Indonesia crisis: The what, where and when
By Vanessa Lewis
The world watches in awe-some in fear, others
in hope-as tens of thousands of Indonesians rebel against 32
years of poverty and repression under the regime of President
Suharto. A historical political change is taking place in the
fourth most populous country on earth.
Indonesia is spread over 17,000 islands in the South
Pacific. But 60 percent of the 210 million Indonesian people
live on just one island-Java, where the capital, Jakarta, is
located.
Downtown Jakarta is a modern city of soaring office
buildings and hotels. It is surrounded by desperate slums where
millions live. The average income is $3,300 a year, but 8
percent of the population lives on $1 or less a day in what is
considered one of the world's richest countries in natural
resources.
Roots of current crisis
In June 1997 a widespread economic crisis resulting from
capitalist overproduction began in Malaysia with a currency
collapse and then spread to other Asian "tigers."
By last fall, Indonesia was $55 billion in debt and asking
for a loan from the U.S.-dominated International Monetary
Fund.
The IMF set a number of conditions for the loan, including
price increases, ending subsidies on some necessities, and
canceling government development projects that provided many
jobs. President Suharto resisted such measures for fear of
relinquishing control of the power and fortune he has put
directly into the hands of his family and friends in the
military. He also feared what has ultimately occurred-a mass
uprising.
Student demonstrations began in February as massive layoffs
and the collapse of the country's currency further impoverished
workers, students and unemployed laborers.
Finally, early in May, Suharto implemented some of the IMF
program, including a 71 percent increase in fuel prices. This
drove outraged workers and students to come out in huge
demonstrations over the last several weeks calling for Suharto
to step down.
Timeline of events
On May 12, police opened fire on student demonstrators at
Trisakti University in Jakarta, killing six people.
Sharpshooters had shot all the protesters in the head or chest.
Other students barricaded themselves on campus as police and
special forces troops with tanks surrounded the campus and even
dropped into it from helicopters.
Over the next three days, tens of thousands of Indonesians
took to the streets. They threw rocks at the police, destroyed
automatic teller machines and reclaimed their stolen money from
banks. They set cars, shops and buildings on fire. One group
burned a police station as officers fired on them and
helicopters dropped cans of tear gas. (CNN, May 14)
Hundreds of poor Indonesians were brutally killed by the
army, which claimed they were trapped in burning stores while
looting. Other accounts, however, said the army locked people
inside buildings and then burned them down.
Gen. Wahab Mokodongan of the Armed Forces issued a statement
that the death toll had "topped 499." (AP, May 16) More than
1,000 protesters were arrested.
More than 10,000 armed forces troops were deployed in the
streets of Jakarta alone.
But the opposition to Suharto was growing, including among
the more privileged students and even in the military. In an
astonishing development, marines refused to fire on protesters
and even marched alongside them, raising fists in the air
(Washington Post, May 16). "The sight of marines in their
scarlet berets glad-handing young demonstrators" was reportedly
broadcast again and again on Indonesia's state-controlled
television news.
In the wake of the spontaneous uprising, foreign residents
of Jakarta, including thousands from the U.S., fled the country
in a panic.
While workers raged in the streets, 10,000 students
demonstrated in Bandung. Thousands more continued to take to
the streets in Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city and a
major port.
The uprising of Indonesia's impoverished workers forced
Suharto to reverse himself and lower prices. He also tried to
reassure protesting students and other bourgeois tendencies
alike that he would adjust his cabinet to meet demands for
political reform.
But by this time Suharto was seen as a liability not only by
some in the military but by their long-time patrons-U.S. banks
and corporations. After years of the most brutal repression,
suddenly, on May 18, soldiers actually escorted thousands of
students into the parliament, where they met with officials and
demanded that Suharto step down.
The program of these students, many of them children of the
military bourgeoisie, is "eliminate NKK"-nepotism, collusion
and corruption.
Other students are more radical, however. One group, again
at an elite university, held a mock trial of Suharto for the
1965-66 massacre of over a million leftists.
A worker summed up the current struggle best when he said,
"All this happened because of the gap between the rich and the
poor." (New York Times, May 18) Whatever the outcome of the
demonstrations and protest, the workers and oppressed will
continue to struggle.
Cast of characters
Here are some short descriptions of Indonesians in the
news.
President Sukarno. President of Indonesia from 1945
to 1967. Sukarno was a popular anti-imperialist nationalist who
led the struggle against Dutch and Japanese colonialism,
declaring Indonesia independent in 1945. Sukarno depended on
wide support from the left. During his presidency, Indonesia
had the largest Communist Party outside the socialist
countries.
President Suharto. President of Indonesia from 1967
to the present. Suharto is a former general who collaborated
with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in 1965 to stage a
counterrevolutionary coup against the Sukarno government. While
Suharto didn't name himself president for two more years, he
carried out the CIA's plan to decimate the Indonesian Communist
Party. Within a year, the military massacred an estimated one
million Indonesian leftists and nationalists.
General Wiranto. Commander of the Armed Forces and
Minister of Defense under Suharto. Suharto's "right-hand man,"
Wiranto has also been identified as the principal liaison
between the army and those students supporting "measured"
reform.
General Probawa. Head of the Army Strategic Reserves
and son-in-law of Suharto. Probawa has denied rumors of a split
in the military.
Harmoko. Indonesia's speaker of the house. Once
Suharto's closest servant, he has now called for the
president's resignation.
Amien Rais. Leader of a Muslim organization who has
announced himself a candidate to succeed Suharto. Rais is
reported to have encouraged demonstrations against ethnic
Chinese.
Megawati Sukarnoputri. Founder and leader of the
Indonesian Democratic Party and daughter of President Sukarno.
In 1997 the Suharto regime tried to oust her from her own
Party. This touched off a rebellion in downtown Jakarta as
youth from poor neighborhoods attacked banks and corporate
offices. She has been low-key in the current crisis.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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