Word: sumatra
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Last week Indonesia, racked by civil war, was in dire danger of splintering apart. Guns cracked in the jungles of West Java; government bombers winged over Pakanbaru in Sumatra and Menado in the Celebes, blasting radio transmitters and telephone exchanges; government patrol boats, cleared for action, blockaded rebel-held ports...
This was no rebellion by fanatical diehards. Its leaders were some of the army's most respected officers, flanked by some of the nation's most respected politicians. From their mountain headquarters in the Padang Highlands of Central Sumatra the voice of the rebels sounded calm and collected, and urged compromise. All the rebels asked was that Indonesia's President 1) behave himself constitutionally, 2) abandon his partnership with the Communist Party...
What the rebels need most is allies, and here they are experiencing the most difficulty. Natsir lingers in Padang still uncommitted, but still the probable candidate for President, if the rebels are forced to disavow Sukarno. A key man is Colonel Barlian, commander of South Sumatra. His area includes the rich Stanvac and Shell oilfields and refineries at Palembang, which supply most of Djakarta's gasoline. Padang's Colonel Husein is his closest friend, and he is with the rebels in spirit but, so far, hesitates to disown Djakarta. Possible reasons: his region is heavily settled by migrant...
...easy way for them to get at each other, since neither side has enough warships or transports to mount an invasion. The rebels have no aircraft at all; the central government has only a few, with perhaps several hundred paratroopers. Java has more population (54 million, v. Sumatra's 12 million). But Java must import even its food, is already in serious economic difficulties. Sumatra is rich in rubber, tin and coffee, provides some 72% of Indonesia's export revenues, v. Java's 17%. The rebel government made clear that its pressure on Djakarta would be primarily...
Even at this late date, no one seemed eager for a final break. All of the nation's major political parties, except the Communists, offered their services to mediate between rebel Sumatra and the central government. In Djakarta, hundreds of students routed Dr. Mohammed Hatta out of his bed at 3 a.m. to urge that the nation's problems be solved "without bloodshed." Hatta obligingly announced that he would have "no part of any government formed under the pressure of rebel threats," and the Sultan of Djokiakarta took time off from examining model dairy farms at the University...