Word: frelimo
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Bearded image. Machel, a one-tune medical orderly from Xai-Xai (pronounced shy-shy) in the southern province of Gaza, is now the unquestioned leader of Mozambique, and his bearded image can be seen everywhere. In 1963 Machel fled Mozambique to join rebels of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) in neighboring Tanzania. In 1964, he led the first major Frelimo attack against a Portuguese military post. By 1966 he was Frelimo's army chief and by 1970 he was the official leader of the movement, succeeding Eduardo Mondlane, the American-trained sociologist who had been mysteriously killed...
Machel has stressed sacrifice in his speeches. So has Prime Minister Joaquin Chissano, 36, who warned the people in a recent speech: "You must not think Frelimo will drop like a god from the sky to solve all your problems." Frelimo has forcefully put down the wave of strikes that followed formation of the transitional government last fall, and has even forced some salary rollbacks. There is also talk about dispatching armed soldiers to the docks to force greater efficiency, perhaps at gunpoint...
...outlined by Machel in a six-page proclamation last week, Mozambique will be a Marxist, one-party state with Frelimo supreme over both government and army. Private property rights will be recognized, but only "if they are exercised in the interest of the state." In effect, most land will be nationalized. A constitution provides for a 210-member National Assembly with virtually all members appointed directly or indirectly by the party. Elections are promised within a year of "the convening of the third Party Congress," but no date has been set for that event...
Machel concluded his reading of the proclamation by shouting in Portuguese "A luta continual" (The struggle continues). That set off a wild shooting spree of celebration, reported TIME Correspondent Lee Griggs, with Frelimo soldiers and police firing Kalashnikov automatic rifles, machine guns and even a few grenade launchers. By a miracle, only two people were accidentally wounded. Caravans of cars drove through the dark wet streets, horns blaring. A few people danced in the roadways, obviously having ignored Machel's repeated denunciations of "demon alcohol...
...Frelimo officials have also ended the numerous strikes that disrupted the economy at the beginning of the decolonization period. In some cases, ballooning wages have been cut back to former levels to keep companies from going bankrupt...