CENPA-032~09 |
Save page Remove page | Previous | 9 of 25 | Next |
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large (1000x1000 max)
Extra Large
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
All (PDF)
|
This page
All
|
Loading content ...
IN MOZAMBIQUE WITH FRELIMO By ANDERS JOHANSSON 3 SIXTY thousand Portuguese soldiers are trying In vain to defend Mozambique — the Salazar regime's southeast African colony — against surging African nationalism. The colonial forces are successfully fought by an army of 8,000 well-trained and well-armed guerrilla soldiers — among them several hundred women fighters* Mozambique is weU cm Its way to become a »ew Algeria, During this bitter war, which has now been ragteg for more than three years, it has been next to Impossible to discern the truth from the fighting parties* coof Ucting war bulletins. Both skies allege thai their forces have killed well over 5,000 enemies, while their own louses are said to be very small, Frelimo -» Frente d* Liberia* em de Mozambique —' maintains that, with the exception of the few towns in the area and some dozens of Portuguese garrisons, the liberation front has control over the northern provinces of Cabo DeJg&&> and Niassa (one fifth of Mozambique with 800,000 inhabitants^ while Portugal all- eges that the "terrorists* have been crushed and the sporadic •acts of violence*, which still occur, are committed by •infiltrators from abroad* who, tinder cover of the darkness, cross th» Ruvuraa River from Tanzania and return there the same night. Dr« Salazar seems to persist in believing in the Nazi propaganda trick: if a lie is repeated often enough, It win finally sound as a truth. During the week spent with Frelimo (as the first ever journ alist! l noticed ths prssasc^ of Portugal only in weapons captured by the liberation front, a reconnaissance plane, and some destroyed villages which were shot to ruins by Portuguese artillery soon after the re volution began m September 35,1964, as a retaliation for the villagers' support of the guerrillas. Obviously, the time I spent there was too short to enable me to study the conditions in the whole of the province, but ail the same I could get proof enough to say ii&i Frelimo has started a successful war of Independence against the Portuguese colonial power* Already, the guerrillas hold large areas in the northern part m Mozambique; it is effective, In spite of a rather slack organ- lilt ion (grades and uniforms are ftou-e 3&*tesi)s it is supported by lite civilians and, furthermore, U fights on 'home ground* In a terrain highly suitable for guerrilla warfare, 1 fallowed Or, Eduardo Men* dlace, Frelimo's President, m his first visit to the liberated arena, and the reception be and hi? delegation received by the w|] fcgers, who met them by the thousands, proved that the or- pulsation fulfills one of the mala requirements of an elective guerrilla movement: a trusting co-operation between liberator gild the Uberated. If the Portuguese colonial ad* ministration Is right when ft al~ leges that Frelimo is terrorising the civilian population, then it's rather astonishing thai this population should have greeted uswtfch such }oy, when together with hundreds at guerrilla soldiers, we walked through the villages* •Our good relations with the civilian popt£$kim is the resatt of gigantic w&rk*, says S5~year old army commander Samara Mtchal —MoeambKjoe'BGeaeral Giap, * * *' Comrade Samora, hk nickname among bis o£?icer«€G&ea- gues end the privates, is a touch but highly respected, commander-in-chief with a typical guerrilla beard* He carries his headquarters in *his poc&et*, and, together with his staff, he is always on the move between different operational zones, •Before we could start fight-' teg, we had to aro&s© the people from their ap&thy#their ifcar of the Portefuese tyrants; w#bed to make them aware of why ana now we swt ngtst tgpstper for^ our fre&tom,* -.tie &$$&• When Prtttmp m$ 'ic^m& in Tanzania's capital, && e© S&l&zm, in Me September, is 33, it declared as Its wml to*orgaft- ise, m^tjlUse and CDite all £h* people of Mozambique*, In or?3er to attain *a total IVqa&t&m or the Portuguese colonial dotnla- ation*, and *aa Immediate and complete .fniepeadeaa? of Mo- * • * It took two years of ttarongh preparation before Frelli&o w^ to its first attack against Boar- tugal's forces* In 1963, 250 men ware rjnt abroad for political and military training, the majority to Algeria, some to Russia and a fewtoChina, fe May 1964, about half of the xntn were ordered back to Mozambique to teach the pecpie the necessity of getting; together and fight the Fortunes*, . When Frelimo's political agitators had worked undergrowth* the colony for four months they were reinforced, in August, I364t by the first units of armed guerrilla soldiers* These 2§0
Object Description
Description
Title | CENPA-032~09 |
Filename | CENPA-032~09.tiff |
Full text | IN MOZAMBIQUE WITH FRELIMO By ANDERS JOHANSSON 3 SIXTY thousand Portuguese soldiers are trying In vain to defend Mozambique — the Salazar regime's southeast African colony — against surging African nationalism. The colonial forces are successfully fought by an army of 8,000 well-trained and well-armed guerrilla soldiers — among them several hundred women fighters* Mozambique is weU cm Its way to become a »ew Algeria, During this bitter war, which has now been ragteg for more than three years, it has been next to Impossible to discern the truth from the fighting parties* coof Ucting war bulletins. Both skies allege thai their forces have killed well over 5,000 enemies, while their own louses are said to be very small, Frelimo -» Frente d* Liberia* em de Mozambique —' maintains that, with the exception of the few towns in the area and some dozens of Portuguese garrisons, the liberation front has control over the northern provinces of Cabo DeJg&&> and Niassa (one fifth of Mozambique with 800,000 inhabitants^ while Portugal all- eges that the "terrorists* have been crushed and the sporadic •acts of violence*, which still occur, are committed by •infiltrators from abroad* who, tinder cover of the darkness, cross th» Ruvuraa River from Tanzania and return there the same night. Dr« Salazar seems to persist in believing in the Nazi propaganda trick: if a lie is repeated often enough, It win finally sound as a truth. During the week spent with Frelimo (as the first ever journ alist! l noticed ths prssasc^ of Portugal only in weapons captured by the liberation front, a reconnaissance plane, and some destroyed villages which were shot to ruins by Portuguese artillery soon after the re volution began m September 35,1964, as a retaliation for the villagers' support of the guerrillas. Obviously, the time I spent there was too short to enable me to study the conditions in the whole of the province, but ail the same I could get proof enough to say ii&i Frelimo has started a successful war of Independence against the Portuguese colonial power* Already, the guerrillas hold large areas in the northern part m Mozambique; it is effective, In spite of a rather slack organ- lilt ion (grades and uniforms are ftou-e 3&*tesi)s it is supported by lite civilians and, furthermore, U fights on 'home ground* In a terrain highly suitable for guerrilla warfare, 1 fallowed Or, Eduardo Men* dlace, Frelimo's President, m his first visit to the liberated arena, and the reception be and hi? delegation received by the w|] fcgers, who met them by the thousands, proved that the or- pulsation fulfills one of the mala requirements of an elective guerrilla movement: a trusting co-operation between liberator gild the Uberated. If the Portuguese colonial ad* ministration Is right when ft al~ leges that Frelimo is terrorising the civilian population, then it's rather astonishing thai this population should have greeted uswtfch such }oy, when together with hundreds at guerrilla soldiers, we walked through the villages* •Our good relations with the civilian popt£$kim is the resatt of gigantic w&rk*, says S5~year old army commander Samara Mtchal —MoeambKjoe'BGeaeral Giap, * * *' Comrade Samora, hk nickname among bis o£?icer«€G&ea- gues end the privates, is a touch but highly respected, commander-in-chief with a typical guerrilla beard* He carries his headquarters in *his poc&et*, and, together with his staff, he is always on the move between different operational zones, •Before we could start fight-' teg, we had to aro&s© the people from their ap&thy#their ifcar of the Portefuese tyrants; w#bed to make them aware of why ana now we swt ngtst tgpstper for^ our fre&tom,* -.tie &$$&• When Prtttmp m$ 'ic^m& in Tanzania's capital, && e© S&l&zm, in Me September, is 33, it declared as Its wml to*orgaft- ise, m^tjlUse and CDite all £h* people of Mozambique*, In or?3er to attain *a total IVqa&t&m or the Portuguese colonial dotnla- ation*, and *aa Immediate and complete .fniepeadeaa? of Mo- * • * It took two years of ttarongh preparation before Frelli&o w^ to its first attack against Boar- tugal's forces* In 1963, 250 men ware rjnt abroad for political and military training, the majority to Algeria, some to Russia and a fewtoChina, fe May 1964, about half of the xntn were ordered back to Mozambique to teach the pecpie the necessity of getting; together and fight the Fortunes*, . When Frelimo's political agitators had worked undergrowth* the colony for four months they were reinforced, in August, I364t by the first units of armed guerrilla soldiers* These 2§0 |
Archival file | Volume4/CENPA-032~09.tiff |