Portugal. He visited Portugal both officially and privately and is
a close personal friend of the Foreign Minister, Franco Nogueira*
Nixon was Vice-President at the time v/hen John Foster Dulles used
to make statements strongly in favour of the Portuguese, and it is
felt that he will listen to the war lords of the Pentagon v/ho feel that
Mozambique is "vital for Western defence" - just like Vietnam.
If in addition to the above facts, the USA can gain substantial profits
from Mozambique, then it is very likely that they will increase the aid
which they were already giving Portugal through NATO. The Portuguese
Fascist government is also counting on obtaining more aid from the
countries of Western Europe and from South Africa. They use the argument that victory for FRELIMO would be a threat to South Africa, Smith's
regime and "western civilization" (by which we must understand "western
imperialism"). At the sametime they have to bribe these nations by
offering them a greater share in the wealth of Mozambique.
cahora bassa - imperialist dream
All of these plans are well illustrated in the project to build the
Cahora Bassa dam on the Zambezi River about 80 miles upstream from
Tete. This dam is planned to be 520 feet high, 934 feet long and with
a maximum thickness of 70 feet. The system by v/hich it will produce
electric power is technologically advanced, and the project requires an
investmentof 350 million dollars* Obviously, it could not be built by
Portugal or by any single capitalist company, so the Cahora Bassa dam
is based on the international co-operation of capitalism, which fits in
well with Portugal's policy of attracting othercapitalist nations to help
fight the war against FRELIMO.
Under different circumstances, an underdeveloped country would welcome
the Cahora Bassa dam. As a hydro-electric station, it would be one of
the largest in the worlds  and in addition it. would create a lake 165
miles long, and up to 15 miles across, capable of irrigating 3.5 million
acres of land*  But Cahora Bassa is not to be built for Mozambique or for
Mozambicans*  It will bring .profits to the capitalists who actually build
it, to the government of Portugal, to the white settlers in Mozambique,
and to the white racists of South Africa and Rhodesia* The Cahora
Bassa dam is aimed at further oppressing the people of Mozambique and of
Southern Africa as a whole.
Most of the hydro-electric power produced by the Cahora Bassa dam is
to be exported to South Africa., Mozambique already exports about 60
million kilowatt hours per year to South Africa from Matola, but Cahora