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Francisco Lu’Olo Guterres
Francisco ‘Lu’Olo’ Guterres, the fourth president of Timor-Leste: ‘What I want to say to all world leaders is that all conflict has to be resolved through dialogue, not violence.’ Photograph: Helen Davidson/The Guardian
Francisco ‘Lu’Olo’ Guterres, the fourth president of Timor-Leste: ‘What I want to say to all world leaders is that all conflict has to be resolved through dialogue, not violence.’ Photograph: Helen Davidson/The Guardian

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

This article is more than 6 years old

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.

He had previously, and unsuccessfully, run for the presidency twice. This year, with the backing of Timor-Leste’s founding father, Xanana Gusmão, he won decisively.

In an interview with the Guardian at the presidential palace, Lu’Olo suggests the years of conflict shaped both himself and his leadership vision.

Indonesian forces invaded the region in 1975 after the withdrawal of Portugal, and the subsequent violent occupation saw up to 200,000 people killed before the Timorese voted for independence in 1999. That was met with further violence, and an Australian-led peacekeeping force was deployed.

“All of the Timorese territory from east to west was the stage for war,” he says. “Many of my comrades perished in the war. Even with the people in the beginning of the war, I witnessed the killing of the population by bombardments. Through all of this, it’s what built my character as a Timorese citizen.”

At his swearing in on 19 May, Lu’Olo pledged to assert Timor-Leste and its “principles and values” on the world stage, promoting peace, prosperity, environmental protection and the elimination of poverty. The country would pursue bilateral relationships of mutual respect, regardless of the size of each nation, he said.

A week later Lu’Olo elaborates, telling the Guardian that 24 years of armed struggle has given Timor-Leste “life experience” in dealing with conflict. He urges superpowers to let go of their egos amid rising political disunity and extremism.

“What I want to say to all world leaders is that all conflict has to be resolved through dialogue, not violence. Violence only creates more violence, and who suffers? The people,” he says.

He urges world powers to focus on communication and assisting smaller countries out of poverty, instead of spending on “weapons of war”.

He also says he will keep an eye on Indonesia and Australia, the latter in particular amid a border dispute regarding ownership over oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea. But he stresses the two countries have an “excellent” relationship.

Francisco ‘Lu’Olo’ Guterres and his wife Cidalia Mozinho watch children drawing on Children’s Day in Dili on 1 June. Photograph: Antonio Dasiparu/EPA

At Lu’Olo’s inauguration and the week following, the Guardian heard from numerous Timorese voters who wanted the so-called “75 generation” – the band of leaders and fighters who took on the Indonesian forces – to continue leading.

However many warned the political capital that came with a freedom-fighting background was not limitless and the Timorese people were still suffering.

Other high-profile members such as Gusmao, José Ramos-Horta and Mari Alkatiri have held alternating leadership positions over the years, both inside and outside the government.

While the 75 generation displays a sense of personal responsibility to strengthen the country before handing power on, some critics are concerned the power – and related trappings – has been too narrowly shared among this political elite.

But Lu’Olo says he is proud of where he and his compatriots have brought Timor-Leste. “One of my missions is to secure the unity of the country and the unity of the leaders, to guarantee peace and stability and to take the country forward,” he says.

Floriano de Costa Marques at his roadside stall in Liquica. Photograph: Helen Davidson/The Guardian

A couple of hours outside Dili, another former guerrilla sits at his small roadside stall in the district of Liquiçá – a region with deep scars that is home to a church where pro-Indonesian militias massacred hundreds.

Floriano da Costa Marques says he was posted near the West Timor border during the conflict, a time he describes as “painful”.

He says the people of Liquiçá have a good life now, but endure substandard roads, a lack of water, poor housing and high unemployment, particularly among the young. “I always remind the youth that during our struggle for independence, it was full of sacrifice as we always faced lots of hardship in the bush,” he says. “Timor-Leste is now a free country; the youth must work harder and follow our steps.”

Marques supports Lu’Olo and his predecessor at least partly because of their guerrilla and military backgrounds. But he has not given the president a free pass.

“Because he is a guerrilla, we elected him to bring the nation forward. He knew his people better, how poor and how hard Timorese life is – he knew it well,” he says. “We thought he is a good man and so we elected him to help us. But we still don’t know how and in what ways.”

Marcelino Carvalho, a resident in the village of Maumeta, says: “I think regardless of his background the new president should perform according to the will of the nation.

“The new government should do something new for development. For example, resolve the issue of youth unemployment rate. Recently the government … was offering road work for $3 per day, but this program alone is not enough for the youth. It is good that youths here are not troublemakers.”

Isaura Goncalves, a mother of four and owner of a clothing stall at a roadside market, says she is not concerned about who is president, but Lu’Olo’s background as a guerrilla means he understands the hardships faced by Timorese people.

In the 15 years since independence, the 39-year-old has built up her small business and paid back loans. Schooling, Goncalves says, is the most important issue to her. Also, she adds, her house doesn’t have clean water and she is spending up to $5 a day – 10% of a good day’s revenue – on buying drinking water.

“It is very hard. The children cannot go to school or are late for school because there is no clean water for shower and cooking,” she says.

Lu’Olo will oversee a significant period in Timor-Leste’s growth as a developing country. It is well known the oil- and gas-dependent nation will run out of its current reserves soon – perhaps within Lu’Olo’s term.

To diversify its economy the country has initiated wildly ambitious infrastructure projects, including in the western enclave of Oecusse. Headed by Alkatiri, the project has drawn ire for a lack of transparency about its funding, spending and implementation. The 70,000 residents are among the poorest in Timor-Leste and are watching hundreds of millions of dollars in public spending go on around them.

A Timor-Leste family in Oecusse, the site of a large-scale government infrastructure-building program. Photograph: Helen Davidson/The Guardian

One woman who lives in a small wooden hut near the construction site of a new luxury hotel told the Guardian she felt the project had come “to destroy us as a community”.

“We in the community are not happy. As a community we are unhappy, particularly the people who live close to the road. We also send our children to school, but when the government took our road, then where are we going to live?”

Lu’Olo says he has total confidence in the diversification plans, but will wait for the outcome of next month’s parliamentary elections and the subsequent government’s expenditure plans.

“Our only resource is petroleum and it’s my position that those funds should be invested, not consumed,” he says. “This is where the opportunity will come from for Timorese to better their lives. We have to concentrate on education, on health, it should all be integrated.”

Lu’Olo says he and the new government will do their best to steer the country through the difficult economic times ahead.

The Timorese have created a state, and then a constitution and a government, and democracy is growing from there, he says .

“From all those issues we have taken lessons on how not to make mistakes, and how to take the country forward.”

The Guardian travelled to Timor-Leste as a guest of the Timorese embassy.

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