Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$180 million (1998)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.1% (1998)
Transnational Issues Dominican Republic
Disputes - international:
despite efforts to control illegal migration, destitute Haitians
fleeing poverty and violence continue to cross into the Dominican
Republic; illegal migration of Dominicans and other nationals across
the Mona Passage to Puerto Rico has increased in the last year
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US
and Europe; has become a transshipment point for ecstasy from the
Netherlands and Belgium destined for US and Canada; substantial
money-laundering activity; Colombian narcotics traffickers favor the
Dominican Republic for illicit financial transactions
This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005
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@East Timor
Introduction East Timor
Background:
The Portuguese began to trade with the island of Timor in the early
16th century and colonized it in mid-century. Skirmishing with the
Dutch in the region eventually resulted in an 1859 treaty in which
Portugal ceded the western portion of the island. Imperial Japan
occupied East Timor during 1942-1945, but Portugal resumed colonial
authority after the Japanese defeat in World War II. East Timor
declared itself independent from Portugal on 28 November 1975 and
was invaded and occupied by Indonesian forces nine days later. It
was incorporated into Indonesia in July 1976 as the province of East
Timor. An unsuccessful campaign of pacification followed over the
next two decades, during which an estimated 100,000 to 250,000
individuals lost their lives. On 30 August 1999, in a UN-supervised
popular referendum, an overwhelming majority of the people of East
Timor voted for independence from Indonesia. Between the referendum
and the arrival of a multinational peacekeeping force in late
September 1999, anti-independence Timorese militias - organized and
supported by the Indonesian military - commenced a large-scale,
scorched-earth campaign of retribution. The militias killed
approximately 1,300 Timorese and forcibly pushed 300,000 people into
West Timor as refugees. The majority of the country's
infrastructure, including homes, irrigation systems, water supply
systems, and schools, and nearly 100% of the country's electrical
grid were destroyed. On 20 September 1999 the Australian-led
peacekeeping troops of the International Force for East Timor
(INTERFET) deployed to the country and brought the violence to an
end. On 20 May 2002, East Timor was internationally recognized as an
independent state.