José Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmão (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛ ɐlɨˈʃɐ̃dɾɨ ʃɐˈnɐnɐ ɣuʒˈmɐ̃w]; born 20 June 1946) is an East Timorese politician.

[2][3] After leaving high-school for financial reasons at the age of 15 in 1961, he held a variety of unskilled jobs, while continuing his education at night school.

His nickname, "Xanana", was taken from the name of the American rock and roll band "Sha Na Na", (which is pronounced the same as "Xanana" which is spelled according to Portuguese and Tetum spelling rules)[5] who in turn were named after a lyric from the doo-wop song "Get a Job" written and recorded in 1957 by the Silhouettes.

In 1971, Gusmão completed his national service, his son was born, and he became involved with a nationalist organisation headed by José Ramos-Horta.

It was in 1974 that a coup in Portugal resulted in the beginning of decolonisation for Portuguese Timor, and shortly afterwards the Governor Mário Lemos Pires announced plans to grant the colony independence.

After the appointment of the Provisional Government of East Timor by Indonesia, Gusmão became heavily involved in resistance activities.

In 1977, Gusmão was the aide-de-camp to Fretilin political commissar Abel Larisina and organised supplies for civilians at the resistance base at Matebian.

In March 1981, a secret national conference in Lacluta elected him head of Falintil, succeeding the slain Nicolau dos Reis Lobatos.

During the early 1990s, Gusmão became deeply involved in diplomacy and media management, and was instrumental in alerting the world to the massacre in Dili that occurred in Santa Cruz on 12 November 1991.

Indonesian troops (TNI) attempted to capture Gusmão in the Same and Ainaro area on 14 November 1990 with Operasi Senyum ("Operation Smile").

Picking up on this myth, the legend spread that Gusmão could also turn into a white dog and thus run around the village unnoticed while the Indonesian soldiers were looking for him.

[11]In November 1992, a campaign for his capture was finally successful in a large-scale operation by the Indonesian military with Gusmão apprehended in a tunnel under the family home of Aliança Araújo in Lahane near Dili and taken to Bali.

Gusmao was secretly flown into East Timor by INTERFET on Thursday, 21 October 1999, flying from Darwin, Australia, to Baucau, before moving onwards to Dili.

[14] In 1999, Xanana Gusmão was elected speaker of the National Consultative Council (NCC), a kind of transitional parliament during the UN administration of East Timor.

During this time he continually campaigned for unity and peace within East Timor, and was generally regarded as the de facto leader of the emerging nation.

Gusmão eventually won the presidential election on 14 April 2002 with 82.7% against his opponent Francisco Xavier do Amaral and the first president of East Timor when it became formally independent on 20 May 2002.

According to director Grace Phan, it's an "intimate insight into the personal transformation" of the man who helped shape and liberate East Timor.

"[18] The 'hit squad' accusations against Alkatiri were subsequently rejected by a UN Commission, which also criticised Gusmão for making inflammatory statements during the crisis.

On 5 February, he informed his coalition partners that he intended to propose former Health Minister Rui Araújo as his successor and resigned by writing to President Taur Matan Ruak.

In the 2017 parliamentary elections in East Timor, Gusmão succeeded in entering parliament as the CNRT's list leader.

After the successful conclusion of the new Timor Sea border treaty on 6 March 2018, he received a triumphant reception and a heroes welcome from thousands of East Timorese on his return to Dili.

[33] In the 2018 general elections, Gusmão represented the CNRT in the Alliance for Change and Progress (AMP) trio and entered parliament at number one on the list.

[36] Due to the conflict with the President of the Republic over the appointment of CNRT ministers, Gusmão stayed away from the scheduled dates of his swearing-in ceremony and eventually renounced his position in the VIII Government.

A team from the District Court and the National Police had already removed the belongings of seven families in Becusi Craic when Xanana Gusmão intervened with media attention.

In April 2023, the Conselho Superior da Magistratura Judicial (CSMJ) issued a press release expressing regret for the judge's "campaign of professional disparagement" and criticising the "total obstruction" of the execution of the sentence with the media present.

The CSMJ concluded that the judge had acted correctly, declared its solidarity with the judicial officials involved and insisted on the sovereignty of the judiciary.

[39] In the 2023 East Timorese parliamentary election, the CNRT won 41% of the votes and gained 31 seats out of 65 in the National Parliament.