Your Excellencies, Mr. Chairman,
we must present one of the most recent
reports from the interior of Mozambipue.
Our eye- witness report speaks of the
brutal policy of destruction and extermination of the indigenous African population by the Portuguese colonialists.
" I deserted my home in panic without
any destination or money because of the
actual situation which has become far
more critical and lamentable each day.
The colonialists realizing the day of their
eventual doom is nearing, are now using
all forms of reprisals and extermination
within their reach. Apart from the terrible
'Shibalo' (forced labour ) which the entire world has heard of by now, it is
worth mentioning the numerous prisons,
immorality and the poisoning of foods
which our people live on and watch in
silence. In the connexion of the poisoning of foods which I want to speak of,
this is the new arm of "cleansing by
the Portuguese. This happened recently
in Gaza, Mozambique, in the month of
February, li;63. Torrential rains accompanied by heavy storms destroyed all
the crops thus resulting in starvation in
many parts of the Save river and Beira
district. The Portuguese taking advantage of this, distributed to the hunger
stricken, maize-meal, groundnuts and sugar, which was without doubt poinsoned.
The result was that many of the people
who received the food ended either in
graves or in hospitals."
Yes Your Excellencies, these are
just a few of the atrocious acts committed by the Portuguese upon human beings, African in their own country simply
because the Creator made them black
and willed them to multiply and replenish the earth.
Other eye-witnesses have reported
similar inicidents to our party.
In January in the section of Ports
and Harbours Lourence Marques, a Portuguese leader in bay No. J. poisoned
two casks of wine with sulphate of soda
when the casks were declared damaged.
The result of this criminal act was the
death of 33 African labourers. The criminal was not brought to Justice. But
the acts of Portuguese malice does not
stop here.
In March, this year, in a sugar
factory of Xinavance, the Portuguese
repeated the same acts. This time with
the poisoning of the river water. Once
again hundreds of people died. This is
the type of life the African endures in
MozDmbique. under the rule of Portuguese cruelty.
One is forced to ask, where is peace,
justice and the liberty or equal human
rights proclaimed by the world Organization of the United Nations which harbours such a Member, who can proudly boast, " In Mozambique, there are
no Mozambicans, but Portuguese. '' or
" Mozambique does not exist without
Portugal", Can the United Nations tolerate this travesty; must we the indigenous African be expected to tolerate it
any longer ?
Portugal has long spoken of her
civilizing mission which is written into
the organic law. It is said that it is the
essence of Portugal's overseas mission
to raise the moral and social levels
of the Africans of her colonial possessions. The policy of assimilado has
failed and the African people have
rejected both the alternative of either
becoming Portuguese citizens or living
as " INDIGENAS'" We would like to
live    as   free    people    inour    coun'ry.
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