Machelism is the term used in Mozambique to refer to the thoughts expressed by Samora Machel, President of Mozambique after the country's independence in 1975 until his death in 1986. This doctrine has its origins in Marxism-Leninism and Soviet communism, which was the official ideology of the FRELIMO Party during the Machel government. [1]
Like most Marxist thoughts, Machelism would defend state property, as well as a policy based on democratic centralism and the establishment of a socialist state in Mozambique, seeking literacy and the eradication of poverty. However, Machel's variant also manifests a strongly nationalist inclination, coming from the long war of independence that FRELIMO faced, and more vaguely pan-Africanist. It firmly rejects tribalism or African traditionalism, and seeks the creation and progressive establishment of its own Mozambican national identity, this being expressed in a phrase by Machel: "For the nation to live, the tribe must die." [2]
The term is usually used by detractors of Marxism-Leninism, such as Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the opposition RENAMO; as well as by traditional Marxists who reject Machel's nationalist variant; or by the social democratic members of FRELIMO identified with his successor, Joaquim Chissano, who are against excessive leftism in the party. Therefore, the name machelismo or machelista is considered to have a rather derogatory connotation, and is little used by Machel's followers. [3]
Mozambique was a Portuguese colony, overseas province and later a member state of Portugal. It gained independence from Portugal in 1975.
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology that became the largest faction of the communist movement in the world in the years following the October Revolution. It was the predominant ideology of most communist governments throughout the 20th century. It was developed in Russia by Joseph Stalin and drew on elements of Bolshevism, Leninism, Marxism, and the works of Karl Kautsky. It was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, Soviet satellite states in the Eastern Bloc, and various countries in the Non-Aligned Movement and Third World during the Cold War, as well as the Communist International after Bolshevization.
Samora Moisés Machel was a Mozambican politician and revolutionary. A socialist in the tradition of Marxism–Leninism, he served as the first President of Mozambique from the country's independence in 1975 until his death in a plane crash in 1986.
Joaquim Alberto Chissano is a Mozambican politician who served as the second President of Mozambique, from 1986 to 2005. He is credited with transforming the war-torn country of Mozambique into a successful African democracy. After his presidency, Chissano became an elder statesman, envoy and diplomat for both his home country and the United Nations. Chissano also served as Chairperson of the African Union from 2003 to 2004.
FRELIMO is a democratic socialist political party in Mozambique. It has governed the country since its independence from Portugal in 1975.
The national flag of Mozambique is a horizontal tricolour of green, black, and gold with white fimbriations and a red isosceles triangle at the hoist. The triangle is charged with a five-pointed gold star in its center, above which there is a bayonet-equipped AK-47 crossed by a hoe, superimposed on an open book. The colours and symbols of the flag represent different aspects of the Mozambican people and their war of independence. The current design, adopted on 1 May 1983, is defined in Mozambique's constitution, and regulations regarding the flag's use are outlined in decree no. 47/2006, titled State Protocol Standards. The current Mozambican flag is a modified version of the first flag of FRELIMO, which has governed the country since its independence from Portugal on 25 June 1975. Since the democratisation of Mozambique in 1990, there have been calls to change the flag, particularly to remove the AK-47.
Armando Emílio Guebuza is a Mozambican politician who was the third President of Mozambique from 2005 to 2015.
Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) was the military wing of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), a militant African nationalist organisation that participated in the Rhodesian Bush War against white minority rule of Rhodesia.
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 (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.
National communism is a term describing various forms in which Marxism–Leninism and socialism has been adopted and/or implemented by leaders in different countries using aspects of nationalism or national identity to form a policy independent from communist internationalism. National communism has been used to describe movements and governments that have sought to form a distinctly unique variant of communism based upon distinct national characteristics and circumstances, rather than following policies set by other socialist states, such as the Soviet Union.
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. It was established when the country gained independence from Portugal in June 1975 and the Mozambican Liberation Front ("FRELIMO") established a one-party socialist state led by Samora Machel. The state enjoyed close political and military ties with the Soviet Union, which was one of the first nations to provide diplomatic recognition and financial support to the fledgling FRELIMO government. For the duration of its history, the People's Republic of Mozambique remained heavily dependent on Soviet aid, both in financial terms as well as with regards to food security, fuel, and other vital economic necessities. From 1977 to 1992, the country was devastated by a deadly civil war which pitted the armed forces against the anti-communist Mozambique National Resistance (RENAMO) insurgency, backed by neighbouring Rhodesia and South Africa.
A luta continua was a slogan used by the FRELIMO movement during Mozambique's war for independence from Portuguese colonial rule. The phrase, coined by FRELIMO's first president, Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane, was employed to rally support in the liberated zones of Mozambique. After Mondlane's assassination in 1969, his successor, Samora Machel, continued to use the slogan to mobilize the population in the post-independence era. Machel, who became the first president of an independent Mozambique in 1975, utilized "A luta continua" as an unofficial national motto. The slogan encapsulated Mondlane's vision: "We fight together, and together we rebuild and recreate our country, producing a new reality—a New Mozambique, United and Freed."
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.
Marxism is a method of socioeconomic analysis that originates in the works of 19th century German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marxism analyzes and critiques the development of class society and especially of capitalism as well as the role of class struggles in systemic, economic, social and political change. It frames capitalism through a paradigm of exploitation and analyzes class relations and social conflict using a materialist interpretation of historical development – materialist in the sense that the politics and ideas of an epoch are determined by the way in which material production is carried on.
Marxism–Leninism–Maoism (MLM), also known as Marxism–Leninism–Mao Zedong Thought, is a political philosophy that synthesizes and builds upon Marxism–Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought. Marxism–Leninism–Maoism was first formalized by the Shining Path in 1982.
Orthodox Marxism is the body of Marxist thought which emerged after the deaths of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the late 19th century, expressed in its primary form by Karl Kautsky. Kautsky's views of Marxism dominated the European Marxist movement for two decades, and orthodox Marxism was the official philosophy of the majority of the socialist movement as represented in the Second International until the First World War in 1914, whose outbreak caused Kautsky's influence to wane and brought to prominence the orthodoxy of Vladimir Lenin. Orthodox Marxism aimed to simplify, codify and systematize Marxist method and theory by clarifying perceived ambiguities and contradictions in classical Marxism. It overlaps significantly with Instrumental Marxism.
A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country, sometimes referred to as a workers' state or workers' republic, is a sovereign state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism. The term communist state is often used synonymously in the West, specifically when referring to one-party socialist states governed by Marxist–Leninist communist parties, despite these countries being officially socialist states in the process of building socialism and progressing toward a communist society. These countries never describe themselves as communist nor as having implemented a communist society. Additionally, a number of countries that are multi-party capitalist states make references to socialism in their constitutions, in most cases alluding to the building of a socialist society, naming socialism, claiming to be a socialist state, or including the term people's republic or socialist republic in their country's full name, although this does not necessarily reflect the structure and development paths of these countries' political and economic systems. Currently, these countries include Algeria, Bangladesh, Guyana, India, Nepal, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka and Tanzania.
