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for women. Women must know the work their husbands are doing, particularly in time of war. There are some people who think that women cannot do anything when men are not around. But this is insulting to our Mozambican women. They have already shown that they can take initiatives and responsibility when given the chance. This opportunity was denied them by the colonialists and even by our traditional society. But now with the revolution this has changed. We have women on the Central Committee and have women at the War Command, and are always doing our utmost to raise the status of women. Some of our women trained and experienced in Cabo Delgado and Niassa are now working in Tete. Another member of the Committee, comrade Shaban Namwelo, speaks about the successes they have achieved in the zone, specially in increasing production. He says that for more than 6 months the enemy has not entered their region, and that peace is complete there. Comrade Samora: «We have achieved much but we must not pause in the struggle, we must continue the fight and in particular in areas like this, from where the enemy has been driven out, we must never relax but be constantly vigilant. You know that when a crocodile bites someone and that person escapes, the animal will walk for many miles following the scent of the blood. It is the same with the Portuguese enemy. He is now in the town - isolated - but he is always making plans to come out again and carry on what he started. We have the advantage because this is our home, and just as a woman knows where is her fire and her pans, so we know where are our weapons, we know the terrain, what products grow well, things that the Portuguese have to make long studies before they can discover. I have been marching for some weeks in Tete province and have seen that we have already cultivated very much here. But we must be aware that the enemy can still come and try to destroy everything. In some regions where the people had good production and had come to take their peace too much for granted, the people used to dance at night. But then the next day they were not fit for work. It is also at such time that different kinds of vices appear, and this is very bad for the war, and also there sometimes appear those people who try to live off the work of others, stealing instead of working. This is against our life and our independence. We must build a healthy society where men and women respect and love each other. This is the only way to build a strong Mozambique. 10 In connection with a discussion which ensues on the fact that the Portuguese are trying to alienate some people from the struggle by giving them some privileges and cutting down certain taxes, FRELIMO's President replies: «At the beginning I said that we must know what we are fighting for. Many comrades have spoken about all that they suffered under the Portuguese, and nearly all of them spoke of the oppressive taxes and beatings. If these things were stopped, would we then stop fighting? Of course not. Because we are fighting Portuguese colonialism of which these are just one aspect. After independence we will have a government that will need taxes to build up our country and to do things for our people. All the things that FRELIMO does now will be government tasks then. The taxes we give the Portuguese are bad because the money does not stay here and does not benefit our people, it benefits the Portuguese. The bad thing is not to pay taxes, but the way the money is used. It should be used to develop our agriculture not Portuguese settlements, to improve our health, give us an education, improve our transport. All that the Portuguese have ever done in this field has been with the intention of increasing their exploitation of us. And even if they build hospitals and schools, the struggle must still continue against them. In the first place, the concession of some material advantages or privileges by the Portuguese to Mozambicans would be just a deceptive manoeuvre to try to alienate our people from the revolution. We must be aware of this and vigilant. And in any case, the basic issue is the one of our independence. And colonialism means domination. We are already building ourselves schools, hospitals, shops and improved agriculture in the liberated areas. And they are serving us and not a foreign group or a foreign country. One fighter, comrade Lakeyo Mgana, asks about the best way to defend their camps and methods for improvement in production. Comrade Samora summarisesthe directives: extend the war to new zones, and work collectively. ((Together we are all building a new life in Mozambique. When the war started we had only light weapons, later came the automatic weapons, bazookas and mines. Then the enemy abandoned the roads. Later there came heavy weapons so that we could attack the enemy from afar. Then we were able to start cultivation in peace. The production you are doing here is due to the fact that you always carry far to advance zones to permit the fighting comrades to spread the war there. As there is no forced labour here you have committees to decide on transport, just as you have committees in many other fields. (dn production you are growing new crops introduced to you by FRELIMO. You produce more than before in order to feed the fighters and also to be able to exchange some for clothing. You are able to do this because although one man alone might be able to produce enough to feed himself, he cannot produce more and therefore you began to work together in cooperatives. You must continue to work collectively and increase production of those crops formerly unknown in Tete and recently introduced - particularly those that are adapted to war conditions, which are more resistant to bombing raids and grow easily. ((When we started the war, the Portuguese despised us. They said we would never be able to fight them. At the beginning they would conceal the facts about the struggle, particularly about the deaths of Portuguese soldiers. Only reports about the Africans in the Portuguese forces were given and they would show pictures of these to the populations in an attempt to mobilise them by showing that FRELIMO killed black people. When the Portuguese killed children in their operations they told the people that they were killed by FRELIMO. And all the time they concealed the war. When foreign newspapers wrote about the war in Mozambique the Portuguese would deny it. When the struggle spread to Tete they denied this too for a long time. They claimed that it was just people from Zambia who were causing disturbances here. But even though the Portuguese use such tactics of lies, we must never hide the truth. To do this is like rubbing fire with grass. Today the Portuguese have been forced to change their tune. At the beginning they said we were small groups of bandits but now they are going through the world asking for weapons to fight us. ((Our main objectives are to expel the Portuguese and to liberate our country - to liberate everyone, men, women and children. And by liberating we mean not only from Portuguese colonialism, but also to establish a new life for our people with justice and equality, a society where no exploitation will be possible. In their propaganda outside the enemy say that we are Portuguese. But by our struggle and our work we are showing them and the rest of the world that we are not and never will be Portuguese. Our country, Mozambique will be free. A LUTA CONTINUA.))
Object Description
Title | Mozambique revolution, no. 47 (1971 May-June) |
Description | Contents: The truth that Portugal cannot conceal - Editorial (p. 1); Reports from the military front (p. 3); The freedom struggle - as the people see it - a people's meeting in Tete province (p. 6); Josina you are not dead (p.11); Marching with FRELIMO - Dar Students visit free Mozambique (p.12); A journalist in search of the facts - Articles by a Tanzanian journalist (p.14); Report on Guinea-Bissau by a frelimo delegation (p.16); The UN must face the NATO's challenge - FRELIMO's meeting with UN committee (p.18); Mueda must not be forgotten (p. 20); The forces of reaction close their ranks (p. 21); But the opposition grows (p. 22). |
Subject (lcsh) |
Nationalism -- Mozambique Self-determination, National Mozambique -- History Portugal -- Politics and government -- 1933-1974 |
Geographic Subject (Country) | Mozambique |
Geographic Subject (Continent) | Africa |
Geographic Coordinates | -18.6696821,35.5273466 |
Coverage date | 1955/1971-07 |
Creator | Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) |
Publisher (of the Original Version) | Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO). Department of Information |
Place of Publication (of the Origianal Version) | Dar Es Salaam, U.R. of Tanzania |
Publisher (of the Digital Version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
Date issued | 1971-05/1971-06 |
Type |
texts images |
Format | 28 p. |
Format (aat) | newsletters |
Language | English |
Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
Part of collection | Emerging Nationalism in Portuguese Africa, 1959-1965 |
Part of subcollection | Mozambique Collection |
Rights | The University of Southern California has licensed the rights to this material from the Aluka initiative of Ithaka Harbors, Inc., a non-profit Delaware corporation whose address is 151 East 61st Street, New York, NY 10021 |
Physical access | Original archive is at the Boeckmann Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies. Send requests to address or e-mail given. Phone (213) 821-2366; fax (213) 740-2343. |
Repository Name | USC Libraries Special Collections |
Repository Address | Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189 |
Repository Email | specol@usc.edu |
Filename | CENPA-345 |
Description
Title | CENPA-345~12 |
Filename | CENPA-345~12.tiff |
Full text | for women. Women must know the work their husbands are doing, particularly in time of war. There are some people who think that women cannot do anything when men are not around. But this is insulting to our Mozambican women. They have already shown that they can take initiatives and responsibility when given the chance. This opportunity was denied them by the colonialists and even by our traditional society. But now with the revolution this has changed. We have women on the Central Committee and have women at the War Command, and are always doing our utmost to raise the status of women. Some of our women trained and experienced in Cabo Delgado and Niassa are now working in Tete. Another member of the Committee, comrade Shaban Namwelo, speaks about the successes they have achieved in the zone, specially in increasing production. He says that for more than 6 months the enemy has not entered their region, and that peace is complete there. Comrade Samora: «We have achieved much but we must not pause in the struggle, we must continue the fight and in particular in areas like this, from where the enemy has been driven out, we must never relax but be constantly vigilant. You know that when a crocodile bites someone and that person escapes, the animal will walk for many miles following the scent of the blood. It is the same with the Portuguese enemy. He is now in the town - isolated - but he is always making plans to come out again and carry on what he started. We have the advantage because this is our home, and just as a woman knows where is her fire and her pans, so we know where are our weapons, we know the terrain, what products grow well, things that the Portuguese have to make long studies before they can discover. I have been marching for some weeks in Tete province and have seen that we have already cultivated very much here. But we must be aware that the enemy can still come and try to destroy everything. In some regions where the people had good production and had come to take their peace too much for granted, the people used to dance at night. But then the next day they were not fit for work. It is also at such time that different kinds of vices appear, and this is very bad for the war, and also there sometimes appear those people who try to live off the work of others, stealing instead of working. This is against our life and our independence. We must build a healthy society where men and women respect and love each other. This is the only way to build a strong Mozambique. 10 In connection with a discussion which ensues on the fact that the Portuguese are trying to alienate some people from the struggle by giving them some privileges and cutting down certain taxes, FRELIMO's President replies: «At the beginning I said that we must know what we are fighting for. Many comrades have spoken about all that they suffered under the Portuguese, and nearly all of them spoke of the oppressive taxes and beatings. If these things were stopped, would we then stop fighting? Of course not. Because we are fighting Portuguese colonialism of which these are just one aspect. After independence we will have a government that will need taxes to build up our country and to do things for our people. All the things that FRELIMO does now will be government tasks then. The taxes we give the Portuguese are bad because the money does not stay here and does not benefit our people, it benefits the Portuguese. The bad thing is not to pay taxes, but the way the money is used. It should be used to develop our agriculture not Portuguese settlements, to improve our health, give us an education, improve our transport. All that the Portuguese have ever done in this field has been with the intention of increasing their exploitation of us. And even if they build hospitals and schools, the struggle must still continue against them. In the first place, the concession of some material advantages or privileges by the Portuguese to Mozambicans would be just a deceptive manoeuvre to try to alienate our people from the revolution. We must be aware of this and vigilant. And in any case, the basic issue is the one of our independence. And colonialism means domination. We are already building ourselves schools, hospitals, shops and improved agriculture in the liberated areas. And they are serving us and not a foreign group or a foreign country. One fighter, comrade Lakeyo Mgana, asks about the best way to defend their camps and methods for improvement in production. Comrade Samora summarisesthe directives: extend the war to new zones, and work collectively. ((Together we are all building a new life in Mozambique. When the war started we had only light weapons, later came the automatic weapons, bazookas and mines. Then the enemy abandoned the roads. Later there came heavy weapons so that we could attack the enemy from afar. Then we were able to start cultivation in peace. The production you are doing here is due to the fact that you always carry far to advance zones to permit the fighting comrades to spread the war there. As there is no forced labour here you have committees to decide on transport, just as you have committees in many other fields. (dn production you are growing new crops introduced to you by FRELIMO. You produce more than before in order to feed the fighters and also to be able to exchange some for clothing. You are able to do this because although one man alone might be able to produce enough to feed himself, he cannot produce more and therefore you began to work together in cooperatives. You must continue to work collectively and increase production of those crops formerly unknown in Tete and recently introduced - particularly those that are adapted to war conditions, which are more resistant to bombing raids and grow easily. ((When we started the war, the Portuguese despised us. They said we would never be able to fight them. At the beginning they would conceal the facts about the struggle, particularly about the deaths of Portuguese soldiers. Only reports about the Africans in the Portuguese forces were given and they would show pictures of these to the populations in an attempt to mobilise them by showing that FRELIMO killed black people. When the Portuguese killed children in their operations they told the people that they were killed by FRELIMO. And all the time they concealed the war. When foreign newspapers wrote about the war in Mozambique the Portuguese would deny it. When the struggle spread to Tete they denied this too for a long time. They claimed that it was just people from Zambia who were causing disturbances here. But even though the Portuguese use such tactics of lies, we must never hide the truth. To do this is like rubbing fire with grass. Today the Portuguese have been forced to change their tune. At the beginning they said we were small groups of bandits but now they are going through the world asking for weapons to fight us. ((Our main objectives are to expel the Portuguese and to liberate our country - to liberate everyone, men, women and children. And by liberating we mean not only from Portuguese colonialism, but also to establish a new life for our people with justice and equality, a society where no exploitation will be possible. In their propaganda outside the enemy say that we are Portuguese. But by our struggle and our work we are showing them and the rest of the world that we are not and never will be Portuguese. Our country, Mozambique will be free. A LUTA CONTINUA.)) |
Archival file | Volume21/CENPA-345~12.tiff |