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The Conflict with Renamo, 1976-1992
«January 1986»
Dossier MZ-0020
71. It's Safe to Travel in Inhambane and Gaza, say the Authorities
Above: Armoured vehicles of the Mozambican army, the FPLM.
Col. Aurélio Manave, the provincial governor, announced that it was safe to travel from one corner of Gaza to the other, thanks to the "massive engagement" of the local population in fighting against and denouncing the MNR. He also stated, at an end-of-year banquet, that South Africa was the patron of the rebels, but that thanks to President Machel's diplomatic efforts, the international community was aware of what was going on.
Similarly, in Inhambane it was possible to travel the entire length of Estrada Nacional Nº.1, but the rebels were now using knives, clubs, and bayonets to kill defenceless people.
It was announced in Lisbon that João Ataíde, a former diplomat who had defected in 1982, had now joined Renamo, and was to become the spokesperson for the movement in Europe.
In an extraordinary article in the magazine Tempo, the author, J. Khossa, compared the "bandidos armados" to Australopithecus, that is to say to the primitive ancestors of modern humans – with underdeveloped brains, living in gangs, with no sense of family or paternity, and eating whatever they came across.
Click on the yellow folder image below to download an unsorted zipped archive of documents and press clippings in PDF format concerning the conflict between the Mozambican government and the MNR/Renamo in January 1986.
