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DILI, East Timor (AP) — Francisco Guterres, a former president of East Timor and a leading figure in the country’s independence movement, has died. He was 71. Guterres, widely known by his nom de guerre “Lu Olo,” died on Sunday at Prince Court Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he had been in intensive care, his family said on the late president’s official Facebook account. The cause of death was not immediately disclosed.Guterres served as president from 2017 to 2022, capping decades of involvement in the political and armed struggle that led to independence for Southeast Asia’s youngest nation in 2002. “Throughout his life, he remained committed to the freedom of his people and the building of a democratic nation,” Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in a message of condolences to his family and the people of East Timor, known also as Timor Leste.
Fretilin, the party Guterres had led for years, said his death was a “profound loss” for all those who shared the goal of building a free, democratic and sovereign country. The party highlighted his lifelong dedication to the independence movement and his role in promoting national unity, dialogue, peace and political stability throughout his public career.
