WMR INTERVIEW
M
WORLD   MARXIST  REVIEW
V
55
The Voice of the Awakened Continent
The part played by the national-liberation movement in Africa in the fight for
peace, peaceful coexistence and for general and complete disarmament was described in an interview given to our correspondent at the recent World Peace Council
session held in Warsaw by Marcelino Dos Santos, leading figure in the national-*
liberation movement in the Portuguese colonies and Foreign Relations Secretary of
the Mozambique Liberation Front.
Below we give a digest of the interview.
THE PEOPLE OF AFRICA have entered the
final stage of the struggle for national liberation. More and more countries are becoming
independent. Imperialism is compelled to surrender one position after another. But, having
no intention of capitulating completely, it is
trying hard to retain its hold on the continent.
Among the worst of the diehards are the
Portuguese colonialists. By means of bayonets
and napalm bombs they hold sway over more
than 11 million Africans in Angola, Mozambique, Portuguese Guinea, the Cape Verde Islands,
St. Thomas and Principe.
On St. Thomas Island, which has a population of about 60,000, some 1,000 people were
killed for refusing to do forced labor.
In 1959 more than 50 dockers in Portuguese
Guinea were killed for demanding wage increases.
In the Mueda region (Mozambique) hundreds
of peasants were shot by punitive expeditions
for demanding land.
In July 1960 several hundred were killed in
Angola for demanding the release of one of
the leaders of the national-liberation movement
who had been unlawfuly arrested.
Between February and June 1961 alone, the
colonial war in Angola, which is still continuing, took a toll of 50,000 human lives.
The facts show that the Portuguese colonialists are not operating single-handed, that they
are carrying out their policy of repression
against our peoples with the support of the
NATO countries. It is not accidental that some
representatives of the Western powers supported the statement made by the dictator
Salazar in August 1963 in which he lauded Portugal's colonial policy.
Although some Western powers, particularly
the United States, Britain, France and West
Germany pay lip service to the right of the
colonial peoples of Africa to self-determination, in practice they support the policy of op
pression pursued by the Portuguese government in Africa.
We regard the attitude taken by the Western
powers as amoral. We think it impermissible
that in our day some governments resort to
all kinds of stratagems to buttress anti-democratic systems like the colonial regime of Portugal. The time has come when the Western
powers will have to choose between friendship
with our peoples and support for the fascist
government in Lisbon.
One cannot fail to see that world imperialism
stands in the way of our freedom. NATO supplies Portugal with arms for its war in Angola,
helps it to build military airfields in Mozambique. The napalm bombs used in Portuguese
Guinea bear the trademark "made in USA."
The struggle against colonialism is an historical necessity for our people. The experience
of this just struggle shows that in the present
conditions Portuguese colonialism can be destroyed for all time only by force of arms. During the long night of colonialism we on repeated occasions and in various forms expressed our disagreement with foreign rule. We have
now passed from the stage of passive resistance
to resolute action to overthrow the Portuguese
yoke.
Our goal is: destruction of colonial relations
in every guise, abolition of the exploitation of
the people and the resources of our countries
by foreign monopolies. We want to become the
masters of our own destiny and enjoy the
fruits of our labor.
We have done our best to settle peacefully
the conflict between the colonial administration
and our people, a conflict which for us can end
only in one way — in national independence.
Time and again we have urged the Portuguese
government to discuss matters, our only preliminary condition being that it recognize our
right to self-determination and national independence.   Salazar's   fascist   regime,   however,