Timor-Leste president Francisco 'Lu’Olo' Guterres: a product of war now pushing for peace

He spent a quarter of a century in the Timorese resistance. Now, as oil and gas reserves dwindle, the young country’s new leader faces a battle to steer his people through difficult times ahead

Before becoming the fourth president of one of the world’s youngest countries, Francisco “Lu’Olo” Guterres spent almost a quarter of a century in the Timorese resistance against Indonesian occupation.

He rose through the ranks to become the president of Fretilin – formally the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor, the leftwing nationalist party that began as a resistance movement fighting for independence from Portugal and then Indonesia. Post-independence, he became the president of the nation’s parliament as it created its constitution.

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