A luta continua (in English: the struggle continues) was the rallying cry of the FRELIMO movement during Mozambique's war for independence. The phrase is in the Portuguese language (the official language of the former Portuguese colony) a slogan coined by the first president of FRELIMO, Dr. Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane, which he used to rally the population in the liberated zones of Mozambique during the armed struggle against Portuguese colonial rule. [1] Following his assassination in 1969, his successor, Samora Machel, continued to use the slogan to cultivate popular support during post-independence to mobilize the population for a new Mozambique which Mondlane defined as "We fight together, and together we rebuild and we recreate our country, producing a new reality - a New Mozambique, United and Freed. The struggle continues!" [2]
Samora Machel became the first president of an independent Mozambique in 1975 and continued to use the phrase a luta continua as an unofficial national motto. Posters bearing the phrase can still be found on the walls of Maputo, the nation's capital. [3] [4]
The phrase appeared on T-shirts worn by LGBT rights activists at the funeral of David Kato in Uganda in 2011. [5] [6] It has also been adopted by Uganda opposition leader Bobi Wine. [7]
A luta continua is also widely used in Nigeria by students and activists. Protests, riots, and other actions to demand for the rights of Nigerian students are termed as "Aluta". It is the motto of the all-Nigerian Students Union across all academic institutions of higher education. It is generally given in full: "A luta continua; vitória é certa", meaning "The struggle continues; victory is certain".
Increased usage of the term has also been noted during the 2016 South African Fees Must Fall protests.
Internationally, the phrase has also been used by human rights activists in Indonesia who demanded action from government for unresolved cases of human rights violation. The phrase gained traction especially after the 2019 Indonesian protests and riots. [8] [9]
The phrase has been used as the title of a 1971 film on the struggle for Mozambican independence. [10] It is also the title of a Mozambique-inspired song popularized by South African singer Miriam Makeba and written for her by her daughter Bongi after she attended the independence ceremony of Mozambique in 1975 [11] [12] and then released on the album Welela in 1989. [13]
In addition, the phrase appears at the end of the credits to four films by American director Jonathan Demme:
A man can be seen holding a sign with 'A Luta Continua' on the Reading Central Club's black culture mural in Reading, Berkshire. [14]
Maputo is the capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within 120 kilometres of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 distributed over a land area of 347.69 km2 (134.24 sq mi). The Maputo metropolitan area includes the neighbouring city of Matola, and has a total population of 2,717,437. Maputo is a port city, with an economy centered on commerce. It is also noted for its vibrant cultural scene and distinctive, eclectic architecture. Maputo was formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976.
Samora Moisés Machel was a Mozambican military commander and political leader. A socialist in the tradition of Marxism–Leninism, he served as the first President of Mozambique from the country's independence in 1975.
FRELIMO is a democratic socialist political party in Mozambique. It has been the country's ruling party since 1977.
Graça Machel is a Mozambican politician and humanitarian. She is the widow of former President of Mozambique Samora Machel (1975–1986) and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela (1998–2013). Machel is an international advocate for women's and children's rights and was made an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997 for her humanitarian work. She is the only woman in modern history to have served as First Lady of two countries, South Africa and Mozambique.
Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane was the President of the Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO) from 1962, the year that FRELIMO was founded in Tanzania, until his assassination in 1969. Born in Mozambique, he was an anthropologist by profession, and worked as a history and sociology professor at Syracuse University before returning to Mozambique in 1963.
The Mozambican Civil War was a civil war fought in Mozambique from 1977 to 1992. Like many regional African conflicts during the late twentieth century, the impetus for the Mozambican Civil War included local dynamics exacerbated greatly by the polarizing effects of Cold War politics. The war was fought between Mozambique's ruling Marxist Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO), the anti-communist insurgent forces of the Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO), and a number of smaller factions such as the PRM, UNAMO, COREMO, UNIPOMO, and FUMO.
The Mozambican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the guerrilla forces of the Mozambique Liberation Front or FRELIMO and Portugal. The war officially started on 25 September 1964, and ended with a ceasefire on 8 September 1974, resulting in a negotiated independence in 1975.
Marcelino dos Santos was a Mozambican poet, revolutionary, and politician. As a young man he travelled to Portugal, and France for an education. He was a founding member of the Frente de Libertação de Moçambique, in 1962, and served as the party's deputy president from 1969 to 1977. He was Minister of Economic Development in the late 1970s, Frelimo Political Bureau member in charge of the economy in the early 1980s, Chairman of the country's parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, from 1987 to 1994, and, as of 1999, remained a member of the Frelimo Central Committee. He represented the left wing of the party, remaining an avowed Marxist-Leninist, despite the party's embrace of capitalism in recent decades, an embrace which dos Santos declared was temporary.
The People's Republic of Mozambique was a socialist state that existed in present-day Mozambique from 1975 to 1990.
Kuxa Kanema: The Birth of Cinema is a 2003 documentary by Margarida Cardoso on the National Institute of Cinema (INC), created by President Samora Machel following the 1975 independence of Mozambique.
Josina Abiathar Muthemba Machel was a leader of FRELIMO and a significant figure in the struggle for independence in Mozambique.
Uria Timoteo Simango was a Mozambican Presbyterian minister and prominent leader of the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) during the liberation struggle against Portuguese colonial rule. His precise date of death is unknown as he was extrajudicially executed along with several other FRELIMO dissidents and his wife, Celina by the post-independence government of Samora Machel.
Machel may refer to:
Janet Rae Mondlane is an American-born Mozambican activist. Together with her husband, Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane, she founded FRELIMO and helped organize the liberation of Mozambique from Portuguese colonialism.
Tomaz Aquino Messias de Bragança was a Goan physicist, journalist, diplomat and Mozambican social scientist at the Eduardo Mondlane University. He played a leading intellectual and political role in the campaign for the decolonialisation of Mozambique from its colonial power Portugal.
The present honours and decorations were passed by the Mozambican Assembly of the Republic in March 2011. It consists of two honorary titles, five Orders and some medals. The awards are managed by the National Commission on Honours and Decorations. The President of Mozambique will present the awards after recommendation by the Assembly, the provincial and central governments, the armed forces and the educational establishment.
Mozambique–Turkey relations are the foreign relations between Mozambique and Turkey. Turkey has an embassy in Maputo since March 15, 2011 while Mozambique's ambassador in Rome is also accredited to Turkey.
The Organization of Mozambican Women is the women's section of FRELIMO. Founded in 1973, during the Mozambican War of Independence, in recognition of women's growing roles in the conflict against Portuguese colonialism, the OMM was created as a non-military structure to promote women's education, emancipation and mobilization. Following independence in 1975, the OMM focussed on issues related to women's education, ethnic division, divorce, family planning, adultery and promiscuity, prostitution, and alcoholism. In 1990, the OMM voted to separate from FRELIMO, although shortly thereafter, the organization re-affiliated.
A Luta Continua is a documentary which depicts the FRELIMO struggle for the independence of Mozambique from Portugal.
The League of Mozambican Women, also known by its acronym LIFEMO, was an organization associated with FRELIMO, founded in 1962. Its aim was to support the families of combatants during the war of independence and to spread the principles of the Front. Selina Simango held the presidency and Priscila Gumane the vice-presidency. In addition to participating in the Pan-African Women's Congress, these leaders travelled frequently, establishing a network of support with countries or organizations that collaborated with the struggles for independence in Africa.
https://www.marxists.org/portugues/tematica/1975/ccs/cancoes.htm