Mozambique, country, Africa: Upheaval in the New Nation

Upheaval in the New Nation

In reaction to the independence agreement, a group of white rebels attempted to seize control of the Mozambique government but were quickly subdued by Portuguese and Frelimo troops. As black rule of Mozambique became a reality (with Machel as president) and as increased racial violence erupted, there was an exodus of Europeans from Mozambique. As the Portuguese left, they took their valuable skills and machinery, which had an adverse effect on the economy. Frelimo established a single-party Marxist state, nationalized all industry, and abolished private land ownership. Frelimo also instituted health and education reforms.

Mozambique became a base for the nationalist rebels of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), a move that angered Rhodesia and South Africa. In 1979, Rhodesia invaded Mozambique, destroying communications facilities, agricultural centers, and transportation lines; many civilians were killed in the attacks. After Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) obtained majority rule in 1980, the Mozambique National Resistance Movement (MNR or Renamo), a powerful dissident group financed in part by South Africa, waged guerrilla warfare against Frelimo.

In addition to the chaos created by economic and political conditions, Mozambique was foundering under the weight of a large and inefficient bureaucracy. In the 1980s, Machel cut the size of the government and began to privatize industry. In 1984, Mozambique signed a nonaggression pact (the Incomati accord) with South Africa; the terms of the pact prohibited South African support of Renamo and Mozambican support of the African National Congress. Mozambique accused South Africa of violating the accord, and fighting continued between the government and Renamo throughout the 1980s. In 1986, Machel was killed in a plane crash and succeeded by Joaquim Chissano.

In 1992, Mozambique suffered from one of the worst droughts of the century and from the widespread famine that ensued. Renamo rebels, who controlled most of the rural areas, blocked famine relief efforts. Civil war and starvation killed tens of thousands, and more than a million refugees fled the country. In 1992, Frelimo and Renamo signed an accord ending the civil war. In multiparty elections held in 1994, with the presence of UN peacekeepers, Chissano, the Frelimo candidate, won the presidency, and his party secured a slight majority in parliament.

The Chissano government had begun repudiating Marxism in the 1980s, pledging itself to develop a market-oriented economy. In the 1990s it privatized a number of state-owned companies and made progress in cutting inflation, stabilizing the currency, and stimulating economic growth, and by the end of the decade it had largely recovered from the civil war, although widespread poverty remained a problem. The Dec., 1999, elections were again won by Chissano and Frelimo, but the Renamo presidential candidate, Afonso Dhlakama, denounced the results as fraudulent and called for a recount; foreign observers, who were denied access to the final vote tabulation, expressed concerns about the vote-counting process. The supreme court denied (Jan., 2000) Dhlakama's request for a recount, stating that Renamo had failed to provide evidence of ballot fraud. In February and March, 2000, the Limpopo and Changane river valleys in S Mozambique experienced severe flooding as a result of heavy rain from a cyclone (hurricane); an estimated one million people were affected. The results of the elections led Renamo to boycott the national assembly for much of 2000, and protest demonstrations in November resulted in scattered violence in central and N Mozambique.

The presidential and legislative elections of Dec., 2004, were won by Frelimo, whose presidential candidate, Armando Guebuza, a millionaire business executive, won nearly 64% of the vote. Dhlakama and Renamo again accused Frelimo of fraud. International observers said there were widespread problems including presumed fraudulent totals in some strongly Frelimo districts but that the irregularities were not enough to have altered the overall result of the voting. The country's Constitutional Council also criticized the election commission's handling of the vote count.

Guebuza and Frelimo won the 2009 elections by even larger margins against an opposition divided between Renamo and the Mozambican Democratic Movement. Both opposition parties denounced the results and accused the ruling party of fraud. In 2013 rising tensions between the government and Renamo led to threats from Renamo leaders and attacks beginning in Apr., 2013, that were blamed on Renamo. The attacks led to military operations against Renamo in response, including an attack against Dhlakama's base in October. By Sept., 2014, however, a cease-fire was signed, and Dhlakama and Renamo participated in the October elections.

Although Frelimo won a majority of the national assembly seats, its majority was significantly reduced and both opposition parties gained seats. Filipe Nyusi, the Frelimo candidate, won the presidency, with 57% of the vote. Renamo again leveled accusations of fraud, and subsequently boycotted parliament for month in early 2015. Tensions between the government and Renamo soon revived, with Dhlakama making recurring threats to seize control of six northern and central provinces, and conflict between the two sides resumed in 2015. In late 2016 a truce, subsequently extended indefinitely, was established. Dhlakama died in 2018; his successor, Ossufo Momade, signed a permanent cease-fire in July, 2019, and a peace accord the next month. Meanwhile, an Islamist insurgency began in N Cabo Delgado prov., in the northeast, in 2017, and attacks occurred with increasing frequency in 2019 and 2020.

In Mar., 2019, a tropical cyclone devastated Beira and caused widespread flooding in central Mozambique. Some 2 million people were affected, and some 200,000 homes damaged or destroyed; several hundred were killed. In the aftermath of the storm, the affected region also experienced a cholera outbreak. A second cyclone, in April, devastated areas in N Mozambique, especially on the coast and offshore islands.

National elections in Oct., 2019, were marred irregularities and fraud, and international and local observers criticized the results. Nyusi was easily reelected, defeating Momade and receiving more than 70% of the vote, a margin that many observers questioned after Frelimo won 51% of the vote in the 2018 municipal elections. Frelimo also won majorities in provinces that historically have been Renamo strongholds, and won more than two thirds of the seats in the national assembly. In Aug., 2020, Islamist insurgents in N Cabo Delgado prov. seized and held Mocímboa da Praia and its port; by early 2021, some 400,000 had been displaced by the fighting and dozens were killed.

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The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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