Francisco Xavier do Amaral
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Francisco Xavier do Amaral (b. 1937) is a former East Timorese politician. A founder of the Frente Revolucionaria de Timor Leste Independente (Fretilin), he was sworn in as President when the country, then a Portuguese colony, made a unilateral declaration of independence on November 28, 1975. Following the Indonesian invasion of the country on December 7th, he fled into the mountains, where he remained for three years before being captured in 1978. He then lived effectively under house arrest in Bali, until Indonesia withdrew from East Timor in 1999.
In April 2002, he stood against Xanana Gusmão in the presidential elections, but was defeated.
| Preceded by: Mário Lemos Pires as Governor of Portuguese Timor | Presidents of East Timor | Followed by: Xanana Gusmão |