de tratarmos a questão de moradia de forma definitiva. São mães com crianças de colo, idosos e trabalhadores que não terão alternativa para onde ir e podem acabar na rua.

Photo: Ferréz, used with permission

Panóptico wrote criticizing the state of São Paulo [pt] and its advertising newly published on the media, only a day after the eviction, of its social housing project, whose tagline is “In the State of São Paulo, we do it. And we do it well”:

Mas num ponto a propaganda é bem verdadeira. Como todos nós vimos ontem, a tropa de choque e os tratores sempre funcionam: “No Estado de São Paulo é assim: A gente faz. E faz bem feito”

Se o governo seguir sua “política de habitação popular”, como observado na desapropriação do prédio do INSS, depois da expulsão das famílias de suas casas, virão as ordens para que a polícia toque o povo da rua. É o governo de SP sempre inovando: desaloja o desalojado.

Some disagreed, stating that private property is to be respected above all else, like Xico commenting on Panóptico [pt] who said:

Pra começo de conversa, não deveriam ter ocupado uma área particular, ociosa ou não. Além disso, a prefeitura ofereceu abrigo às famílias, que se recusaram a aceitar. Finalmente, oferecer uma política habitacional NÃO significa fornecer suporte à invasão de propriedade privada.

Não estou dizendo que essas famílias mereçam morar na rua. Estou dizendo que elas estão indo pelo caminho errado. Parte da responsabilidade é, sim, do governo, mas a responsabilidade pessoal pesa muito nessas horas. Não se pode esperar que o governo apóie esse tipo de atitude fornecendo infra-estrutura a pessoas que não têm o direito de estar ali pra começo de conversa.

Photo by Ferréz, used with permission

Little Star Shining disagrees with the point of view above, saying she has no words to describe the news [pt] of this “brutal, violent, absurd eviction of these families”

Cabe então refletimos, afinal o que é uma àrea ocupada (ou “invadida” como pronuncia pejorativamente nossa brilhante mídia)???
Vamos lá…
Uma àrea para ser ocupada tem que ser primeiramente uma àrea inativa, sem uso… ou seja, não tem ninguém morando, nenhum imóvel, nem fábrica, plantação, nada! A premissa é que ela não esteja em nenhuma forma de uso, afinal não dá pra ocupar uma casa de alguém está morando, por exemplo, apenas casas abandonadas, concordam?? Com a àrea é a mesma coisa… ela está lá imensa, abandonada e sem uso. Até que um grupo de pessoas, geralmente organizadas em movimentos de sem-tetos ou sem-terra, resolvem ocupar aquela àrea e dra uso à ela. […]

Agora a indignação é você ainda crer que o governo, justiça, polícia ou seja qual for a instituição Estatal reguladora de poder, visa atender o povo!!!! Oraaaa… não caia nessa!

There are some more chilling photos of the eviction available on freelance photojournalist Anderson Barbosa's Flickr account.

Photo by Ferrez, used with permission.

On 30 August, 1999, hundreds of thousands of Timorese voters braved an Indonesian-directed terror campaign to cast ballots for independence in a U.N.-organized referendum. This event, which ended Indonesia’s 24-year illegal, brutal military occupation, led to the creation of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste as the first new nation of the millennium. The vote was the culmination of decades of struggle by Timorese people, supported by solidarity activists around the world.

The release of journalist Max Stahl's video recording of the outrageous Massacre de Santa Cruz in 1991 increased global awareness about the crimes occurring in East Timor under the Indonesian occupation.

In 1996 Jose Ramos-Horta and Bishop Ximenes Belo were awarded the Peace Nobel Prize and only three years later Indonesian President Habibie allowed the people of East Timor to choose between autonomy within Indonesia and independence. And the world united along with East Timor.

"Die-in" protest in the US. Credit: www.etan.org

Solidarity movements able to pressure their governments and protest Indonesian abuses sprung up in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Portugal, France, Holland, Ireland, Germany, the UK, Canada and the US during the 1990s. Even within Indonesia, East Timorese had friends working to stop abuses and promote self-determination.

In the summer of 1999, in the lead up to the Referendum, the International Federation for East Timor assembled the Observer Project, an international team of members from at least 22 countries to go to Timor and monitor the vote. The security arrangements for the months preceding the referendum were shaky, as the UN-brokered agreement for the Referendum left security to the Indonesian police.

UN poster that reads "We will not leave" credit to Australia Timor-Leste Friendship Network

IFET monitors bravely fanned out across the territory, a project report from August 22, 1999 explains

We have rented houses and deployed teams in every area of East Timor. Upon arriving in a town, an IFET-OP team first makes contact with the police and local authorities, and then with various community leaders and advocates on both sides of the campaign. They settle into a house which an IFET-OP advance team has arranged, and begin observing and inquiring about events and perceptions related to the campaign and other aspects of the consultation. Each team reports in nightly by phone and files a written weekly report. Although nobody on any of our teams has been injured, several have witnessed violent or intimidating incidents, and have reported such events to the appropriate authorities, UNAMET, and IFET-OP headquarters in Dili.

The IFET observers reported the violence that engulfed East Timor after the vote, which it turned out, was overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia. The IFET Observer Project reported on September 3

The observers, members of the International Federation for East Timor Observer Project (IFET-OP), traveled to the Becora neighborhood of Dili to investigate reports of militia burning houses in the area yesterday. When they arrived, they found a house newly ablaze, and with both firefighters and journalists at the scene, the IFET-OP team went to investigate. Ten minutes after the observers arrived, the Indonesian military-backed militia showed up at the house.

The Aitarak (Thorn) militia struck one U.S. IFET-OP member in the face. Another team member, a woman from Finland, was hit in the back by a militia holding a gun. Yet another Finnish team member was threatened at gunpoint. The militia members also punched the IFET-OP driver and smashed a window on his car.

With militia violence kicking off again almost immediately after the vote, solidarity groups around the world began to demand their governments pay attention to the worsening situation in East Timor. The following video, from Jose Budha, portrays how Portugal stood up and stopped in that period:

[Subtitles] The images of a country standing for 3 minutes in solidarity with a distant people ran the world, as did the aerial view of a 10 kilometers human chain. Thousands ended up heading towards Madrid, so that they could shout loudly their rebellion against the Indonesian Embassy. Indonesia eventually accepted the entry of an international force in East Timor. The UN took another week to send this force. We do not know how many people died. Out of the 18 accused in Indonesia of involvement in the events of 99, only 1 was convicted and the others were acquitted in different instances. There is a certainty that in the future, when necessary, there are millions of voices ready to scream, reaching as far as 14,000 kilometers away, to Timor Lorosa'e.

After the results were out in the 4th of September numerous atrocities, killings and devastation happened as TAPOL reported in 1999:

After the referendum results were announced on 4 September, the militias and their Kopassus bosses unleashed a scorched-earth policy of gigantic proportions. Para-military forces joined the fray, along with six TNI battalions, including two notorious local battalions, 744 and 745. Altogether about 15,000 men were involved. Without such a large contingent of men, it could never have taken hold so rapidly.

Although [Operation] Sapu Jagad-II sought to create the impression that this was a spontaneous outpouring of anger by pro-Indonesia forces, there is overwhelming evidence that the destruction was a well-prepared military operation. In many places, villagers were forced to destroy and burn their own neighbourhoods, even their own houses. The aim was to destroy as much as possible and punish the pillars of the pro-independence movement. The Catholic Church, which had given sanctuary to fleeing East Timorese throughout the occupation, was one of the main targets.

Photo from "Genocide Watch: East Timor 1975-1999", researched and written by Adam Jones. Shared under a license for non-profit use.

All IFET OP volunteers were forced to leave Dili by September 7, 1999 under extremely harrowing circumstances

Today, September 7, the last of our observers was forced to leave East Timor. Over the past two days, the Royal Australian Air Force evacuated 60 of our nonpartisan volunteers to Darwin from Dili and Baucau.

We left East Timor for safety, but with tremendous sadness. The East Timorese people have no Australia to run to, no place to hide from militia terror. Last night, Australia and Indonesian military officers prevented one of our East Timorese staff members from boarding the plane with us — and he faces an unspeakable horror shared by hundreds of thousands of his fellow East Timorese.

Most international observers and media fled East Timor before IFET-OP had to leave, and we were the last international NGO to leave. UNAMET has withdrawn from the entire country except Dili, where their communications and electricity has been cut off, and they are surrounded by militias who shoot into their compound virtually without interruption.

The mentioned “world pressure” became more and more real as citizens did not resign. Some photos of solidarity ties in Portugal may be seen in Tane Timor website. Maremargo posted images from Spain. Antonio Jose, from Uma Lulik blog, illustrated and emotionally described what was happening in Lisbon in a never before seen solidarity during the 7th and the 8th [pt] of September 1999:

As sirenes dos bombeiros ouviram-se ininterruptas nesses 3 minutos… parámos por Timor-Leste como nunca parámos por mais nada… TODOS (…)
Durante toda a tarde do cimo daquele prédio foram lançados constantemente papeis e papelinhos, rolos de papel higiénico, tudo o que vinha à mão era material para protesto. No final da tarde percebe-se que esse stock acabou pois eram as páginas amarelas que fluíam nessa altura… aquele ventinho sempre a ajudar e a depositar os protestos em plena embaixada dos EUA, nas árvores, no seu jardim e envolventes. No topo do prédio viam-se gente de gravata e camisa, a causa era a mesma…

"Civil non-obedience for Timor Loro Sa'e" in front of the US Embassy in Lisbon, Portugal, September 1999. Photo by Flickr user nopasaran, used with permission.

While the East Timor Action Network put people on the streets in September 1999, it was also able to count on the phone calls and letters of over ten thousand Americans

ETAN grew during 1999, enlarging our membership from 8,500 to 11,700. […] Using our experience and national activist network developed through eight years of dedication to a cause many called hopeless, ETAN mobilized public and official pressure. […] In September, ETAN’s web site was visited by more than 40,000 people a week. […] During September, our most active staff and volunteers were featured or quoted in countless mainstream media articles and programs, reaching tens of millions. ETAN activists authored op-eds in major U.S. newspaper, wrote letters to the editor, and appeared on local and national radio and TV shows.

On the other side of the world, the decisive moment for international intervention happened on the eve of the APEC summit in New Zealand, when Bill Clinton privately met with Pacific leaders. Only days prior he had announced the suspension of US military training with Indonesia. According to blogger Nigel Morley of “Writing for the Future“

To some readers this may seem fanciful but when Timorese Nobel Peace Prize winner José Ramos-Horta met United States (U.S.) President Bill Clinton at the APEC meeting in New Zealand in 1999, Clinton remarked that Ramos-Horta had more influence with Congress than he did (Zubrycki: 2002).

New Zealanders turned out in numbers to welcome Clinton, Ramos Horta and Australian Prime Minister Howard. Australians also “Take To The Streets Over East Timor”:

From Sidney, Australia, "Mother & Child" photo by Flickr user Potsy, used with permission

Banners saying “Stop The Slaughter” and “Wiranto - Murder.” Chants of “Free East Timor” and “Viva Timor Leste” (long live East Timor) came from the crowd after it heard from East Timorese resistance leader Mr Jose “Xanana” Gusmão during a live telephone hook-up from Jakarta.

“We need you, brothers and sisters of Australia, we need your voice,” Xanana Gusmao in Jakarta said by telephone, “I think it is important to send a message to the Indonesian Government that the Australian community and Australian workers will do everything they can to stop the killings. Viva East Timor,” he said. “Viva,” the crowd yelled back.

Students from Kingsgrove High School pledge their support for a free Timor in 1999. Photo by Flickr user sHzaam!, used with permission

During the torturous days of September 1999, world leaders moved slowly to intervene in East Timor, when it was clear that the Indonesian military and its proxies were completely destroying the territory, and setting off a humanitarian crisis of massive proportions. But the decisive protest and advocacy of groups of concerned citizens across the world shamed the US, Australia, and Indonesia into turning a new page for East Timor.

A decade later, it is time to celebrate that global union. Several events are scheduled in Dili, such as a photo exhibition in Fundação Oriente (which was itself the place where a massacre occurred in 1999) describing solidarity movements over the years.

This is the first in a series of posts to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the popular referendum in East Timor, a vote which led to the territory's internationally recognized independence. If you would like to share memories from the acts of global solidarity for East Timor in 1999, please do so below.

Simango is the mayor of Beira, and founded his new party MDM earlier this year, after falling out with traditional opposition party RENAMO. Just days ago, he and his party confirmed a planned bid for the Presidency and a campaign for the October election. Simango was heading for a meeting of his party when his car was shot at by individuals in the assembled crowd who grabbed police weapons.

He escaped unharmed but media reports indicate three people were injured, including a policeman. Initial reports from Mozambican independent media suggest the shooters were members of RENAMO.

One group of influential voices in the Mozambican blogosphere until recently has tended to dominate – a handful of social scientists who dialogue among each other. These bloggers are engaged in high-level debates, sometimes abstractions of current political issues, and at times their writing tends towards long treatises citing Weber, Marx and others.

Enter Mozambican MC Azagaia, who is a sociologist by day.

Photo by Flickr user Fazuma Foto - Sista Clementina at http://www.radiofazuma.com/

Prolific blogger — and sociologist — Carlos Serra [pt] recently wrote a post about the rapper that read the following, which kicked off the latest round of debate

Cada vez mais conhecido dentro e fora do país, o rapper Azagaia - Edson da Luz de seu real nome - deu uma longa entrevista ao “O País”, a conferir aqui [pt]. Creio que alguns ainda se lembram do quão atribulada foi a ascensão social do jovem cantor, com gente apostada em o destruir por completo a qualquer nível. Mesmo nos blogues, lembram-se?

One of Serra's readers posted the newspaper's interview with Azagaia, which serves as an introduction to Da Luz:

Azagaia é uma lança curta que é usada como arma de arremesso por caçadores. Por que escolheu Azagaia como seu nome artístico?

Quando escolhi este nome, não sabia que me tornaria o Azagaia de hoje. Na altura, era mesmo por questões de cultura e também musicais. Quando comecei a cantar rap, havia um grupo que se chamava Dinastia Bantu, que era mesmo para contrastar um pouco esta realidade de os rappers moçambicanos se inspirarem, completamente, em rappers americanos e usar nomes ingleses. Nós procuramos nomes que têm algo a ver connosco para, depois, tentar começar a luta por não só sermos globalizados, mas, se calhar, como forma de aproveitar essa informação que nos chega, para criarmos uma coisa que tem a ver connosco moçambicanos. É por que surge o nome Azagaia. Coincidentemente, veio mesmo a calhar porque, actualmente, tenho esta postura directa de fazer crítica social e há quem diga política também. Daí, por um capricho do destino, a minha postura na música tem muito a ver com o nome que adoptei há quase dez ou quinze anos.

Photo by Flickr user getinet - Rapper Q-tip © mekuria getinet / mekuriageti.net - used under a Creative Commons License

In 2005, Azagaia and his peers, a number of young MCs, founded a record label in Maputo called Cotonete Records (or “Q-tip Records”, in what must be a nod to the American rapper-producer [en] from the seminal group A Tribe called Quest). Cotonete really took off in late 2007, after Azagaia’s single “As Mentiras da Verdade” achieved great success and his Babalaze — “the most awaited album of 2007” according to Magus DeLirio [pt].

Citing the lyrics of “As Mentiras da Verdade” from the blog Ideias para Debate [pt]

E se eu te dissesse
Que Moçambique não é tão pobre como parece
Que são falsas estatísticas
E há alguém que enriquece
Com dinheiros do FMI,OMS e UNICEF
Depois faz o povo crer
Que a economia é que não cresce […]

Se eu te dissesse
Que a história que tu estudas tem mentiras
Que o teu cérebro é lavado em cada boa nota que tiras
Que a revolução não foi feita só com canções e vivas
Houve traição, tortura e versões escondidas […]

E se eu te dissesse
Que a Polícia da República é uma comédia
São magrinhos, sem postura e se vendem por uma moeda Agora matam-se entre eles traição na corporação
Afinal de contas quem é o polícia, quem é o ladrão? […]

“As Mentiras da Verdade” (a play on words meaning “True Lies”) got radio play in Mozambique and already provoked debate among the social scientists of the blogosphere. Back in 2007, sociologist Patrício Langa [pt] honed in immediately on the notion of “truth” — questioning whether Azagaia was truly interested in the “truth” [pt] (a “social critique based in reason”) or instead a “social intervention”.

Na verdade Azagaia, como ele próprio reconhece, não inventa nada do que diz, apenas faz eco a aquilo que as pessoas dizem nas esquinas e corredores, portanto, ao conhecimento popular. Aquele conhecimento daqueles que não tem tempo nem paciência para conviver com a dúvida enquanto avaliam as premissas. É um conhecimento do senso comum, portanto, apriorístico, intuitivo, assistemático. Na verdade é um não – conhecimento ou desconhecimento. Azagaia não faz perguntas, dá respostas. E as respostas que nos oferece, não são respostas novas.

To cite a response to Langa on the Cotonete Records blog [pt] from Jorga Gazy:

Entao, se a musica de Azagaia está ou não baseada em factos comprovados na prática, isso pouco nos interessa, o que mais nos interessa no meu ver, e que as músicas desse jovem refletem exatamente o senso comum do povo moçambicano, portanto, o que antes era comentado em casa, nas esquinas e etc., o que a muitos levanta duvida, questões, e hoje e tratado de uma forma aberta, sem medo de censura ou represálias de quem quer que seja. A música do Azagaia convida a todos, os que já “sabiam” e os que “não sabiam” a reflectir sobre os temas/assuntos socio-políticos.

A recent report on freedom of speech from the Media Institute of Southern Africa [pt] found that “new techniques” for silencing journalists were in use in 2007, including the use of legal means to intimidate journalists. That said, while the state does own the largest media outlets, frontal critiques of the Frelimo government do indeed appear in a number of private newspapers and to some extent on a couple of new TV stations.

Photo by Flickr user Fazuma Foto - Sista Clementina at http://www.radiofazuma.com/

Azagaia followed “As Mentiras da Verdade” with a number of provocative singles, including “A Marcha” and, immediately following on the riots in February 2008 over the price of transport and food in Maputo, “Povo no Poder” (“People in Power”). The track, recorded only three days after an informal strike organized by SMS caused poor neighborhoods to be blockaded and groups of disaffected youth to take their frustration out in the city. When the February 5 disturbances ended, 100 people had been injured (including 68 shot by the police), and at least five people died from their injuries. (For more see this Global Voices post [en].)

In this context “Povo no Poder” was undeniably provocative, most definitely an act of “intervention”. According to Cotonete Records, the song was downloaded over 1,000 times per day in its first week online and the label released a studio video due to the popular response.

Quoting the lyrics from a blog called divagancias [pt]:

Agora pedem o que?…Ponderação
Pondera tu, antes de fazeres a merda
De subires o custo de vida
E manteres baixa a nossa renda
Esse governo não se emenda mesmo…NÃo
Vai haver uma tragédia mesmo…SIM
Mesmo…
Que venham com gás lacrimogénio
A greve tá cheia de oxigénio
Não param o nosso desempenho
Eu vou lutar, não me abstenho

Blogger Zenaida Machado [pt] reported in February 2008 that Azagaia was (unofficially) banned from radio

Ouvi um director dizer: “dizem que a canção insulta o presidente da Republica…”
Outro disse: “Eh! Não quero problemas…é melhor não tocarem isso.”
E outro ainda: ” Recebi uma chamada de superiores a mandar parar de tocar Azagaia…”

Prosecutors questioned Edson da Luz in April 2008 [pt] for potentially inciting violence. No charges were ever made against the rapper, but the incident helped maintain his high profile.

In mid 2008, Azagaia returned to the attention of the blogosphere when he wrote on the Cotonete blog [pt] about his invitation to appear on state television in a show called “Moçambique em Concerto” (“Mozambique in Concert”), an invitation that was rescinded at the last minute. Azagaia never received an explanation for why, and speculated about why he was dropped.

Será isto censura? Não basta não passarem os meu video clipes? Não me atrevo a responder a tais perguntas, senão ainda corro o risco de ir parar na Procuradoria da Cidade pela segunda vez, quem sabe acusado de difamação e calunia, nunca se sabe!

Patrício Langa, who proclaims he told himself he would stop writing about Azagaia, responded [pt] to the rapper’s blog entry and expanded the criticism to other blogger(s) who he calls “consecrated academics” (what could be interpreted as a veiled criticism of Carlos Serra):

A crença, penso, está a ser um factor fundamental na produção social de Azagaia como um mártir. A crença é uma forte convicção sobre alguma coisa. A ideia de que existe uma conspiração para silenciar Azagaia e o seu efeito é um exemplo disso. Quero enfatizar aqui, e já o fiz noutros escritos, que uma crença pode até ser infundada, i.é., não ser baseada em razões plausíveis, mas tem sempre efeitos reais. A crença que Azagaia, e tantas outras pessoas em Moçambique, têm de que é perseguido pela Frelimo [pt] pode até ser infundada, mas tem efeitos reais nas acções daqueles que acreditam incluído o próprio Azagaia. Em conversava com dois amigos sobre a carta um deles sugeriu que se por acaso Azagaia torcesse o pé no seu banheiro, provavelmente, acharia que é obra da Frelimo. Este tipo de crenças é até legitimada por académicos consagrados, em seus espaços de reflexão, conferindo autoridade douta a crenças populares sem o mínimo questionamento. Um mau atestado a profissão!

Nelson Livingston opined on his blog Meu Mundo [pt] in July 2008, after this episode of Azagaia debate in the blogosphere in which “people called each other names” and “academized insults were traded”:

Tem sido para mim interessante como Azagaia “caiu nas mãos” dos académicos. Debateu-se e ainda se bate muito sobre esse jovem musico. Eu que não sou académico coisíssima nenhuma, as vezes me junto a esses debates umas vezes para fazer um “check up”, quantificar a minha ignorância e outras vezes para ver o tanto de “assumptions” que os verdadeiros académicos trazem nas suas maletas. […]

Eu nao vou entrar entrar nessa historia de ser ou não ser critico social. Não tenho fibra para discutir esses conceito “chatos”. Conceitos que às vezes até são simples mas os académicos fazem questão de complica-los só para nos porem de fora das suas conversas académicas. Para mim Azagaia é um contestador. Um contestador irreverente que encontrou na musica um forma de expressar o que lhe vai na alma em relação as coisas do seu pais. Feliz ou infelizmente, o que vai na alma de Azagaia vai também na de muitos Moçambicanos que lhe fazem o coro. Azagaia nos leva a questionar o discurso oficial o que é muito saudável pois nos da a possibilidade de olhar para as questões sob pontos de vista diferentes. A credulidade ingénua a que muitas vezes somos obrigados atrofia nossa capacidade critica pois nos torna espectadores e consumidores passivos. Vamos por exemplo olhar para a musica Mentiras das verdades, Azagaia nao diz nenhuma verdade e nem diz nenhuma mentira, sugere apenas que nos perguntemos ate que ponto o que nos dizem ser verdade realmente o é?

Reader Dede Moquivalaka replied

Deu para uma gargalhada oh Nelson. Pensei que estivesse tao so' no grande debate dos sociologos…naquela mania de 'sofisticarem' o sujeito e o objecto de analise,…que certamente foi uma arma para deixar muitos de fora.

In late 2008, Azagaia participated in the mayoral campaign of independent Deviz Simango in Beira, appearing at rallies in the city to large audiences, captured on the blog of Serra [pt], who has been his biggest supporter in the Mozambican blogosphere.

Which brings us back to Serra’s recent assertion that Azagaia has become more popular than ever. This provoked a strong reaction [pt] from none other than Patrício Langa, who decries what he deems azagaism, characterized by the “vain glory of criticizing”

Digamos que Azagaia, que veste a pele do músico Edson da Luz, se tenha tornado mais popular dentro e fora do país. Tornou-se? Em que proporção? Ainda que tenha isso, é o que menos importa aqui. Por si, a popularidade, coloca-o do lado da razão, no que tange conteúdo problemático de suas letras? Felizmente a razão não é popular, como a demagogia. Minorias podem ter razão, mesmo que para a maioria isso não seja conveniente. Qual é a diferença entre uma multidão linchadora e Azagaia?

Elísio Macamo [pt] responds to Langa’s critiques and throws in a little historical perspective on demagoguery during the colonial and then the revolutionary socialist period

O fantasma que está a ser ressuscitado é o do inimigo comum. No período colonial trazia o nome de “turra”. Era a tentativa do regime colonial de reforçar o sentimento de comunidade através da criação da imagem de um inimigo que punha a “comunidade lusitana” em perigo. O regime colonial foi-se. Veio a Frelimo revolucionária que se fartou de criar inimigos comuns: Xiconhocas, inimigos internos, sabotadores, capitalistas, burgueses, bandidos armados (num sentido metafórico), reaccionários, etc. Aqui também o objectivo era o mesmo, nomeadamente o de reforçar o sentimento de comunidade através da criação da imagem de um inimigo que punha a criação do “homem novo” e de uma “sociedade socialista justa e livre” em perigo… E o “crítico”, como é natural, critica com toda a propriedade que o que anda mal entre nós legitima. Mas, e à semelhança do regime colonial e da Frelimo revolucionária, ele critica muitas vezes sem substância e prefere, antes pelo contrário, despender toda a sua energia na criação do “inimigo comum”.

Judging by the past two years, there will be no consensus any time soon in the Mozambican blogosphere about Azagaia. But Macamo’s reference to “common enemies” of the past curiously resonates with Azagaia’s most recent video “Combatentes da Fortuna” which contains footage of Mozambique’s first President Samora Machel.