“Words are not sufficient to fill the vacuum left by Mario Soares, for both the Portuguese and the Mozambican peoples” – Nyusi

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“Words are not sufficient to fill the vacuum left by Mario Soares, for both the Portuguese and the Mozambican peoples” – Nyusi

7:46 CAT | 09 Jan 2017

Mario Soares Foundation Archive / Alfredo Cunha / President Samora Machel greets Mario Soarse and Maria Barroso upon arrival in Mozambique for a 4-day official visit, 31 August 1984

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Saturday praised former Portuguese President Mario Soares, who has died in a Lisbon hospital at the age of 92, for his role in the struggle against Portuguese colonial-fascism, and for the independence of the then Portuguese colonies.

“His departure leaves a gap that is difficult to fill”, said Nyusi. “There is no way we can talk about Portugal and Mozambique without mentioning the role of his powerful figure in building this friendship, and this understanding which has lasted until now, linking the two countries in brotherhood”.

“Words are not sufficient to fill the vacuum left by Mario Soares, for both the Portuguese and the Mozambican peoples”, said Nyusi. “All we can do is bow our heads in respect for this great figure of a man who always fought for what he believed in”.

Soares, he added, was one of those who joined the Mozambican people in their fight for independence, through his invaluable role in decolonisation (when he was Portugal’s Foreign Minister), culminating in the proclamation of Mozambican independence on 25 June 1975.

Born in Lisbon on 7 December 1924, Soares became a prominent figure in the opposition to the fascist dictatorship of Antonio Salazar and his successor Marcelo Caetano. He was arrested 12 times, and was departed to Sao Tome and Principe in 1968. He went into exile in Paris and, in 1973 became a founder, at a meeting in West Germany, of the Portuguese Socialist Party.

After the fall of fascism, on 25 April 1974, Soares became Foreign Minister, and was thus one of those who negotiated the agreement on Mozambican independence signed in Lusaka on 7 September 1974. He broke protocol and caused a scandal among the Portuguese right when he publicly embraced the leader of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) and future President of Mozambique, Samora Machel.

He served as Prime Minister three times, and was elected President of Portugal for two terms (1986-1996). He attempted to return to the Presidency in 2005, when he was 81 years old, but suffered a humiliating defeat, coming third with only 14 per cent of the vote.

Soares remained active on the international scene, and served in the European parliament from 1999 to 2004.

In recent years he made ever fewer appearances in public as old age took its toll. He was admitted to hospital on 13 December, but fell into a coma on 26 December from which he never emerged.

Source: AIM