130 Dead in Mozambique Postelection Chaos
More than 130 people are dead in Mozambique following October’s presidential elections, according to a December 15 report from the Plataforma Decide civil society monitoring group. Most of the casualties have been inflicted by the Mozambican Armed Forces on civilians protesting the election results.
History: In 1974, Portugal handed Mozambique to the Frelimo guerrilla fighters, with no election or referendum. Frelimo, like many other southern African guerrilla fighters, was funded and armed by the Communist Soviet Union and China.
Frelimo turned Mozambique into a one-party, socialist state.
Its history since then has mirrored that of most of post-independence African nations: The opposition was squashed, dissent was silenced, and the economy tanked. An anti-Communist opposition party rose up, but the ensuing civil war resulted in massacres, mutilations, a million deaths and billions of dollars in damages.
Election irregularities: Despite Mozambique’s history of violence and poverty, Frelimo has won every election since 1990. However, after each of the last four elections, the opposition has cried fraud.
The same has happened with the latest election. This time, even European Union observers “noted irregularities during counting and unjustified alteration of elections results at polling station and district level.”
Stoking unrest: The main opposition leader has refused to cede the election. Declaring that the election was stolen, he has urged his supporters to take to the streets. The resulting protests have turned deadly.
Over 130 people had been killed before Tuesday, when Mozambique’s highest court voted to uphold the election results. The ruling sparked fresh protests, and at least 21 more people have been killed in the two days since.
The opposition leader is calling for two to three months of disruption.
What the Trumpet says: Over the last five years, Mozambique has suffered from political instability, violence and Islamist attacks from the north. The nation is valuable to Iran for its strategic sea ports and 100 trillion cubic feet in natural gas reserves. Many attacks have taken place around port towns and natural gas plants.
But “Iran isn’t the only one interested in Africa,” wrote Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry. “Germany is making strong inroads as well. Both of these powers are racing to get as much control of … Africa as they can. They will inevitably clash with each other.”
As we wrote in 2021, “Much of what is going on in Africa today—from Mozambique to Mali—is ultimately a battle for control of vital resources between two opposing power blocs: European nations, strongly influenced by Germany, and radical Islamic proxies supported by Iran.”
Learn more: Read Mr. Flurry’s article “Watch Algeria!”
