José Ramos Horta

José Manuel Ramos Horta is the current Prime Minister of East Timor and founder and former member of the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (FRETILIN) (he parted ways with the group in 1988). In 1996 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. More recently he has reinvented himself as an apologist for US aggression around the world.

Ramos Horta is frequently mentioned as a possible candidate for the next United Nations Secretary General although he has frequently criticized the body for not endorsing US wars of aggression.

Apologist for Empire

In an essay replete with contradictory statements, Horta argues that a benign US empire is in the best interests of the world. He goes on to add:

Much has been written and said, always in the language of frustration and regret, that the world we are living in today is a unipolar one based on the unchallenged American economic and military power. But I dare to say, "Is it so bad?"...

In the face of the frequent street protests and criticisms from certain Asian circles about U.S. military presence in the region, I would advise my fellow Asians to pause and think about the consequences of a U.S. disengagement from Asia.

Horta also doesn't see any role for 3rd world countries in world affairs and instead suggests that "the transatlantic alliance [of US and Western Europe] plus Canada and Japan should forge a strategic partnership in the fight for world peace and prosperity".^[1]

Iraq War Hawk

Horta is an enthusiastic supporter of the war against Iraq and a staunch critic of the anti-War movement. His arguments mostly echo the neocon rhetoric, and has described the withdrawal by some members of the "coalition of the willing" as "cutting and running". In his version of occupied Iraq's reality:

Credible opinion polls show that a large majority of Iraqis feel better than a year ago. There is real freedom of the press with newspapers and radio stations mushrooming in the new Iraq. There is unhindered Internet access. Nongovernmental organizations covering everything from human rights to women's advocacy have emerged. In short Iraq is experiencing real freeom for the first time in history.

Before the war, Horta expressed the fear that "if the anti-war movement dissuades the US and its allies from going to war with Iraq, it will have contributed to the peace of the dead".

Top-Down Democrat

Horta is a believer in Reaganite top-down democratic model of government. Not only does he advocate cultivation of pliant regimes in the middl-east, he has also castigated the Spanish government for acceding to the wishes of nearly 90% of its population and withdrawing from Iraq.

anti-Arab/Muslim Stereotyping

When it comes to Arabs and Muslims, Horta is prone to play it fast and loose. In a Letter to the Editor of the International Herald Tribune, Horta described the "Arab-Muslim region" as "a haven for hatred and terrorist groups". He sees King Hussein of Jordan - a man who was on CIA payroll for many years, according to Jim Hoaglan of Washington Post - as a great leader and with "honorable exceptions" like him "there are those in the Arab world, both within and outside governments, who foment hatred and violence". In a curious inversion of the history of the Palestine issue, where the US veto has protected Israel from international censure for decades, Horta declares that "[t]he United States has done more to bring peace and dignity to the Palestinians than has any other nation."^[2]

Horta's "negative stereotyping of the people of the Mideast" and his "upside-down perspective on America’s involvement" was criticized in a response by prominent American progressives.^[3]

Horta is also a frequent critic of the supporters of Palestine and more recently has joined the Darfur bandwagon with a predictably reductive view of the conflict. ^[4] His view of the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli occupation is equally reductive which he sees as organizations with "a systematic strategy as the abduction of children, blowing up buses" which could only establish a country "built on hatred, on kidnapping and abductions."^[5]

Australia's Man in Timor

In an Australian backed putsch for regime change, Horta was recently appointed as the Prime Minister of East Timor. He chose to establish his neoliberal credentials immediately by declaring:

The private and entrepreneurial sector is an indispensable pillar in the development and well being of our country. With them we are going to find ways to offer incentives and enthuse them and facilitate their activities. The foreign investors in this country can count on this government to listen to them and to support them. We are going to better and simplify the laws and rules for the process of registration of companies. We are going to investigate the complaints about the non-payment of bills by the government.^[6]

He also has the support of the World Bank and IMF.

Notes

1. ^ José Ramos Horta, "The Post Cold War and the Unipolar World: Can the US lead?" in ed. Abrams & Gungwu, The Iraq War and Its Consequences, Singapore: World Scientific (2003).
2. ^ José Ramos Horta, Letter to the Editor, International Herald Tribune, September 13, 2001
3. ^ Amy Goodman et al Open Letter to Dr. Jose Ramos Horta
4. ^ Peter Symonds, Australia installs its man in East Timor: Jose Ramos-Horta, WSWS, July 12, 2006
5. ^ José Ramos Horta, Silence in the face of genocide, The Age, August 26, 2004
6. ^ José Ramos Horta, Keynote speech: Dr Jose Ramos Horta, Eureka 150 Democracy Conference, November 26, 2004