Word: frelimo
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...people. When Mozambique won its independence from Portugal last June, its future looked relatively bright compared with that of Lisbon's other African territories. Unlike Angola, which became engulfed in a civil war among three liberation movements, Mozambique had only one major force fighting for independence - Frelimo (Front for the Liberation of Mozambique). Frelimo leaders made seemingly sincere requests to whites to stay on and help build the new country...
...brand of Marxism is taught with a heavy and sometimes brutal hand. Machel does not coddle even his own supporters. He has warned that many workers might have to toil for as long as three years without pay "for we are without funds to reward your labors." After independence, Frelimo soldiers were given the choice of leaving the service without pay for their years in the guerrilla movement or of staying in the service-also without pay. Says Machel: "We cannot tolerate a bourgeoisie in Mozambique, even a black...
...Frelimo seems singularly well-equipped for a strategy of cooperation with and reliance on the rural sector to combat the problems of poverty, illiteracy and the lack of skilled personnel that face most third-world nations. The areas controlled by Frelimo before Portugal's decision to renounce its African colonies were indeed organized on a collective basis, and the villagers were involved in the development of those areas. Frelimo ran schools and hospitals in the liberated provinces even while it was mobilizing to fight the Portuguese armies, and the peasant loyalty it won then seems not to have been eroded...
Nonetheless, Frelimo seems to be willing to cut these ties to Mozambique's neighbors if they continue their policies of racial oppression. Although it will mean a loss of foreign currency, Mozambique's delegate to the United Nations pledged "a complete and total boycott" of Rhodesia in September, two days before Machel issued a joint statement with Tanzania's Nyerere, condemning apartheid and promising support for black nationalists in South Africa. Mozambique is determined to avoid becoming a South African satellite, despite its apparent economic dependence...
...pressure from outside, however, Mozambique's immediate future looks far more rosy than that of Angola. While Angola's problems are largely internal, exaccerbated by the influence of foreign domination of the economy, Mozambique's internal unity should help it deal with its neighbors on an equal footing. Frelimo is determined to formulate policies that will hasten economic development, without sacrificing its political cohesiveness. If Machel and his party can avoid the tribalism, opportunism and power struggles that have toppled other socialist governments in Africa, Mozambique seems destined to become a leading force in independent Africa...