THE UNITED STATES provided arms aid to the Republic of Indonesia in a 1958 military coup that overthrew the Indonesian Communist Party (the PKI), a class-based democratic socialist movement. The PKI had come to power through a social force organized by poor citizens attempting to establish a new democracy.

The United States provided this aid to ensure that private U.S. industry would be able to exploit the oil resources of the area, and thus increase the size of the corporate oil market. The actions of the U.S. government on behalf of American corporations in Indonesia stand out, with actions in Chile and Colombia, as examples of international corporate crime.

The island of East Timor became victimized in this economic struggle for Western control of the oil. East ...