Eduardo Mondlane: A Firm Revolutionary Posture
“The imperialists help each other. This is what we’re up against. The imperialists are in an alliance to stop the advance of freedom to Southern Africa. Our struggle is crucial and our people as a whole have decided to fight.” – Eduardo Mondlane (20 January 1969) –
As a political activist, insurgent leader and guerrilla fighter, Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane, born on 20 June 1920, and murdered on this day, 3 February 1969, was also a character of significant and visionary revolutionary ideas. Possessing a firm grasp of revolutionary doctrine, he insisted that the struggle would be a mixture of political and military action involving guerrilla operations with nation building and political education.
Mozambican nationalists established in the early 1960s three main, although fragile, movements in neighbouring countries beyond Portuguese control. Among these was the União Democrática Nacional de Moçambique (UDENAMO) formed by Mozambican workers in Southern Rhodesia on 2 October 1960. The second nationalist movement was a combination of several small groups that were organised as the Moçambique African National Union (MANU), in Mombasa, Kenya, in February 1961. This movement received support from similar African unions in Tanganyika (TANU) and Kenya (KANU). The third movement, which was established in Malawi, was the União Africana de Moçambique Independente (UNAMI).
During 1961, the three movements moved to D
