Xanana Gusmão

Xanana Gusmão (born June 20, 1946, Manatulo, East Timor) is an East Timorese independence leader and politician who served as the first president (2002–07) and as prime minister (2007–15; 2023– ) of East Timor.

Gusmão, the son of schoolteachers, went to high school in Dili, East Timor, which at the time was a Portuguese possession, and later attended the Jesuit seminary in nearby Dare. He served for three years in the colonial armed forces and worked as a surveyor and as a teacher. In August 1975, after an attempted coup by the nationalist Timorese Democratic Union (União Democrática Timorense; UDT) was quelled by the competing group, Fretilin (Frente Revolucionária do Timor-Leste Independente [Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor]), the Portuguese administrators left East Timor. For a short period thereafter Gusmão, a member of Fretilin, helped administer the region. Indonesia invaded East Timor in December 1975 and annexed it as a province. Gusmão was subsequently at the forefront of the resistance movement against the Indonesian presence, becoming head of Falintil (Forças Armadas de Liberação Nacional de Timor-Leste [Armed Forces for the National Liberation of East Timor]), a revolutionary group that operated from hiding places in the mountains.

In 1992 Gusmão was captured by Indonesian forces, and the following year he was sentenced to life in prison for plotting against the Indonesian government and for illegal possession of arms. The sentence was later shortened to 20 years, and, as part of a settlement brokered by the United Nations (UN), he was released to house arrest in February 1999. Along with resistance leaders José Ramos-Horta and Bishop Carlos Belo, who together shared the 1996 Nobel Prize for Peace, Gusmão took part in talks with the Indonesian government, and a cease-fire was established on June 18, 1999. On August 30 the East Timorese participated in a referendum to choose between autonomy within Indonesia and independence. By an overwhelming majority the people voted for independence, and Indonesia began to withdraw its troops. On October 25 the UN Security Council established a transitional government, UNTAET (United Nations Transitional Administration of East Timor). As president of the National Council of Timorese Resistance (Conselho Nacional de Resistência Timorense; CNRT), Gusmão was appointed to a senior role in UNTAET.

In April 2002 East Timor held a presidential election, and Gusmão easily won. He took office on May 20, when East Timor officially became independent. As president, he oversaw the country’s admittance into the UN in 2002 and into ASEAN in 2005. He also worked to develop East Timor’s economy, which relied heavily on the petroleum industry. In 2006 he called for the resignation of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, who was alleged to have ordered the intimidation and assassination of political opponents. The allegations resulted in mass protests, and Alkatiri stepped down in June.

Gusmão chose not to seek a second term as president, instead opting to pursue the prime ministership. In the June 2007 parliamentary elections, the CNRT—renamed (with the same acronym) National Congress for the Reconstruction of Timor (Congresso Nacional de Reconstrução do Timor)—placed second behind Fretilin, which failed to win a majority. Gusmão subsequently orchestrated the formation of a governing coalition headed by his party, and Pres. José Ramos-Horta named him prime minister. Gusmão was sworn into office on August 8, 2007, which was met by two days of rioting in Dili.

In February 2008 President Ramos-Horta was nearly assassinated in Dili, plunging the country into political crisis. Gusmão weathered the situation, and gradually peace returned. East Timor’s economy grew significantly during his first term as prime minister, but many of the country’s citizens continued to live in poverty. The CNRT won a plurality (but not a majority) of seats in the 2012 parliamentary elections, and Gusmão returned for a second term as prime minister of another coalition government. In 2014, however, he announced his intention to retire. He left office on February 16, 2015, succeeded by Rui Maria de Araújo of Fretilin, who named Gusmão the minister of planning and strategic development.