They met with Bishop Basilio do Nascimento of Baucau who was wounded by a machete. The estimates of victims made by humanitarian organizations vary between 60,000 and 70,000 persons. A river of people are fleeing the country. Two to three thousand persons cross the border to West Timor every hour. According to the Red Cross, some 65,000 have left the country.
Many observers agree that no matter what measures are taken, it is too late.
Last June, before he was killed in Suai, Fr. Barreto came to Rome to attend a meeting of Caritas International. Already at that time, Fr. Barreto had no hesitation in denouncing the plan of violence initiated by Jakarta. In the presence of the U.N., the Indonesian military do everything possible to intimidate the people of Timor, so that the final solution is favorable to Indonesia.