Frelimo Congress: “Cuba did not export revolution” – AIM report

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Frelimo Congress: “Cuba did not export revolution” – AIM report

7:50 CAT | 29 Sep 2017

O País / Former president of Mozambique, Joaquim Chissano addressing Frelimo's Congress

Former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano on Friday praised Cuba for its selfless assistance to Mozambican development in the early years of the country’s independence.

He was speaking at the 11th Congress of the ruling Frelimo Party, in the southern city of Matola, shortly after dozens of Mozambicans who had studied in Cuba, and teachers who had taught at the schools for Mozambican children set up on Cuba’s Isle of Youth greeted the Congress.

This marked the 40th anniversary of the Cuban decision to offer educational facilities to Mozambique in 1977.

Chissano, who was foreign minister at the time, recalled the meeting in Beira between the country’s first President, Samora Machel, and Cuban leader Fidel Castro. At this meeting, Castro apologised to Machel for the poor relations between Frelimo and Cuba during the Mozambican liberation war (referring to Frelimo’s rejection of advice from Che Guevara on how to run a guerrilla war).

Machel told Castro there was no need for any apologies, and the two men worked out how best Cuba could help in the development of the nascent Mozambican nation. It was then that Castro offered schools on Cuban soil, where Mozambican children would be taught, not only by Cubans, but by Mozambican teachers, since they would need to be steeped in Mozambican culture and Mozambican history.

Chissano recalled that there was a severe shortage of doctors in Mozambique, so Castro sent Cuban doctors. On one occasion 50 Cuban doctors arrived at once. They were willing to accept difficult working and living conditions, sometimes sleeping several to a room. And they were only paid by Cuba – the Mozambican Health Ministry paid nothing for them.

“It was said that Cuba was exporting revolution to Mozambique”, said Chissano. “The Cubans didn’t export revolution, they exported doctors, they exported health”.

Coincidentally, Friday also marked Samora Machel’s birthday. He would have been 84 years old, had he not died n a plane crash in 1986, widely believed to have been the work of the South African apartheid regime.

The debate on key documents – such as the Central Committee report to the Congress, and the revised Party statutes and programme – continued behind closed doors. Thus any disagreements were kept hidden from the press.

From some delegates and invited guests, AIM learnt that the former head of the Frelimo Ideology Department, Jorge Rebelo, spoke out strongly against the “hidden debts”, contracted under the previous government, headed by President Armando Guebuza. This refers to the two billion dollars worth of loans taken out by the three security linked companies, Ematum (Mozambique Tuna Company), Proindicus and MAM (Mozambique Assets Management), from European banks with illicit guarantees issued by the Guebuza government.

Bu, as far as AIM can tell, no other Congress delegates raised this issue.

In a press briefing on Friday afternoon, the Frelimo spoksperson, Antonio Niquice, stressed Frelimo commitment to the fight against corruption. He declared there would be “zero tolerance” for corruption.

But when AIM asked him if Frelimo had ever expelled any of its members for acts of corruption, he did not answer. Some people involved in corruption are even attending the Congress – including former Justice Minister Abdurremane Limo de Almeida, who was sentenced to two years imprisonment in July for abuse of office and paying undue remunerations. He is appealing.

Niquice would not say whether a former Transport Minister, Antonio Munguambe, who has served jail time for corruption, is still a member of Frelimo, or whether Setina Titosse, former head of the government’s Agricultural Development Fund (FDA), currently accused of masterminding a fraud which cost the FDA 170 million meticais (about 5.6 million US dollars at the exchange rate of the time) is a member of the party.

Niquice said he did not want to mention individual cases, and stressed that “Frelimo does not replace the organs of the administration of justice”.

He also pointed out that accused persons enjoy the presumption of innocence. But in two of the cases mentioned by AIM, those accused have already been found guilty by a court of law.

Source: AIM