Blackwell Reference Online

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FRELIMO (Frente de Libertação de Moçambique; Front for the Liberation of Mozambique) was founded on June 25, 1962, 13 years to the day before Mozambique became independent. It was established after a conference which began on June 20, 1962, when leaders opposed to Portuguese rule in Mozambique met in Dar-es-Salaam in Tanganyika (Tanzania as of 1964). The leaders who met included Marcelino dos Santos, Eduardo Mondlane , Matthew Mmole, and Uria Simango, with Julius Nyerere of host-nation Tanganyika and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana urging for a united front. FRELIMO was created from the merger of three anti-Portuguese nationalist movements: the Mozambican African National Union (MANU), the National Democratic Union of Mozambique (UDENAMO), and the National African Union of Independent Mozambique (UNAMI). All three had been fighting the Portuguese but had different backers and different political stances, with MANU being supported by the Tanganyikan government, UDENAMO being essentially Stalinist with aid from Ghana, and UNAMI being based in Malawi. The three groups were brought together under the (elected) leadership of Eduardo Mondlane (1920–69), who gave up his position as professor of anthropology at Syracuse University (New York) to become leader of FRELIMO. The new organization set up its office at 201 Arab Street in Dar-es-Salaam, the street later being renamed Nkrumah Street ... log in or subscribe to read full text