>btw, isn't Portugal in the EU?
Yes.
Diario de Noticias editorialises that 'Timor represents Portugal's last chance to redeem itself for the great errors of de-colonisation, errors made not only in Timor but also in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea Bissau.' Here it is the act of de-colonisation that is to be apologised for. Diario is helpfully candid about for whose sake the mission is to be undertaken 'For the sake of our past, present and future we cannot fail now'. To achieve this extraordinary result Portugal has dedicated 1000 of the 8000 troops in the East Timor mission, two frigates and helicopters.
Antonio Guterrez of the centre left party emphasises the point 'We owe a debt to the East Timorese.' 'We have to be honest and admit that we did not do much for East Timor as a colonial power and the way we left the territory in 1975 when Portugal was in midst of revolution was not brilliant.' The mea culpa approach makes it easy for Guterrez to claim 'We have no economic interest in East Timor but we have a debt to pay'.
'This sense of responsibility is the only motivation for Portugal's prominent role over the past two decades in helping the East Timorese towards independence, and its commitment to supporting the reconstruction.' The Centre Right opposition leader Jose Durao Barroso even went so far as to propose that the General Election be postponed (perhaps indicative of the expected outcome) so that the nation could concentrate on the East Timor crisis (Financial Times 7 October 1999).
-- Jim heartfield