Independence and Revolution in Portuguese-Speaking Africa

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Aquino de Braganca (Selected Articles and Interviews, 1980–1986) Aquino de Bragança was a close advisor to Samora Machel, former president of Mozambique. Both lost their lives when their plane crashed at Mbuzini in October 1986. Born in Goa, fluent in French as well as Portuguese, and trained as a scientist, Aquino dedicated his life to the liberation struggles of southern Africa. He was a militant journalist, an academic, a diplomat, and a public intellectual. His skill in sensitive and discreet political negotiation earned him the nickname ‘the submarine’ and he played a key role in Frelimo’s early contacts with the Portuguese, leading eventually to independence in 1975. Illustrated with contemporary photographs, Aquino de BragancaIndependence and Revolution in Portuguese-speaking Africa brings together a selection of his post-independence writings and interviews, many published in English for the first time. The editors – both specialists on Lusophone Africa – provide a general introduction to Aquino’s life and thought, as well as short contextual preambles to each of the twelve texts. ‘What a treasure! This collection provides a vast amount of information about the character of the Mozambican Revolution and the debates that surrounded it. Aquino’s words evoke the spirit of the times, the hopes, fears, disappointments, joys and speculations of a generation of activist scholars willing to devote all their energies, and give their lives if necessary, to the emancipation of humankind.’–Albie Sachs

Introduction – Marco Mondaini and Colin Darch

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Persons, Events and Other Terms

Part 1 – Articles and Interviews

1. Underdevelopment and Migrant Labour – with Ruth First (1980)
2. Samora’s Marxism (1980)
3. Savimbi: The Career of a Counter-Revolutionary (1981)
4. There Was Never a Decolonisation Process in Mozambique (1982)
5. Reflections on the Value of a Journey – with António Souto (1982)
6. Cabral and Machel are the True Heirs of Marx (1983)
7. The Work of Ruth First in the Centre of African Studies: The Development Course – with Bridget O’Laughlin (1984)
8. The Portuguese Army Must Defend Cahora Bassa (1985)
9. Independence without Decolonisation: The Transfer of Power in Mozambique, 1974-1975. Some Background Notes (1985)
10. The Defence of our Sovereignty is More Important than Ideology (1985)
11. From the Idealisation of Frelimo to the Understanding of the Recent History of Mozambique – with Jacques Depelchin (1986)
12. Mozambique: Facing a War without End (1986)

Part 2 – His Comrades Remember

1. Aquino, Our Comrade, Our Brother – Simon Malley (1986)
2. Aquino – Immanuel Wallerstein (1986)
3. Homage to Aquino de Bragança – Carlos Lopes (1986)
4. Aquino de Bragança – Gary Littlejohn (1986)

Marco Mondaini is Brazilian, and has a BA in history from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, an MA in history from the University of São Paulo, and a PhD in social work from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. In 2009 he carried out post-doctoral research in human rights theory at the Università degli Studi in Florence, and has also worked at the Instituto Gramsci in Rome, in 2013-2014 he was a visiting researcher at the Centro de Estudos Africanos, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, in Mozambique.

Since 2004 he has been an Associate Professor at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) in Recife, in the Postgraduate Programme in Social Work. He was the first coordinator of UFPE’s Instituto de Estudos da África, and is the commissioning editor of the book series Brazil and África, published by UFPE University Press. He is a funded researcher of Brazil’s CNPq.

Mondaini is author or co-author of over twenty books, including Direitos Humanos (São Paulo, 2006); Direitos Humanos no Brasil (São Paulo, 2009); Enrico Berlinguer: Democracia, Valor Universal (Rio de Janeiro, 2009); Do Stalinismo à Democracia. Palmiro Togliatti e a Construção da Via Italiana ao Socialismo (Rio de Janeiro, 2011) and Democracia e Direitos Humanos sob Fogo Cruzado (Recife, 2013).