A visit by Nobel laureate José Ramos-Horta was an unassailable reason to skip my American Foreign Policy class.

Dr. Ramos-Horta’s spoke at Washington University in Saint Louis on Wednesday, February 11, and provided a hard-learned perspective which ought to be incorporated into the curriculum of the class I missed. His lecture was titled "Human Rights: Democracy and the Rule of Law in the Asia Pacific Region." An informal discussion with the 1996 Nobel peace prize winner followed the talk.

Ramos-Horta spoke about Indonesia and East Timor, obviously, giving the audience some historical background and personal reflections. During both appearances, he lavished much praise on Xanana Gusmão. Ramos-Horta focused part of his talk on other human rights hot-spots in the Asia Pacific Region and elsewhere. He also used his platform to comment on the current situation in Iraq, delivering a much-needed reminder that the US supported Saddam Hussein in his war against Iran.

The event drew a decent sized crowd of some variety, ranging from local human rights activists to a man wondering where East Timor was located. The informal discussion was small, providing a great opportunity for two local ETAN activists to speak with the veteran East Timorese resistance leader.