África Livre, 1981-1983

Dossier MZ-0635

This dossier contains a handful of clippings and primary documents related to the somewhat obscure armed opposition movement known as África Livre (Free Africa). The name was used indiscriminately in the early 1980s to mean either one of the early constituent elements [the PRM] of what became the MNR [later Renamo], or as an alternative name for Renamo itself. The primary documentation deals with the process of integration of África Livre into the MNR in mid-1982. For transcripts [translated into English] of some of the broadcasts from the radio station Voz da África Livre, see the pages on the Conflict with Renamo, especially for 1976 (click here).

MHN Resources

◊ 12 February 1981
Mozambique condemns four dissidents. Washington Post, 12 February 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF file [58 Kb].
Four men from Milange were condemned to death by firing squad [presumably by the Tribunal Militar Revolucionário] for anti-Frelimo activities in África Livre and "Rumbézia".

◊ 12 July 1981
Elementos da 'África Livre' entregam-se às FPLM. Notícias, 12 July 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF file [138 Kb].
Five members of the Resistance [aka África Livre] have surrendered, namely António Joaquim Caliche; Henrique Fabião Sitói; Orlando Júlio Inácio; José Martins Gilberto; and Piero Constantino Perino.

◊ 6 September 1981
África Livre: o que é? Tempo no.569, 6 September 1981, page 17. Click here to view or download a PDF file [86 Kb].
This brief piece in Tempo draws no distinction between África Livre and the MNR, stating that the former was also formed by the Rhodesian secret service from a collection of former members of PIDE, the GES and the Flechas.

◊ 11 September 1981
África Livre desesperada aterroriza camponeses. Notícias, 11 September 1981. Click here to view or download a PDF file [234 Kb].
A report on the mutilation of three village women by África Livre.

◊ 28 June 1982
Letter from Orlando Cristina to Gimo, dated 28 June 1982. 2 pages. Click here to view or download a PDF file [191 Kb].
This letter, written in a friendly tone, lays out some of the organisational principles for the forthcoming unification of the Partido Revolucionário [PRM], or África Livre, into the MNR. Cristina identifies the MNR commander in Zambezia as being Mangurende John.

◊ No date [1982?]
Resistência Nacional Moçambicana. Acordo provisório de unificação [entre Renamo e o Partido Revolucionário Moçambicano]. No date. Signed by Orlando Cristina. Click here to view or download a PDF file [110 Kb].
This is a text of a formal agreement integrating the Partido Revolucionário [PRM], or África Livre, into the MNR. Bearing the signatures of both Orlando Cristina and Gimo, it's unclear why it is called 'provisório'. It presumably dates from the first half of 1982.

◊ 10 August 1982
Typescript of unsigned anonymous letter to Manuel, 10 August 1982. 1 page. Click here to view or download a PDF file [89 Kb].
This letter states that the Partido Revolucionário [PRM] was founded on 6 June 1976, inside the country, by Amos M. Sumane, Bernardo A. Gimo, Matias Mtenda, and A. Njanje, among others. Sumane was imprisoned in Malawi in 1978-1979, and deported back to Mozambique in 1980. Gimo then became the leader of the PRM. The letter claims that the PRM launched an armed struggle on 8 August 1978 with an attack in Jalasse district in Milange. In 1982 the PRM merged with the MNR at a ceremony attended by Gimo and an MNR commander called Sekete.

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