Now that we've got our freedom, wanna come over? A Reuters article published this weekend described the follow-up fight of the new Southeast Asian country East Timor, which emerged from 24 years of occupation to join the UN in 2002, to capitalize on its troubled past in attracting visitors. Actually, it was more "speculated on" than "described," but we'll get to that in a minute.
East Timor declared itself independent in 1975 when Portuguese colonizers left, only to be invaded and occupied by Indonesia a week later. Some 180,000 civilian deaths and two attempted military uprisings later, East Timor is now a democracy backed up by its neighbor to the south Australia -- so it must be time for tourist dollars to flow in again. ]]>