Maria Terezinha Viegas (born October 3, 1964) was an

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...

ese worker in agriculture who became a politician in the

National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction The National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction ( pt, Congresso Nacional de Reconstrução de Timor, CNRT) is a political party in East Timor founded by former President Xanana Gusmão in March 2007 in preparation for the 2007 parliamentary ...

party. From 2012 to 2017 she was Secretary of State for Parliamentary Affairs and she was re-elected in 2018.

Life

Viegas was born in

Laclubar Laclubar is the main locality in Laclubar Administrative Post, Manatuto Municipality, East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It ...

on 3 October 1964. She gained a degree in Agronomy. In the 1990s she was working in

Dili Dili (Portuguese/Tetum: ''Díli'') is the capital, largest city of East Timor and the second largest city in Timor islands after Kupang (Indonesia). It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in ...

and in her spare time secretly supporting the revolutionaries of East Timor. She was one of the supporters sending letters and supplies. She met Antonio Joao Gomes da Costa who was a rebel leader who went by the nom de guerre of ''Mahuno'' but there relationship was soon interrupted by his arrest in April 1993. He was still in custody three years later when they married in

Dare Dare may refer to: Places * Dare, East Timor, a city * Darè, Italy, a commune * Dare County, North Carolina, United States * Dare, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community Name * Dare (name), a list of people and fictional c ...

. She worked for the revolution but in 1999 her husband had a stroke and she had to spend time assisting his recovery. In 2001 she was one of thirteen women chosen to serve on the National Council of the East Timor Transitional Administration (ETTA). From 2012 to 2017 Viegas was Secretary of State for Parliamentary Affairs. In 2017, Viegas was a delegate to the national group of the national parliament at the parliamentary assembly of the Community of Portuguese- Speaking Countries (CPLP). In the

2018 East Timorese parliamentary election Early parliamentary elections were held in East Timor on 12 May 2018 after the National Parliament (East Timor), National Parliament was dissolved by President Francisco Guterres on 26 January 2018. The Alliance for Change and Progress (AMP), ...

she was elected again and then made Secretary of the Presidium of the Parliament. In 2018 Viegas was elected to the Executive Committee of the

East Timor Football Federation The East Timor Football Federation ( pt, Federação de Futebol de Timor-Leste - FFTL) is the governing body of football in East Timor. In 2016 Timor-Leste run their own league under supervision of and Secretary of State for Youth and Sport. ...

Private life

She married Antonio Joao Gomes da Costa and they had three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viegas, Maria Terezinha 1964 births Living people East Timorese politicians