Mozambique

From Slave Colony to War

Because of Vasco da Gama's voyage from Portugal to India, Mozambique was established as a Portuguese colony, first to provide slaves and later as the base for an export industry, which exploited its natural resources, selling them abroad. During Portuguese rule, the local population was not allowed to share the profits of the colonizers and was used to provide cheap labor. The Portuguese government also prevented Mozambicans from accessing their education system and did not show much respect for the traditional ways of life of indigenous people.

This situation of patent discrimination led to the creation of a strong network of Mozambicans demanding independence from foreign rule. In the mid-1960s, violence erupted against the Portuguese authorities and the war of independence began. The Frente de Libertação de Moçambique, or Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO), a leftist group that received international support from the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba, successfully rallied support around its guerrilla groups. The Portuguese army, however, was better equipped than the rebels, and the country did not gain independence following a FRELIMO victory. Mozambican independence was brought about by the Carnation Revolution, a leftist military coup that restored democracy in Portugal and officially ended the country's colonial domination.

[Page 557]Two years after the war of independence, the country was again at war, this time in a civil war that opposed internal political factions. The Mozambique Resistance Movement (RENAMO) rebelled against the government of the Marxist-oriented FRELIMO. RENAMO was internationally supported by Rhodesia and later by South Africa. Both countries wanted to prevent FRELIMO-inspired guerrilla movements to spread within their territories. In addition, South Africa feared that members of the African National Congress could find refuge in Mozambique and, from that base, direct actions to overthrow apartheid. The harsh divisions between FRELIMO and RENAMO resulted in almost a million victims, and the civil war became sadly famous for its massive use of child soldiers. In addition, because civilians represented a target of the RENAMO troops, almost 5 million Mozambicans were uprooted during the conflict and had to leave their land to seek refuge in camps either abroad or in other parts of their country. In the early 1990s, with the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of apartheid in South Africa, RENAMO lacked its major sources of funding. The partial abandonment of Marxism made FRELIMO more acceptable to Western standards. The Rome General Peace Accords were signed by FRELIMO and RENAMO in 1992. Mozambique officially became a multiparty democracy, although elections, always won by FRELIMO, have been contested by RENAMO and have been dogged by suspicion of electoral frauds.

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