In Mozambique, the armed struggle against colonial rule was spearheaded by the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO), which was initially formed in exile[24] but later succeeded in wresting control of large sections of the country from the Portuguese. North Korea, the German Democratic Republic and the Soviet Union also armed and trained FRELIMO forces, with the North Koreans establishing a Military Mission in Mozambique during the early 1980s[7] North Korean advisers were instrumental in the formation of FRELIMO's first specialized counter-insurgency brigade, which was deployed from 1983 onward. Inside the communal village we lived like pigs. Les Portugais qui résidaient au Mozambique ont répondu, dans leur défense, avec une présence militaire croissante et avec différents projets pour aider ce pays en développement. In return, Pretoria promised to stop assistance to the MNR in exchange for FRELIMO's commitment to prevent the ANC from using Mozambique as a sanctuary to pursue its campaign to overthrow white minority rule in South Africa. It was a closed-door meeting that scheduled the beginning of the previous points that would precede the meeting between the two leaders. It was like a yard for pigs. RENAMO was able to carry out raids virtually anywhere in the country except for the major cities. However, a joint commission for the political dialogue between the President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, and RENAMO leader, Afonso Dhlakama, was eventually set up and a working meeting was held. These included the bombing of the Beira Port in 1979 and the occupation of the town of Mapai in 1977. On 19 October 1986, President Machel died when his presidential aircraft crashed near South Africa's border under mysterious circumstances. Jay Ross, "Mozambican Reeducation Camps Raise Rights Questions", "Machel's Speech on Unjust Detentions in Reeducation Camps" Summary of World Broadcasts, 6 October 1981, Peter Worthington, "Machel Through Rose-Tinted Specs,", Geoff Hill, "A Crying Field to Remember,", Katz, Susan. [33] Rhodesian prime minister Ian Smith was more sympathetic to the rebels' cause but felt that he would unable to act without the guarantee of South African support. Furthermore, the nationalisation of many formerly Portuguese-owned enterprises, fear of a retaliation against whites, and an ultimatum to either accept Mozambican citizenship or leave the country within 90 days, drove the majority of the 370,000 white Portuguese Mozambicans out of the country. [18][19][79], HALO Trust, a de-mining group funded by the US and UK, began operating in Mozambique in 1993, recruiting local workers to remove land mines scattered throughout the country. Subsequent investigations have failed to reach a conclusion and the accident remains surrounded by conspiracy theories. By the end of the 1980s RENAMO, whilst incapable of capturing or securing any large cities, was still able to terrorise the rural areas and smaller settlements at will. [24] In September 1964, FRELIMO commenced an armed insurgency against the Portuguese. A. Kalley, E. Schoeman and L. E. Andoret, "Southern African Political History: A chronology of key political events from Independence to mid-1997" Greenwood, 1999, "Mozambique Dissidents' Military Communiqué" Summary of World Broadcasts, 15 July 1980, Klaus Storkmann, "Fighting the Cold War in southern Africa? [48] But abducted people also had to serve RENAMO in administrative or public service functions in the areas it controlled. Refusing to participate in Gandira or falling behind on the marches resulted in severe beating and often execution. Both sides heavily relied on the use of land mines; FRELIMO as a means to defend important infrastructure, RENAMO in order to terrify the populace, stall the economy and destroy the civil services, roads, schools and health centres.
[23], Portugal fought a long and bitter counter-insurgency conflict in its three primary African colonies—Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau—from the 1960s to the mid-1970s, when they finally received independence following the Carnation Revolution. Many of these parties like COREMO and UNAR were made up of FRELIMO dissidents such as Uria Simango and Lazaro Nkavandame. "Mozambique: a leader's legacy: economic failure, growing rebellion. [24] FRELIMO guerrillas initially received training primarily in North Africa and the Middle East in countries such as Algeria, with the Soviet Union and People's Republic of China providing military equipment.
FRELIMO retained control of the urban areas and the corridors, but was unable to effectively protect the countryside from RENAMO attacks. This was done by mass abduction and intimidation, especially of children in order to use them as soldiers. This caused more and more persons to be physically unable to endure the long transportation marches demanded from them. Simango was reportedly later extrajudicially executed[37] whilst Nkavandame reportedly died of natural causes. MOZAMBIQUE: A WAR AGAINST THE PEOPLE. The Komeredes [Zimbabwean soldiers] came to my house and said that I should leave my house and go to the communal village where there were a lot of people. The FRELIMO government, led by President Machel, was economically devastated by the war and sought to end the conflict and continue the development of Mozambique. The Portuguese Colonial War (Portuguese: Guerra Colonial Portuguesa), also known in Portugal as the Overseas War (Guerra do Ultramar) or in the former colonies as the War of Liberation (Guerra de Libertação), was a thirteen year long conflict fought between Portugal's military and the emerging nationalist movements in Portugal's African colonies between 1961 and 1974. [40], From 1975 to 1979, Rhodesian troops and forces repeatedly entered into Mozambique in order to carry out operations against supposed ZANLA (Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army) bases tolerated on Mozambican territory by the FRELIMO government[41] and to destabilise the FRELIMO government directly. A South African sponsored investigation alleged that the crash was caused by errors made by the flight crew, a conclusion that was not universally accepted. War since 1945 Seminar and Symposium (Quantico, Virginia: Marine Corps Command and Staff College). The cultural dimension of war traumas in central Mozambique: The case of Gorongosa. [36] The countries capacity to support national liberation movements also concerned South Africa and Rhodesia and both countries sought for a first strike strategy to counter this new threat. It coerced thousands of peasants to move into communal villages and communal farms where they were given food, water and healthcare, but lacked adequate tools and money to farm effectively. [22] This smaller second conflict ended with a peace treaty in 2019. FRELIMO's new draft constitution in July 1989 paved the way for a multiparty system, and a new constitution was adopted in November 1990. RENAMO received extensive military and logistical support from Rhodesia and South Africa as well as organisational support from West Germany. "Rhodesia: Tactical Victory, Strategic Defeat" (pdf). [67] [81], On 20 January 2016, the Secretary General of RENAMO, Manuel Bissopo, was injured in a shootout, where his bodyguard died. The independence of Mozambique and Angola in 1975 challenged white minority rule in Southern Africa. J. [71], Rape also became a widespread and problematic practise of FRELIMO soldiers. Collective and state agricultural programs were also scaled back, prompting concerns from the socialist bloc that Mozambique was "moving straight and naively into the mouth of the evil capitalist wolf". Often women would be apprehended while out in the fields, then raped as a means to boost troop morale. As is normal in guerrilla warfare, some civilians are killed in crossfire between the two opposing forces, although this tends in the view of the refugees to account for only a minority of the deaths. la Guerre d'Indépendance du Mozambique était conflit armé entre les guérillas Frente de Libertação de Moçambique, ou FRELIMO, et les forces armées Portugal. [52] Thus RENAMO had to give up its base camps in the Gorongosa area.
Gandira caused widespread starvation among the rural population due to the little time left to produce food for themselves.
", a long and bitter counter-insurgency conflict, Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army, operations against supposed ZANLA (Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army) bases, War and Society: The Militarisation of South Africa, Bulletin of Tanzanian Affairs No 30, May 1988, Mozambique to return bodies of Tanzanian soldiers, "MOZAMBIQUE: population growth of the whole country", "Mozambique's Renamo kills three on highway", "36 Mozambique soldiers, police killed: Renamo", https://www.voanews.com/africa/mozambique-president-opposition-leader-sign-peace-agreement, "MOZAMBIQUE: Dismantling the Portuguese Empire", "Jacob Alperin-Sheriff: McCain Urged Reagan Admin To Meet Terror Groups Without Pre-Conditions", "Toll Over 380; Guerrillas Blamed : Massacre in Mozambique: Babies, Elderly Shot Down", "Flash and a bang as Mozambique is declared free of landmines", "Provincial Autonomy: The Territorial Dimension of Peace in Mozambique", https://www.academia.edu/28536746/PORQU%C3%8A_O_CONFLITO_ARMADO_EM_MO%C3%87AMBIQUE_ENQUADRAMENTO_TE%C3%93RICO_DOMIN%C3%82NCIA_E_DIN%C3%82MICA_DE_RECRUTAMENTO_NOS_PARTIDOS_DA_OPOSI%C3%87%C3%83O, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Dhlakama E Maningue Nice! [60] Flight attempts were also punished harshly. On 25 June 1975 Mozambique formally gained independence from Portugal, with FRELIMO Leader Samora Machel becoming President of the People's Republic of Mozambique. Terrain, Production, Distribution, Dates de sortie, Les Clayes-sous-Bois. At the same time, the apartheid government and the Smith regime lost Portugal as an ally and with it the tens of thousands of soldiers that had been deployed in the Portuguese colonial wars. [5] For their part, the Rhodesian and South African defence establishments used RENAMO as a proxy to undermine FRELIMO support for militant nationalist organisations in their own countries. [27] Representatives from the defence establishments of the three countries agreed to meet periodically to share intelligence and coordinate operations against militant nationalist movements in their respective countries. It was terrible; that is why many people used to run away from the communal village to their old residences where RENAMO soldiers were, although it was also terrible there. [64] This incident prompted an investigation into RENAMO methods by US-State Department consultant Robert Gersony, which finally put an end to conservative ambitions for US-government support for RENAMO. In some cases refugees perceived that the attacking force had divided into three detachments: one conducts the military attack; another enters houses and removes valuables, mainly clothing, radios, food, pots and other possessions; a third moves through the looted houses with pieces of burning thatch setting fire to the houses in the village.