conspicuously absent from the noisy debate on Rhodesia *
In January 1966 the Lonrho Beira pipeline temporarily
became an issue and in April the same year Joanna V made
headline news. More recently, however, the links between
Mozambique and Rhodesia, just as those between Portugal
and Britain, have been consistently soft pedalled by the
British Government and the press, although after South
Africa the attitude of the colonial government of Mozambique is the biggest factor contributing to the continued
survival of the Smith regime. Here are a few facts which
too often forgotten:
ECONOMIC ALLIANCE
Portugal has been loudly complaining that in Mozambique she has lost 15 million Pounds as a result of sanctions? a good indication of how much Rhodesia and Mozambique
depend on each other, which should lead us to ask what she
is not losing, and what therefore Rhodesia is still gaining from the connection•
Transit Services: Mozambique derives 10% of her
gross national income from transit services to or from
Rhodesia. Stretching between Rhodesia and the sea she
has always provided the main outlet for Rhodesian trade.
Beira is by far the nearest port both to    Salisbury
and to Bulawayo. Road and rail services link these towns
to Beira. A railway also links them with Lourengo Marques.
Labour: Although not nearly as important as the export of workers to South Africa, the export of Mozambican
labour to Rhodesia is still considerable* In 1963, 119,871
M0zambicans went to work in Rhodesia, 6,387 of these to
the mines(U.N. statistics)c Mozambique gains in the taxes
remitted by these migrant workers. Rhodesia gains an v. '
extra source of labour which, under constant threat of
deportationis even more vulnerable than her own, to police
action. The importance of this could increase if in the
future the Zimbabweans attempt to take industrial action
against Smith.
■Tourism: The nearest stretch of coastline to Rhodesia
is in Mozambique and every year about 80,000 white Rhodes-
ians go to Mozambican resorts for their holidays. Mozambique is likely to increase in popularity now that Rhodesian passports and currency have been declared invalid in
many other countries. Mozambique still accepts both* Thus
her friendship takes much of the sting out of this move
in the sanctions war.
Finance: Since Mozambique accepts illegal Rhodesian
currency she can more generally be used as an outlet.../
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