Ramos-Horta has spent the last 22 years denouncing the illegal invasion and annexation of East Timor, his homeland, by Indonesia and defending the rights of the East Timorese people to self-determination. He has presented the case of East Timor to the United Nations, where he has also spoken as a leading advocate of human rights. Ramos-Horta was exiled to Mozambique in 1970-1971 for his subversive allegations against the Portuguese regime and his active involvement in the development of political awareness in East Timor. His work in bringing awareness of the plight of his country to the United Nations resulted in the UN Security Council's condemnation of the invasion in 1975. Ramos-Horta became a permanent representative to the UN for FRETILIN, the nationalist movement that had wrested control of East Timor from Portugal. His experiences as a diplomat are recounted in the book Funu: The Unfinished Saga of East Timor. Between 1969 and 1974, Ramos-Horta was a radio and television correspondent.
Ramos-Horta is now the Special Representative of the National Council of Maubere Resistance (CNRM), an umbrella organization of pro-independence activists and movements inside and outside East Timor. He is also the personal representative of imprisoned resistance leader Xanana Gusmao.
Ramos-Horta was educated in a Catholic mission in the retired village of Soibada, later chosen by the FRETILIN as headquarters after the Indonesian invasion. Of his 11 brothers and sisters, four were killed by the Indonesian military. Ramos-Horta's commitment to peace in East Timor has made it impossible for him to return to his homeland. After the Indonesian invasion, he lived in the United States for 15 years and is currently based in Lisbon, Portugal and Sydney, Australia.
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