The Secretariat of the Central Committee Portuguese Communist Party
The Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) expressed its agreement about the deployment of the Republican National Guard (GNR) forces in East-Timor, requested by its democratic institutions: the Government, the President of the Republic, and its National Parliament.
Following the positions of principle previously made public, this agreement was expressed given the guarantees of the Portuguese Government about the mission of these forces, namely the respect for the sovereignty and democratic institutions of East-Timor, and that they be subordinate to the legitime sovereign institutions of East-Timor, and not, under any condition, submitted to foreign command.
The PCP’s position results from the particular Portuguese duty of solidarity and friendship with the Democratic Republic of East Timor and its disinterested contribution to the consolidation of its sovereignty and democratic institutions.
Naturally, PCP’s favorable position regarding the deployment of a GNR force, based on the respect for East-Timor’s institutions and its constitutional framework, is conditional to the evolution of the situation in East-Timor and its regional and international framework. A change in the announced objectives of this mission would require the immediate re-evaluation of our position.
The serious situation that has been created in East-Timor is undoubtably an expression of the difficulties and contradictions associated with the construction of a new independent State after so many years of colonialism and foreign occupation.
It is also an expression of external interferences aimed at conditioning the free choices of the East-Timor people and of clear foreign ambitions regarding the oil resources of East-Timor as is the case with Australia, who in the past recognised Indonesia’s jurisdiction over East-Timor. So it is a matter of concern that the main foreign military forces in East-Timor are Australian, and that they were deployed under unclear circumstances.
The PCP is aware of the complexity of this situation, and finds it essential that the Portuguese Government keep the Parliament, political parties and the Portuguese people informed about new developments in East-Timor.
The PCP reiterates to the people of East-Timor and their legitimate government its solidarity with their struggle to consolidate their sovereignty and for social progress, and confirms to FRETILIN, the great force of resistance and liberation, the friendship and solidarity of the Portuguese communists.
