José Luís Guterres

José Luís Guterres (born 1954 Uato-Lari, Portuguese Timor) is an East Timorese politician and diplomat.

Guterres studied at the University of Cambridge, the University of the Western Cape in South Africa, the Malaysian Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations, and the Institute for Strategic and International Studies in Portugal.

Guterres was a member of the Central Committee of the former ruling party Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor. He served as the ambassador of the unrecognized East Timor government to Angola, Mozambique and the United Nations. When his country achieved independence in May 2002, he was appointed as the first East Timorese ambassador to the U.S. and concurrently the U.N.

In 2006, Guterres attempted to take over the leadership of FRETILIN from Mari Alkatiri, the party's Secretary-General, but Alkatiri prevailed at a FRETILIN national congress. Guterres was named foreign minister under Prime Minister José Ramos-Horta later in the year, serving in that position until May 2007.

Guterres' supporters, comprising a breakaway faction of FRETILIN called "Mudanca" (meaning "reform"), backed FRETILIN's main rival, the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) of former president Xanana Gusmão, in the June 2007 parliamentary election. Despite this, Guterres' faction has refused to leave FRETILIN, and Alkatiri has warned of legal action.

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