DILI, 23 June 2026 (TATOLI) — The body of former President Francisco Guterres “Lú-Olo” arrived in Dili on Tuesday morning, as thousands of mourners gathered to pay their final respects to the veteran independence leader and former head of state.
An Aero Dili flight carrying the remains of Guterres landed at Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport at approximately 6:43 a.m. local time after departing Malaysia, where he died on Sunday at the age of 71.
Among those accompanying the body on the flight were former Prime Minister and Secretary-General of FRETILIN, Mari Alkatiri, along with family members and senior party officials.
A guard of honor comprising military and police officers welcomed the arrival of the former head of state’s remains.
Thousands of people gathered at the airport to receive the late former president’s remains, joining Acting Prime Minister Mariano Assanami Sabino, members of the government, state officials, veterans, and relatives in mourning the loss of one of the country’s most prominent independence figures.
Following the arrival ceremony, his body was transported for public tributes and funeral rites. The former president is scheduled to be laid to rest at the Garden of Heroes and Martyrs of the Homeland in Metinaru, Dili, where many of the nation’s distinguished independence figures are buried.
The government has seven days of national mourning in honor of Guterres, whose death has prompted an outpouring of tributes from national leaders, political parties, and international partners.
Lú-Olo’ joined the national liberation movement in 1974 and remained active throughout the 24-year Indonesian occupation, taking on various political and military responsibilities within the resistance movement.
A senior leader of the resistance, he assumed the political leadership of Fretilin’s armed struggle in 1998 following the death of resistance commander Konis Santana.
Following Timor-Leste’s 1999 independence referendum, Guterres was elected president of the Constituent Assembly in 2001, where he oversaw the body responsible for drafting the country’s constitution.
As president of the National Parliament, Lu-Olo formally proclaimed the Restoration of Independence of Timor-Leste on May 20, 2002. He served as parliamentary speaker from 2002 to 2007. ‘Lú-Olo’ later served as president of the republic from 2017 to 2022.
Born on September 7, 1954, in Ossu, Viqueque municipality, Lu-Olo was a husband and father of four, married to Cidália Lopes Nobre Mouzinho Guterres.
TATOLI
