The military was booted and violence errupted. Violence is still occuring and the UN is still there. Dan Winters has the picture for this story and doesn t mind if we use it. Many Americans take for granted their right to vote. In a number of countries, citizens are denied that right.
Some countries permit citizens to vote, but elections are often rigged and unfair.
It is in these countries that people fight, often putting their lives at risk, for the right to vote. The people of East Timor did just this. East Timor is about 200 miles from the northern coast of Australia in the far eastern reaches of the Indonesian archipelago. The small country was invaded by the Indonesian military in 1975. The military ruled East Timor for almost 25 years, during which time more than 200,000 East Timorese one-third of the population were killed, according to estimates by human rights groups.