11.
The mass arrests of innocent Mozambicans is one of the many
high-handed tactics of the fascist regime of Salazar.  Before the
armed struggle began, the Portuguese colonialist government tried
to instill fear in the people by increasing its armed forces, importing more than. 35,000 European soldiers into our country;  by
establishing a network cf well-paid PIDE spies all over Mozambique;
by creating the "Psycho-Social Branch" of the police force to
organise anti-FRELIMO communities all ever the country, as well as
pseudo-nationalist organisations abroad, aimed at creating confusion, hoping to weaken the struggle.  From time to time the
colonialist government of Salazar herded several paramount chiefs
to Lisbon to try to drug them with the splendour and material
luxury of metropolitan Portugal.
Then, having failed to win the sympathy of the people of
Mozambique, and after the launching of the armed struggle, the
Portuguese Government resorted to naked force.
As is common knowledge among the representatives of the press,
there are thousands of refugees in Tanzania, Malawi, Swaziland and
elsewhere who have fled their homeland in the last ten months.
These refugees tell many stories of persecution and horror.  Since
the beginning of the armed struggle, their villages have been
surrounded by  the'Portuguese army and police, many of their homes
were napalm bombed, their crops v/ere destroyed and their food
stores burned.  Our militants in the FRELIMO guerrilla groups tell
hair-raising stories of attrocities perpetrated by the Portuguese
army against the innocent civilian population.
It is against this background that one has to understand the
banning cf this non-political, social organisation.  To FRELIMO,
this banning obviously means that the Portuguese Government has
become so fearful of the civilian population that it is resorting
to extraordinary civil repressions.  It started by suspecting
certain Africans of wanting to be' free.  It extended this suspicion
to larger and larger numbers of people, imprisoning thousands of
Mozambican black men.  In the last couple of years, since the
establishment of FRELIMO, the Portuguese Government has been
shocked by the realisation that the v/hole population of Mozambique
adheres to the FRELIMO programme of action for the total liberation
of the country.  Thus it feels compelled to include among the
people and organisations to be suspected all the black men of Mozambique and all the non-Europeans and Europeans who dc not show
enthusiasm for the fascist regime of Salazar.
The banning of the Centro, as well as all the above-mentioned
repressive measures, are an indication of the effectiveness of the
armed liberation struggle being carried on by FRELIMO.
Our struggle continues.
Eduardo C. Mondlane, President
Mozambique Liberation Front