Regarding the new and worrying aspects of the political and institutional crisis developing in East Timor, and in line with the everlasting solidarity with the Timorese people and with Fretilin in its struggle for sovereignty and social progress, and deeply aware of the importance of Portugal in this difficult situation, the PCP:

• Warns the Portuguese people to the escalade of Australia’s imperialist interference in the internal affairs of East Timor, particularly clear and shocking on the part of its armed forces which, taking advantage of Timorese internal problems, openly acts to carry out economic and political ambitions in the region, against the lawful Timorese government and against Fretilin, and behaving like an occupation force;

• Reiterates that, it is up to the Timorese people to solve their own problems, however complex they are, and to decide on their own development course without foreign pressures or interferences. All attempts to impose on the Timorese people any tutelage of a colonial nature, even with UN coverage, are to be condemned;

• Considers that under any circumstance the GNR [Portuguese National Republican Guard] force placed in East Timor – at the request of the sovereign
powers and in the framework of full compliance with the Timorese Constitution – should interfere in the internal affairs of this sovereign country.