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Imperial Powers and Decolonization: Revolution in the Portuguese Colonies

Imperial Powers and Decolonization: Revolution in the Portuguese Colonies. March 13. Revolution: Mozambique. Post-Independence: Challenges to ‘Revolution’

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Imperial Powers and Decolonization: Revolution in the Portuguese Colonies

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  1. ImperialPowers andDecolonization:Revolution in thePortuguese Colonies March 13

  2. Revolution: Mozambique Post-Independence: Challenges to ‘Revolution’ - Significance of Ideological Aspects of Independence - why the fact that these movements (in this case FRELIMO) were ‘socialist’ complicated the post - independence situation….

  3. Revolution: Mozambique “The Enemy from Within”: - enemy had not only been Portuguese - many ‘African’ Mozambicans had fought with, spied for and ‘secretly’ supported colonial regime - how were they to be ‘re-integrated’ into new society?

  4. Revolution: Portuguese Colonies Video“Reconciliation with Traitors” [Add’l Rdgs]

  5. Revolution: Mozambique FRELIMO-controlled Mozambique enjoyed just over a year of semi-peace (1975-1976): and then… - RENAMO (Resistëncia Nacional Moçambicana): White Rhodesian officers seeking to keep Mozambique from supporting black guerrillas trying to overthrow white regime in Rhodesia - first attack February 1977 [see “The vagaries of violence and power in post-colonial Mozambique”, Add’l Rdgs - ‘Recommended’. Covers next section of lecture which we cannot do in class, dealing with Civil War. ]

  6. Revolution: Mozambique RENAMO: initiated by Ian Smith[see lecture, video Add’l Rdg, week of Mar.21-3] - later joined by South African Government - purpose: to destabilize Mozambique, retain control Southern Africa for ‘White’ regimes - noted for their kidnapping, use of 1000s children: porters, soldiers, ‘wives’

  7. Revolution: Mozambique 1984: - Nkomati Accord negotiations: failed - RENAMO fought against FRELIMO Government until 1992

  8. Revolution: Mozambique 1986: - President of Mozambique (Samora Machel) killed in mysterious plane crash, South African side Mozambique border - South Africa accused of sabotage [See: “Death of a President (Samora Machel)” and ‘Death of Samora Machel’, YouTube Videos, ‘Resources’] • 1992: Peace Accord Signed between FRELIMO and RENAMO

  9. Revolution: Mozambique 1994: democratic elections - FRELIMO in Mozambique [53%] - RENAMO [33%]) - ‘victory’ decisive but …importantly, faced ‘opposition’ of over 30% from former ‘enemy’ with whom relations had been violent

  10. Revolution: Mozambique Post-1994: - government faced with ‘working with the enemy’ - population faced with ‘living with the enemy’ - issues of reparations, restitution Forgive? Forget? How?

  11. Revolution: Mozambique Past is Present: - Again: how to reintegrate those who fought against the winning ‘side’ back into society after years (sometimes decades) of war? - for many Mozambicans: whole generation of young knew nothing BUT war! - among them ‘special group’: the stolen children, the child soldiers

  12. Revolution: Portuguese Colonies Video“Stolen Children” [Add’l Rdgs]

  13. Revolution: Mozambique “The former child soldiers of Renamo confront their own families …. The boys, adolescents now, were the child soldiers of the former rebel movement Renamo. They had been kidnapped, brutalized, and forced to kill in a campaign by the apartheid South Africa-backed Renamo to control Ilha Josina Machel, a strategic island in the Nkomati river, around 100km from the capital Maputo. The children were Renamo's shock troops. Lost to their families and culture, they were responsible for some of the worst atrocities of a bitter war.” [reference ‘Video: Stolen Children’ April 1999]

  14. Revolution: Mozambique Another man, who was used by Renamo as a porter and twice escaped, also works with RE in the community. He still sees some of the children who held him captive and on one occasion urged that he be killed. Reconstruindo a Esperanca [Portuguese, ‘rebuilding hope’] has two other programs in Nampula and Gaza provinces helping not just Renamo ex-soldiers but children who were in government militias, and the anti-Renamo and traditionally-based Naparema forces - as well as abused girls. …thousands more children in Mozambique … continue to live with the trauma and memories of the war unaddressed. [April 1999]

  15. Revolution: Mozambique “One of the key aspects of RE's work is that it cooperates closely with traditional healers and religious leaders. All the children that returned to IlhaJosinaMachel went through cleansing rituals "to clean their mind's of what they saw," the local 'Bishop' of the African church on the island said. "We clean so that they can forget," which in turn allows the community to forgive, he added.” …

  16. Revolution: Mozambique The 'Bishop', who himself was shot by Renamo, had his son kidnapped and did not know he was alive until he returned in 1994. "When I see a child and know he was a soldier I'm not meant to hate him because I know he was forced to do all that," he told IRIN. "I don't want to talk about the war but our recovery," which with flooding this year, and little money in the area, is perilous enough.” [see ‘Marxism to Market’,Add’l Rdgs, on impact of natural disasters – especially flooding.]

  17. Revolution: Portuguese Colonies “From Marxism to Market” [Add’l Rdgs] - Tells the story as imaged in grafiti: how the Marxist/Socialist revolution of Machel quietly gave way to today’s Western/capitalist economy - important piece that looks at how exigencies of economic growth in wake of three decades of war led to ‘dropping’ socialist economics

  18. Revolution: Mozambique • In spite of repeated charges of electoral fraud, FRELIMO has remained in charge since a shift to Democracy 1994 • Although remaining single-party state, FRELIMO had quietly dropped ‘Marxist-Leninist’ platform by mid-1980s when…

  19. Revolution: Mozambique • - Forced to accept IMF Structural Adjustment Programme (like Ghana)

  20. Revolution: Mozambique - 1989: dropped legal reference in statutes - 1990: ‘People’s Republic…’ became simply ‘Republic of Mozambique’ BUT Flag Retains Memory of Revolutionary Ideal

  21. Revolution: Mozambique “ If people hold hoes instead of weapons, peace could be maintained, agricultural development can be promoted.”The Mozambique flag remains emblematic of this ideal with its image of hoes and guns.”

  22. Revolution: Mozambique Epilogue: following 2014 elections, violence broke out as RENAMO claimed more autonomy in regions it (claims to have ) won ‘fears of civil war’ [article 2014 Add’l Rdgs] were realized new civil war (2014-17, ongoing) echoing experience of 1980s: spilling over into neighbouring countries (e.g. Malawi, Zimbabwe) [see article 2016, video 2017, Add’l Rdgs]

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