The massacre of Santa Cruz

 This Monday we cancelled our English class because of the Santa Cruz national holiday. This is a statue about 2 miles from our house that commemorates the event that occurred in 1991.
 About 200 Timorese were killed by Indonesian troops in the cemetery. It was one of the pivotal events that caught the attention of the world. Prior to that much of the turmoil in Timor-Leste had gone unnoticed.

It is remarkable living in the country where their revolutionary war occurred just a few years ago. Anyone 20 years of age or older remembers events of the occupation and the independence. The tragedy and suffering caused by the events were felt by almost every family here.


Last Saturday night we were eating at this restaurant. It is a second-floor open restaurant. While we were sitting by the front railing we noticed that traffic had stopped in both directions on the main road just below us. Just a few hundred feet down the road a fight had broken out on the road. This is an area where lots of young men gather just hang out on the beach and play soccer. We weren't actually able to see the fight but the police ended up arresting two young men. When the police first arrived they fired shots in the air to stop the fight.

Timor-Leste has a very strict no gun policy. Only the military and the police have guns. It's probably a good idea here. With such rampant unemployment and underemployment people just hang out a lot. However, overall violence here seems to be very low. We've never felt threatened or uneasy as we walk through the area. This was the first violent activity that we've been a witness to since we've been here.


Here is the beach and the road where the fight occurred.

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