THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE IN MOZAMBIQUE - Page 10.
Soon after the formation of the Mozambique Liberation Front,
it was decided that there should be a conference that same year which
v/ould formulate the main lines of the policy of the new organization
and elect a group of officers v/ho would carry out its work.  The congress was to meet in Dar es Salaam, and v/ould be attended by delegates
representing the various political groups of Mozambique exiled in East
Africa, and as many others as could send delegates from within Mozambique.
In the last half of the montli_of_September, the congress
finally took place, attended by 80 delegates and more than 500 observers from Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Lindi, Morogoro, Snngearetc., in
Tanganyika, v/here there are more than 100,000 Mozambicans working in
various spheres of life, including thousands of refugees v/ho had just
recently arrived from Mozambique.  There were also observers from
Zanzibar! an island off the coast of Tanganyika, where over ^0rQ0Q
Mbzamb_i^ansn?vorK: ln^sMpping and clove farms and plantations;  from
jj/lonibasa, Kenya came several people representing a. JlfQ7fajr\hi nan nnTnmuni ty
of over 20,000 in the dockyards;  and a few came from the Rhodesias
and Nyasaland.  All in ail, the first congress of our party was a very
representative affair, inspite of the fact that it was the first of
its kind in the history of our country.
PROGRAMME OF FRELIMO
Tfoe Congress of FRELIMO examined carefully the present situation in Mozambique and made recommendations for the Central Committee to carry out during the year.  During the discussion of the
"Congress, the following^points were noted:  (a) that the people of
Mozambique were still under the subjection of Portuguese colonialism,
characterized by political, economic, social and cultural oppression;
(b) that the Portuguese government in Mozambique denied the basic
freedoms to v/hich modern man is entitled;  (cj that the Portuguese
government failed to recognize the primacy of the interests of the
Mozambicans, and that it opposed the right of the people to determine
th^ir own destinies, continuing to insist upon labelling Mozambique
a*s an "overseas province";  (d) that Portugal, instead of seeking a
peaceful solirtion to the conflict between her and the people of
Mozambique, continued to use~fascist methods of repression, reinforcing the military and police apparatus by the despatch of military
contingents, massacring innocent people;  imprisoning and torturing
people suspected of nationalistic tendencies.  The Congress noted
further that as a result of the above facts, the people of Mozambique
were being forced to seek effective methods of self-defense.  It also
considered that the recent reforms promulgated by Portugal were within the framework of the same colonialist spirit that has typified
Portuguese action for centuries;  that because they were taken unilaterally, even if they were fair to the people, they would still be
inacceptable.  The Congress, therefore, called upon all Mozambican
patriots to unite under FRELIMO's banner to fight for the independence of their country.  It went on to call attention to the existence of an alliance betv/een the racist powers of Eortugal, South
Africa and the so-called Central African^Federation^ led by Salazar,
Verwoerd and Wellensky, aided by a multifarious system of economic
interests financed in London and New York, and urged all freedom-
loving peoples of the world to condemn and act in such a way as to
frustrate the inhuman activities of these forces.
The Congress of FRELIMO declared its determination to promote the efficient organization of the struggle of the Mozambican
people for national liberation and adopted the following measures to
be carried out by the Central Committee:
1) Development and consolidation of the organization
of FRELIMO;
2) Development of unity among Mozambicans;