Reinado Youth

I mentioned the unsettling events in Timor-Leste, suggesting that death of Alfredo Reinado could lead to his rebellion fizzling out. The BBC has a more recent report on the country, talking about how although Reinado seems to have been something of a self-seeking dodger, he nevertheless struck a chord with the many disaffected young people who feel that their country's political class have done a very poor job of running the place since independence.

At Reinado's funeral, his supporters shouted slogans from the resistance struggle against Indonesia. There is a certain irony to this, given that President Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Gusmao were iconic figures in that struggle, while Reinado seems to have played little or no part in it.

I am, meanwhile, wondering if it is tiresomely pedentic to refer to the country by its official name of Timor-Leste, when i) everyone else calls it East Timor and ii) Timor-Leste is merely East Timor in foreign.