The Sky is Ours

Speeches on Unity, Prosperity, and Development in a New Timor-Leste, 2017-2024

Published to support the accession of Timor-Leste to ASEAN in 2025 and commemorate last year’s 25th Anniversary of the 1999 Referendum for independence.

This landmark and compelling volume brings together a selection of speeches by Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, the central figure in Timor-Leste’s long resistance and eventual liberation. The speeches provide firsthand insight into a nation's struggle for freedom, its democratic journey, and its growing role on the world stage.

The book begins with a compilation of the Prime Minister’s key speeches at ASEAN Summits, the United Nations, and other ASEAN-related forums. It then presents recent significant speeches on economics and growth, the environment, government peace & human rights, resources, and concludes with inspiring addresses delivered to students at various universities around the globe.

Most importantly, the resonating theme across all the speeches in this collection is that Timor-Leste is now in a new phase: it is firmly focused on development.