U.S. Callousness and Mozambique Massacres
News of two massacres in Mozambique in the last two months, in which more than 400 people were killed, seems to have made little impression on the American public. Had the incidents occurred in a refugee camp in Lebanon or a village in Central America, they surely would have received more attention.
Unless the American people start paying attention to this region and urge key members of Congress to stop promoting the rebels who have carried out the massacres, the killings are likely to continue.
The attacks are the latest of a series carried out by a group called Renamo, a Portuguese acronym for Mozambique National Resistance. Renamo has an office in Washington at the Heritage Foundation headquarters, and it enjoys the support of key Republicans in Congress. Its two most notable backers are Senator Jesse Helms, Republican of North Carolina, and Bob Dole, a leading Republican Presidential candidate.
Renamo has terrorized Mozambique for 10 years, aiming almost solely at civilian targets, attempting with only some success to undermine support for the Marxist Mozambican Government. Its victims have been randomly selected villagers of the poor and desperate country that is trying to achieve stability long enough to make economic progress. Although Renamo's victims are not passengers on Western airlines, and the slaughter takes place not in European cities but in the remote southern African bush, surely this brutality must fall into even the most narrow definition of terrorism.
Unless the American people start paying attention to this region and urge key members of Congress to stop promoting the rebels who have carried out the massacres, the killings are likely to continue.
The attacks are the latest of a series carried out by a group called Renamo, a Portuguese acronym for Mozambique National Resistance. Renamo has an office in Washington at the Heritage Foundation headquarters, and it enjoys the support of key Republicans in Congress. Its two most notable backers are Senator Jesse Helms, Republican of North Carolina, and Bob Dole, a leading Republican Presidential candidate.
Renamo has terrorized Mozambique for 10 years, aiming almost solely at civilian targets, attempting with only some success to undermine support for the Marxist Mozambican Government. Its victims have been randomly selected villagers of the poor and desperate country that is trying to achieve stability long enough to make economic progress. Although Renamo's victims are not passengers on Western airlines, and the slaughter takes place not in European cities but in the remote southern African bush, surely this brutality must fall into even the most narrow definition of terrorism.
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Senator Helms callously asserted that reports of the first killings were ''a clear setup'' by the Mozambican Government. Mr. Helms's statement implied that the reports were either fabricated by the Government or, if the attack had actually taken place, it was the work of the Government in an attempt to discredit the rebels. But Renamo needs no discrediting in Mozambique.
Eyewitness reports from non-Government observers left little doubt that the massacre was the act of Renamo. One witness told reporters that 40 to 50 Renamo members walked through town ''shooting every person and building in sight.'' That Jesse Helms can sit in his office in Washington and dismiss these accounts is vulgar and arrogant.
The rebels have carried out similar attacks in the past, and they usually cut off the ears of those they don't kill. Renamo has also kidnapped women and children, forcibly conscripting young boys into its armed bands.
For every report of a slaughter of hundreds, there are dozens of massacres involving 30, 40 or 50 people that never reach the American media.
Yet Renamo continues to garner an element of respectability in Washington because its leaders say it is fighting Communists. To simply label them anti-Communist is to excuse the madness and banditry. Renamo members are called ''bandidos armados'' - ''armed bandits'' - by the civilian population of Mozambique.
When Melissa Wells, the Reagan Administration's nominee for Ambassador to Mozambique, referred to Renamo as ''bandits,'' it prompted an angry letter from 28 Republican Senators, led by Mr. Dole and Mr. Helms. Senator Helms has led the fight to block her nomination and has sworn not to approve her until the Reagan Administration officially recognizes Renamo.
The right wing of the Republican Party has found an issue on which to oppose the Reagan Administration, taking a stand in support of the only ''anti-Communist'' group that the Administration has seen fit not to support.
But it is wrong to assert that the group has any legitimacy as an opposition movement. Perhaps Senator Dole's support of Renamo is wishful thinking. He badly wants a foreign policy issue on which he can distinguish himself from the Reagan Administration.
Eyewitness reports from non-Government observers left little doubt that the massacre was the act of Renamo. One witness told reporters that 40 to 50 Renamo members walked through town ''shooting every person and building in sight.'' That Jesse Helms can sit in his office in Washington and dismiss these accounts is vulgar and arrogant.
The rebels have carried out similar attacks in the past, and they usually cut off the ears of those they don't kill. Renamo has also kidnapped women and children, forcibly conscripting young boys into its armed bands.
For every report of a slaughter of hundreds, there are dozens of massacres involving 30, 40 or 50 people that never reach the American media.
Yet Renamo continues to garner an element of respectability in Washington because its leaders say it is fighting Communists. To simply label them anti-Communist is to excuse the madness and banditry. Renamo members are called ''bandidos armados'' - ''armed bandits'' - by the civilian population of Mozambique.
When Melissa Wells, the Reagan Administration's nominee for Ambassador to Mozambique, referred to Renamo as ''bandits,'' it prompted an angry letter from 28 Republican Senators, led by Mr. Dole and Mr. Helms. Senator Helms has led the fight to block her nomination and has sworn not to approve her until the Reagan Administration officially recognizes Renamo.
The right wing of the Republican Party has found an issue on which to oppose the Reagan Administration, taking a stand in support of the only ''anti-Communist'' group that the Administration has seen fit not to support.
But it is wrong to assert that the group has any legitimacy as an opposition movement. Perhaps Senator Dole's support of Renamo is wishful thinking. He badly wants a foreign policy issue on which he can distinguish himself from the Reagan Administration.
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Opinião
COLEÇÕES > RENAMO
U.S. insensibilidade e Massacres de Moçambique
Por Michael Maren; Michael Maren é um editor colaborador da revista do relatório de África
Publicado em: 22 de agosto de 1987
Notícias de dois massacres em Moçambique nos últimos dois meses, em que mais de 400 pessoas foram mortas, parece ter feito pouca impressão sobre o público americano. Os incidentes ocorreram em um campo de refugiados no Líbano ou em uma vila na América Central, eles certamente teriam recebido mais atenção.
A menos que o povo americano começa a prestar atenção a esta região e instar os membros-chave do Congresso para parar de promover os rebeldes que realizaram massacres, assassinatos são susceptíveis de continuar.
Os ataques são o mais recente de uma série realizada por um grupo chamado Renamo, um acrônimo Português para resistência nacional de Moçambique. RENAMO tem um escritório em Washington, na sede da Fundação do patrimônio, e conta com o apoio da chave republicanos no Congresso. Seus dois defensores mais notáveis são o senador Jesse Helms, republicano da Carolina do Norte e Bob Dole, candidato presidencial republicano líder.
RENAMO aterrorizou Moçambique por 10 anos, visando quase unicamente alvos civis, tentar com apenas algum sucesso para minar o apoio ao Governo moçambicano marxista. Suas vítimas foram selecionados aleatoriamente os moradores do país pobre e desesperado que está tentando conseguir estabilidade suficiente para fazer o progresso econômico. Embora vítimas da Renamo não são passageiros sobre as companhias aéreas ocidentais, e o abate ocorre não em cidades européias, mas no mato Africano Sul remoto, certamente esta brutalidade deve cair ainda mais estreita definição do terrorismo.
Senador Helms, insensivelmente, afirmou que os relatórios das primeiras mortes eram ' uma clara configuração ' pelo Governo moçambicano. Declaração do Sr. Helms implícito que os relatórios foram fabricados ou pelo governo ou, se o ataque realmente tinha ocorrido, era o trabalho do governo na tentativa de desacreditar os rebeldes. Mas a Renamo precisa não desacreditar em Moçambique.
Testemunha relata da esquerda não-governamentais observadores pouca dúvida de que o massacre foi o ato da Renamo. Uma testemunha disse aos repórteres que 40 a 50 membros de Renamo andaram pela cidade ' tiro de cada pessoa e construindo à vista '. Que Jesse Helms pode se sentar em seu escritório em Washington e descartar essas contas é vulgar e arrogante.
Os rebeldes realizaram ataques similares no passado, e geralmente eles cortaram os ouvidos daqueles que não matam. RENAMO raptou também mulheres e crianças, forçosamente preconiza meninos em seus grupos armados.
Para todos os relatórios de um massacre de centenas, existem dezenas de massacres envolvendo 30, 40 ou 50 pessoas que nunca chegam a mídia americana.
Ainda a Renamo continua a angariar um elemento de respeitabilidade em Washington porque seus líderes dizem que ele está lutando contra os comunistas. Simplesmente rotulá-los anti-comunista é desculpar a loucura e o banditismo. RENAMO Membros são chamados de ' bandidos armados ' - ' bandidos armados ' - pela população civil de Moçambique.
Quando Melissa Wells, candidato da Administração Reagan para embaixador em Moçambique, a Renamo denominado 'bandidos ', que levou uma carta furiosa de 28 senadores republicanos, liderados por Dole de Sr. e Sr. Helms. Senador Helms levou a luta para bloquear a sua nomeação e jurou não aprová-la até que a administração de Reagan reconhece oficialmente a Renamo.
A ala direita do partido republicano tem encontrado um problema no qual a opor-se a administração de Reagan, tomar uma posição para apoiar o grupo de apenas 'anti-comunista ' que a administração não tenha entendido a apoiar.
Mas é errado afirmar que o grupo tem qualquer legitimidade como um movimento de oposição. Talvez o apoio do senador Dole da Renamo é ilusão. Ele mal quer uma questão de política externa, na qual ele pode distinguir-se da Administração Reagan.
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