YUSUF MOHAMED DADOO
"How
is it that we, a people deprived of everything, living in dire
straits, manage to wage our struggle and win successes? Our answer
is: this is because Lenin existed, because he fulfilled his duty
as a man, a revolutionary and a patriot. Lenin was and continues
to be, the greatest champion of the national liberation of the
peoples."
These were the words
addressed to the delegates attending the seminar on "Lenin and National Liberation" held
at Alma Ata, capital of Soviet Socialist Republic of Kazakhstan,
in 1970
by Amilcar Cabral, Secretary-General of the PAIGC, who met his
death on 20th January 1973 at Conakry, Guinea, at the hands of
a traitor, Innocenta Canida, an agent of the Portuguese colonialists
who had infiltrated into the ranks of the movement three years
ago.
These words reflect
the revolutionary thinking and life-work of this utterly dedicated
patriot, outstanding African revolutionary
of our time and the father of the new independent sovereign State
of Guinea in the process of birth. It was the cognition of the
scientific theory of revolution, of Marxism-Leninism, to which
he was introduced by his contacts with the Portuguese Communist
Party during his student days in Lisbon which was to combine within
him, in the words of the statement of the Central Committee of
the South African Communist Party, "a deep understanding of
the processes of the African revolution with an untiring devotion
to practical struggle."
Ideological Base
Whilst eschewing dogma,
he continually stressed the need for a firm political and ideological
base for a revolutionary: "If
it is true that a revolution can fail even though it is based on
perfectly conceived theories -- nobody has yet made a successful
revolution without a revolutionary theory."
Cabral was above all a man of action. Born on September 12, 1924,
at Bafata in what was then the Portuguese West African colony of
Guinea, he spent part of his youth in Bissau, the capital. He was
able because of his family's relatively comfortable position, to
go to secondary school and then to the University of Lisbon, where
he qualified as an agricultural engineer in 1951. Returning to
his country he served for two years in the colonial administration
as an agronomist which provided him with ample opportunity to learn
at first hand of the dire poverty and intense suffering of his
people, especially in the countryside. His experiences made him
more determined than ever to find ways and means of working for
the freedom of his country and delivering his people from the yoke
of colonial bondage. This inevitably led him into bitter conflicts
with the governor of the colony and he transferred himself to Angola.
There in 1956 he helped to form what is now the most important
national organisation of Angola, the MPLA (Popular Movement for
the Liberation of Angola). In the same year he also became one
of the founders of the African Party of Independence of Guinea-Bissau
and Cape Verde Islands and was its leader until the time of his
assassination.
Under his leadership
the PAIGC mobilised the country's patriots to struggle for the
freedom of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde Islands,
created the people's army and led the national-liberation war against
the Portuguese colonialists. Cabral knew and understood his enemy
well, and every phase of the struggle was carefully planned and
action meticulously organised. The cadres of the PAIGC were given
political education as well as military training and he stressed
always "that we are armed militants and not militarists."
The Race Question
Cabral saw the task
of the national liberation movements as not merely to usher in
Black rule replacing white faces with black
ones; it was not only to raise a different flag and sing a new
anthem but to remove all forms of exploitation from the country. "Bearing
in mind the essential characteristics of the present world economy,
as well as experience already gained in the field of anti-imperialist
struggle, the principal aspect of national liberation struggle
is the struggle against neo-colonialism." Cabral was careful
to distinguish the colour of men's skins from exploitation and
repeatedly emphasised that the struggle was against Portuguese
colonialism and not against the Portuguese people. He made it clear
that:
"We are fighting
so that insults may no longer rule our countries, martyred and
scorned for centuries, so that our peoples
may never more be exploited by imperialists not only by people
with white skin, because we do not confuse exploitation or exploiters
with the colour of men's skins; we do not want any exploitation
in our countries, not even by black people."
Though the focus of
Cabral's activity was always the struggle against Portuguese
colonialism, he was an internationalist and
saw his people's struggle as merely one front of a common international
struggle against imperialism which "is trying simultaneously
to dominate the working class in all advanced countries and smother
the national liberation movements in all the under-developed countries."
Socialist Allies
The historic role which the socialist community, as an integral
and powerful part of the world anti-imperialist front, is playing
for peace, independence and socialism was clearly understood and
recognised by Cabral. At a conference held in Dar-es-Salaam in
1965, Cabral had said:
"It is our duty
to state here, loud and clear, that we have firm allies in the
socialist countries ... Since the socialist
revolution and the events of the Second World War, the face of
the world has definitely changed. A socialist camp has arisen in
the world. This has radically changed the balance of power, and
this socialist camp is today showing itself fully conscious of
its duties, international and historic, but not moral, since the
peoples of the socialist countries have never exploited the colonised
peoples."
He had very close association with the Soviet Union which he
visited on many occasions and made a major contribution to the
promotion and strengthening of friendship and cooperation between
the peoples of Guinea-Bissau and the Soviet Union, between the
PAIGC and the CPSU. Speaking as the head of the PAIGC delegation
at the Joint Meeting in the Kremlin dedicated to the 50th anniversary
of the USSR, Cabral said:
"Availing ourselves
of this opportunity we want to express on behalf of our people
fraternal gratitude to the Soviet people,
the CPSU, its Central Committee for the versatile assistance you
render us in our bitter struggle against the Portuguese colonialists,
against the war and genocide, for independence, peace and progress
of our African Motherland."
The assassin's bullets struck down this great African leader
just as preparations were going ahead for the convening of the
National Assembly in the early part of this year for the adoption
of the Constitution and the official declaration of the new independent
sovereign State of Guinea. This foul deed was engineered by the
Portuguese colonialists with the nefarious aim of sowing confusion
and disruption among the ranks of the PAIGC and of causing disunity
among the national liberation movements of Southern Africa.
It shows that the evil triumvirate of Caetano, Smith and Vorster
will stop at nothing to stem the irresistible advances of the courageous
and steeled guerrillas and brave freedom fighters of Guinea-Bissau,
Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa in their
noble struggle to free the whole of southern Africa from national,
racial and social oppression.
In our own country, South Africa, Vorster faces the ever growing
tide of indignation and resistance of the Black masses against
apartheid tyranny and especially of the bulk of the Black working
people against the whole of the inhuman cheap-labour system and
starvation wages.
In spite of the use of the deadly modern weapons of war, terror
and devious manoeuvres, the colonialist and racialist regimes are
doomed. The new State of Guinea shall be a reality, the whole of
southern Africa shall be freed.
However, the struggles ahead call for, on our part, ever stronger
unity and organisation of masses, ever greater vigilance against
the manoeuvres and machinations of the enemy, ever more determination
and will to sacrifice in our efforts to exterminate the forces
of oppression and win final victory.
By the death of Amilcar Cabral, Africa has lost one of her great
revolutionary leaders. We, the fighting black people and all the
revolutionaries of South Africa, salute this indomitable fighter.
We shall see to it that the cause which is also our cause to which Amilcar Cabral devoted all his energies and ultimately
gave his life, will triumph.
AMANDLA!
RONA KE MAATLA!
MAYIBUYE AFRIKA!
