.
for the purpose of giving assistance to
the liberation movements in countries
like ours which are still in the clutches of
imperialism and colonialism. It is for this
reason that we have sought a hearing
before this assembly.
THE PORTUGUESE IMPERIALISTS
Your Excellencies,
Of the sordid tale of Portuguese Imperialism in Mozambique and elsewhere
in Africa no-one is better aware than
yourselves. But we beg your indulgence
to allow us to recount briefly some of
the stark features of the Portugals continued stubborn resistance against the tide
of history. After more than 450 years of
Portugal's criminal occupation of Mozambique and blind to the storm warnings
of revolutions, the Portuguese show no
indication whatsoever of a readiness to
move with time and tide. Instead they
are rearing to further dig themselves in
Mozambique.
With the aid of NATO and her allies,
the Salazar regime has constructed more
new military air bases in North Mozambique. The construction of these military
bases was carried out by engineers and
specialists supplied to Portugal by her
NATO allies. Flying box-cars laden with
soldiers arrive' frequently from Portugal
at Lourenco Marques and Beira. Apart
from the existing military air bases, civil
airfields are being used by the Portuguese
air force. Others, some with runways
long enough to take military jet aircraft*
troop carriers and bombers, have been
and are being hastily built in the wild
inland terrain throughout Mozambique
with the use of forced African labour
working from dawn to dusk under the
ever present threat of floggings. Some
200 bush air-strips have now been created
in the territory, made ready for landing
troops and other security forces. All
troops are armed with the latest automatic rifles, mortars, heavy and light
machine guns supplied to Portugal by
her NATO Allies and other imperialist
countries.
Portuguese farmers working in cottage
communities in rural areas can freely
buy sub-machine guns or rifles and revolvers at their local stores and ammunition too, is readily available to white
settlers in Mozambique's towns and villages. The Africans'on the other hand are
by law forbidden to purchase or carry
arms and during the whole of this period
Africans have been disarmed of even
small items such as knives.
CAMPAIGN  OF TERROR
In the meantime, persecution of Africans suspected of having any nationalist
sentiments continue to be perpetrated by
the Portuguese despite the force of international opinion. The Portuguese campaign of terror is rapidly increasing. Day
by day Africans are condemned by the
undercover men of PIDE (POLICIA INTERN ACIONAL E DEFESA DE ESTADO)
or secret police whose network is also
spread over the Boer Republic of South
Africa and the Rhodesias, as a result of
secret agreements reached by the settler regimes in these parts of Africa tc
collaborate and crush any nationalist up
rising in Southern Africa.
During the month of November 1962.
several persons were shot near Nampula
and many others arrested after an attempt to blow up a bridge. In a village
near Villa Cabral, 20 people were shot
by a platoon of Portuguese soldiers. On
the previous day, a Portuguese military
patrol vehicle was ambushed near the
village, two soldiers were killed and the
vehicle burnt.   •
I
i
In September 1963,-400 people were
rounded up in North Mozambique on
suspicion of carrying out subversive
activities. They were flown on four
planes to Louranco Marques. We have
heard no more about them since. In the
same month four people were shot dead
by soldiers in Cabo Delgado. On October 25 people were Drrested at Magude
for alleged subversive activities. In the
same district 10 persons were sentenced
to six years imprisonment for protesting
against having to work without a break
from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the railways.
A platoon of
ded an African
in the District of
December   1963,
and   defenceless
sajne raid some
ted by the troops
ground.
Portuguese troops inva-
village of Morrumbala
Quelimane on the 15th
and killed   15   innocent
Africans. During the
African girls were viola-
and a hut burnt to the
In November 1963, large contingents
of Portuguese troops were dispatched
from TETE to ZUMBO, FURANCUNGO,
CAZULA and other places in the Tete
district. Those troops were to reinforce
the border guards in view of t he break
up of Welensky's Federation of Rhodesia
and Nyasaland. Similar incidents have
been and still continue to be reported
from the various parts of Mozambique.
There is therefore. Your Excellencies,
no doubt that much worse troubles will
occur, as the African people of Mozambique are grimly determined to break
the chains of decades of harsh, oppressive Portuguese colonial rule.
FORCE CHILD LABOUR
Towards the end of 1962, the Salazar
regime, still claiming that Mozambique
is a province of Portugal, held a conference in Portugal, aiming at transferring
the power of control in Mozambique to
the white minority settlers, as well as to
add new reforms on top of the old ones
that were never put into practice by the
Portuguese colonialists- The land taken
from the Africans by force is turned
over to the white settlers who cultivate
it with the forced labour provided by the
government. Children over the age of 12
years are forced to surrender their education to forced labour whenever they are
required. Not satisfied with the forced
and cheap labour in the colony alone,
Portugal has contracted to supply labour
to the neighbouring mining colonial
territories, the Republic of South Africa
and the Rhodesias. The forced labour
system is to force the overwhelming
majority of Africans to participate in
Portuguese economy on terms which are
deeply injurious to the Africans' welfare
and highly lucrative to the Portuguese
settler government. Corporal punishment
is still common and freely used.
We have been made a separate and
distinct class and against us every avenue to improvement is effectually closed.
We are still discriminated against as inferiors because of our race, prevented
from our families, cheated of our labours
and left to die in bondage. We the
Portuguese colonised Africans of Mozambique are condemned to lead a life worse
than slavery in our country,of birth The
Africans are still denied the right of
Assembly whether for political, cultural
or trade union purposes.
THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME
OF UDENAMO'S AIMS
1 — To unite the largest possible number
of allies and to organize an armed
struggle for national and democratic
liberation.
2 — To   train large number  of  leading
cadres in the most speedy and effe*
ctive manner.
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