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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DILI 000363 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, IO 
PACOM FOR POLAD AND JOC 
NSC FOR HOLLY MORROW 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  7/13/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KJUS KCRM KDEM PINR KPKO TT AS PO
SUBJECT: BISHOP NASCIMENTO IS WORRIED, BUT WILLING TO HELP 
 
 
DILI 00000363  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Grover Joseph Rees, Ambassador, U.S. Embassy 
Dili, Department of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
(1) (C) Summary:   Bishop Basilio Nascimento of Baucau told 
Ambassador Rees that the new government led by Jose Ramos-Horta 
is a positive development that will help to restore confidence 
in government, but that he remains deeply concerned about the 
future.  He cited the armed forces, the police, the Fretilin 
leadership, and popular dissatisfaction with some aspects of the 
presence of international forces as possible sources of future 
trouble.  Although the Bishop is a close friend and frequent 
advisor of the Prime Minister and hopes to work closely with him 
to restore peace and stability, he said that both Ramos-Horta 
and President Xanana Gusmao have a tendency to compromise even 
when the situation calls for taking a stand.  He said the 
situation in Baucau and other eastern districts is calm, in part 
because of the Church's efforts, although he has heard credible 
reports of armed groups of Fretilin militants.  The Bishop said 
that recent reverses might force the Fretilin leadership to come 
to terms with reality, which would be a positive development. 
He denied that the Church had endorsed or participated in the 
large anti-Alkatiri demonstration in late June that may have 
been a factor in bringing about the Prime Minister's 
resignation.  End Summary. 
 
(2) (C) Ambassador met with Bishop Nascimento on Monday, July 
10, in Dili, a few hours after the swearing-in ceremony for 
Prime Minister Jose Ramos Horta.  Bishop Nascimento and his 
colleague, Bishop Alberto Ricardo DaSilva of Dili, had been 
seated in the front row along with the new officials themselves, 
the President of Parliament, and the President of the Court of 
Appeals. In his address to the nation, Ramos-Horta had singled 
out the two Bishops for praise, had promised to work closely 
with the Church on rebuilding the social fabric, and had 
outlined an agenda for his new Government --- anti-corruption, 
poverty alleviation, free and fair elections, the rule of law, 
and the necessity for Timorese to love one another --- that 
might as well have been written by Bishop Nascimento himself. 
Despite all this, and despite his close friendship with 
Ramos-Horta, when Ambassador asked what he thought of the new 
Government the Bishop responded, "I am worried." 
 
(3) (C) Bishop Nascimento said he was worried about three sets 
of problems: first, the "disposition" of the Timorese armed 
forces (FDTL) and police (PNTL).  He said that "they are 
injured, some of them physically, all of them spiritually.  And 
now they see foreigners doing their job.  It cannot make them 
very happy." 
 
(4) (C) The Bishop also expressed concern about the future 
behavior of the Fretilin party leadership.  He said he had met 
with a delegation of what he called "radical" Fretilin leaders 
led by Jose Reis, Secretary of State for the eastern region. 
Nascimento said the delegation had expressed Fretilin's 
willingness to work with the Church and with others whom the 
Alkatiri government had alienated, but that when it got down to 
specifics, "They don't recognize that they have done wrong. 
They are still unhappy with the selection of Ramos Horta, and 
they still talk about Xanana organizing a coup d'etat" to depose 
former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri. 
 
(5) (C/NF) Finally, the Bishop expressed the concern that the 
international forces, particularly those of Australia, might 
soon wear out their welcome.  He said that on the one hand, 
ordinary Timorese are dissatisfied that the international forces 
have not had the pervasive presence in neighborhoods that they 
believe is necessary to deter arson, looting, and other crimes. 
At the same time, the Bishop said people resent what they see as 
the arbitrary and authoritarian attitude of the Australian armed 
forces: "They came here to help us, not to order us around."  He 
noted that the Australian forces had not been accused of human 
rights violations, whereas the Portuguese paramilitary police 
(GNR) had been accused of beating people including anti-Fretilin 
demonstrators.  But he said people think that "when the GNR 
beats us, they beat on the occasion of the errors," whereas the 
Australians sometimes seem suspicious and hostile toward people 
who have done nothing wrong and about whom there appears to be 
no particular reason for concern. 
 
 
DILI 00000363  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
(6) (U) Despite these concerns, Bishop Nascimento said that the 
swearing-in of Ramos-Horta was a positive development that would 
reduce tension.  He said he hoped the Ramos-Horta government 
would be able to create conditions that would persuade people to 
return to their homes, and that he and Bishop Ricardo would 
enthusiastically accept the government's invitation to work 
together on creating such conditions. He added, however, that he 
believed Ramos-Horta's program was awfully ambitious for the 
nine months the new Government is expected to serve. 
 
(7) (C) Bishop Nascimento acknowledged that he has long been a 
close friend of Ramos-Horta and that the new Prime Minister 
often asks him for advice.  However, he expressed the concern 
that the instincts of both Ramos-Horta and President Gusmao are 
"always to compromise --- to equilibrate between Almighty God 
and the devil.  I don't know if this is always a good idea.  It 
sets bad precedents."  He cited the example of the truth and 
reconciliation process in which, instead of being genuinely 
sorry for their crimes and seeking forgiveness from the 
community --- forgiveness which he said would have been 
forthcoming if the apologies had been sincere --- too many 
perpetrators were successful in striking deals by justifying or 
minimizing what they had done.  So in the end there was no 
justice and no real reconciliation either.  The Bishop suggested 
that Ramos-Horta, who had always been in positions where his job 
was essentially to be a negotiator, might have to change his 
approach now that he is the country's chief executive officer, 
since "he has to take a position." 
 
(8) (C) Asked about the security situation in the eastern part 
of the country, Bishop Nascimento said it was generally calm, 
but that people are worried about reports of armed groups of 
Fretilin militants in their areas.  "I hear 40 automatic weapons 
in Baucau, 60 in Viqueque, and 80 in Los Palos."  He said he did 
not know whether these reports were true, but that they were 
believable, since the details tended to be similar to those that 
emerged in the case of the armed group in Liquica led by Rai 
Los, and that he had heard these details before the Rai Los 
story became public knowledge.  Bishop Nascimento also said that 
he had heard reports that elements of FDTL were training a large 
group of armed men near Baucau, but that "priests have been 
looking for specific information and have not found any."  He 
said a major factor in keeping the eastern districts calm was 
that the Church had made frequent appeals to local leaders, to 
FDTL, and to problematic nongovernmental actors such as 
ex-guerrilla leader Cornelio Gama ("L7"). 
 
(9) (C) Despite his concerns, Bishop Nascimento said that it was 
a good thing that former Prime Minister Alkatiri and his 
associates had attempted to assemble a large group of 
pro-Alkatiri demonstrators from the eastern districts to come to 
Dili.  He said the pro-Alkatiri leaders had been expecting 
20,000 people or more --- they had been hoping for a crowd 
larger than the recent anti-Alkatiri demonstration that may have 
been a factor in Alkatiri's resignation --- but had only been 
able to draw about 3000.  "Many people, including Fretilin 
supporters, refused to come.  They belong to Fretilin, but they 
do not agree with Alkatiri and Lu'Olo."  Bishop Nascimento also 
said that if there had been a secret ballot at the Fretilin 
Congress in May, reformist challenger Jose Luis Guterres would 
have won.  "Many delegates from the Congress confirmed this to 
me.  They wanted change, but they were afraid to vote their 
consciences in public.  Alkatiri and Lu'Olo know this too, so 
maybe now the radical Fretilin leaders will be more in touch 
with reality." 
 
(10) (SBU) Asked about reports that the Church had encouraged or 
participated in the recent anti-Alkatiri demonstration, Bishop 
Nascimento said there may have been participation by local 
parish priests acting on their own --- he noted that priests are 
"members of their communities" and that there were many 
communities in which the people had been virtually unanimous in 
believing that Alkatiri must step down in order to restore peace 
and stability --- but that neither he nor Bishop Ricardo had 
taken a position for or against the demonstration or done 
anything to encourage it. 
 
DILI 00000363  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
(11) (U) Comment:  Bishop Nascimento is among the most astute 
and informed social and political observers in East Timor.  His 
pessimistic observations, coming as they did on a day that 
appeared to present many reasons for optimism, are worth noting. 
 It may be even more important, however, that he is more than 
willing to accept the new Government's invitation to help 
rebuild the country.   End Comment. 
REES