DILI, East Timor — A new Cabinet was sworn in Monday. Students, former guerrilla fighters, police and soldiers took to the streets in a jubilant parade. Former President Bill Clinton raised the flag at the new U.S. Embassy. The government signed a treaty with Australia to share revenues from oil reserves.
On Day One of East Timor's independence, the hard work of nation building began in earnest. The tiny half-island territory of 800,000 people proudly took its place among the community of nations early Monday, declaring itself a sovereign country and putting an end to centuries of often brutal occupation.
As East Timor awoke after a nightlong independence party, hundreds of people crowded in front of the former Portuguese colonial palace in the capital Dili to watch Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri swear in 23 Cabinet ministers and state secretaries.
"We have to create a solid, transparent and good government," said Alkatiri after the ceremony, adding that the new government would focus on reconciliation with East Timor's former occupier, Indonesia.
As dignitaries watched, several hundred soldiers from East Timor's newly created defense force joined former veterans of the resistance in a parade to commemorate their 24-year independence struggle.
"For years we fought against Indonesian soldiers in the jungle, now we parade to show solidarity with our countrymen," said Ajeldito Guterres as he marched in front of the palace, now the seat of government.
Monday's events followed a jubilant independence celebration at an outdoor arena featuring a dazzling fireworks display, traditional dances and speeches by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and newly inaugurated East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao.
Just after midnight, the United Nations lowered its flag — ending a 2 1/2-year interim administration — and East Timor raised its flag, a white star on a background of red, black and yellow.
Tens of thousands of people cheered, applauded and cried. Images of the long and bloody struggle for independence — including torture scenes and photographs of resistance heroes — filled wide screens.
A 50-foot-long float, in the shape of a crocodile with a little boy sitting on top, was carried into the arena. Legend has it that Timor island was once a giant crocodile befriended by a boy who then rode the oceans on its back.
In East Timor's new parliament building Monday, speaker Francisco Guterres inaugurated the 88-member assembly in front of Annan.
In their first act, legislators voted to sign the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights and become the newest member of the 189-strong world body later this year.
On the other side of town overlooking Dili's seafront, Clinton raised the stars and stripes over the new U.S. Embassy.
Clinton, who arrived in Dili on Sunday for a two-day visit, was one of the many foreign dignitaries who attended independence celebrations.
"I don't think we can defend everything we did," he said in response to a question about U.S. support for the Indonesian military regime that invaded East Timor in 1975.
"I don't believe America or any of the other countries were sufficiently sensitive in the beginning or for a long time," said Clinton.
Indonesia's occupation killed tens of thousands of people through forced migration, starvation and murder. In 1999, the Indonesian military and paramilitary fighters opposed to independence laid waste to much of East Timor following a U.N. sponsored referendum in which voters overwhelmingly decided to break with Indonesia.
Relations with Indonesia are expected to be the East Timor's top foreign policy priority. East Timor hopes to prevent disgruntled Indonesian officers from inciting militiamen still living on the other half of the island, in Indonesian West Timor.
President Gusmao missed much of the independence ceremony, choosing instead to accompany Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri on a visit to a cemetery containing the graves of Indonesian soldiers killed in East Timor.
Megawati had long opposed East Timorese independence, but she decided to attend the independence celebration anyway — a decision that angered hardline lawmakers at home.
Also Monday, Prime Minister Alkatiri signed a treaty with Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer to share revenue from oil reserves in the Timor Sea.
The treaty will give East Timor a 90/10 split of revenue, expected to be worth $7 billion over the next 20 years. The profits, not expected to be seen until 2005, will give an enormous boost to independent East Timor, currently ranked as one of the world's poorest nations.
For now, East Timor must rely on foreign aid to make ends meet.