The President of East Timor, José Ramos-Horta, appointed Ambassador Natália Carrascalão as East Timor’s permanent representative today, March 4, at the Community of Portuguese Language Countries(CPLP), according to a presidential decree published in the Official Bulletin.
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Natália Carrascalão was currently serving as an advisor at the East Timorese Presidency and is replacing Ambassador Laura Abrantes in the role.
East Timor assumed the presidency of the CPLP in December, a position that was withdrawn from Guinea-Bissau following a summit of heads of state and government, after the coup that removed Umaro Sissoco Embaló and interrupted the electoral process, preventing the release of the results of the November general elections.
In the same Official Bulletin, another presidential decree was published naming the current head of the Civil House of the Presidency and former ombudsperson for Human Rights and Justice in East Timor, Jesuína Maria Ferreira Gomes, to the position of deputy minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.
The position is not part of the current structure of the Timorese government, which in the case of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs includes only, in addition to the minister, the vice-minister for affairs of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN in English). The swearing-in ceremony takes place on Thursday at the Presidential Palace in Dili.
