Unity & Struggle: Selected Speeches and Writings PDF
Preview Unity & Struggle: Selected Speeches and Writings
UNITY & STRUGGLE Selected Speeches and Writings Amílcar Cabral NNeeww hhaallff--ttiittllee..iinndddd ii 22000088--0066--1100 0088::5555::1177 ii Cabral_unity&struggle.indd 2 6/6/08 12:44:00 PM UNITY & STRUGGLE Selected Speeches and Writings Amílcar Cabral Texts selected by the PAIGC Translated by Michael Wolfers SECOND EDITION Compiled and edited by Maurice Taonezvi Vambe and Abebe Zegeye UNISA PRESS PRETORIA TSEHAI PUBLISHERS NNeeww ttiittllee ppaaggee..iinndddd iiii 22000088--0066--1100 0099::0077::3300 First edition © 1979 Amílcar Cabral Foundation, New York Second edition © 2007 University of South Africa Second edition, second impression 2012 Introduction to the second edition © 2007 Abebe Zegeye and Maurice Vambe The texts reprinted in this volume were first published in 1979 by the Monthly Review Press (London and New York), and amount to some two-thirds of the French edition published by François Maspero in 1975. They are reprinted in this new edition witht he permission of the Amílcar Cabral Foundation. Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data Cabral, Amílcar Unity and struggle 1. National liberation movements – Guinea Bissau – Collected works 2. Guinea-Bissau – Politics and government – Collected works 3. Cape Verde Islands – Politics and government – Collected works 4. National liberation movements – Cape Verde Islands – Collected works 5. Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde — Collected works 6. Return to the Source — Monthly Review Press: New York and London with African Information Services II. Title. Publishers: Unisa Press, University of South Africa, PO Box 392, Unisa 0003 ISBN: 978-1-86888-450-6 Tsehai Publishers, PO Box 1881, Hollywood, CA 90078 Print: ISBN: 978-1-59907-036-0 E-book: ISBN: 978-1-86888-8573 Cover illustration: Photo of Amílcar Cabral, 1971, PAIGC Archives, Bissau Cover design: Elsabé Viljoen Typesetting: Karen Graphics Printed by Harry's Printers All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means – mechanical or electronic, including recordings or tape recording and photocopying – without the prior permission of the publisher, excluding fair quotations for purposes of research or review. New imprint page - iv 22000088--0066--0099 1133::3366::3300 vv Contents Abbreviations vii Foreword: Carlos Lopes ix Introduction to the Second Edition: Maurice T. Vambe and Abebe Zegeye 1 Introduction to the First Edition: Basil Davidson 13 Biographical notes: Mário de Andrade 23 PARt 1 the WeAPon of theoRy 39 WRItInGs of yoUth 1 Two poems 41 MAn AnD LAnD 2 Agricultural Census of Guinea 43 PoRtUGUese CoLonIAL DoMInAtIon 3 The facts about Portugal’s African Colonies 55 PARty PRInCIPLes AnD PoLItICAL PRACtICe 4 Unity and struggle 66 5 To start out from the reality of our land – to be realists 81 6 Our Party and the struggle must be led by the best sons and daughters of our people 100 7 Struggle of the people, by the people, for the people 110 8 Independence of thought and action 114 9 Not everyone is of the Party 118 10 Revolutionary democracy 128 11 Fidelity to Party principles 132 12 For the improvement of our political work 133 on the AfRICAn ReVoLUtIon 13 Homage to Kwame Nkrumah 147 the WeAPon of theoRy 14 Presuppositions and objectives of national liberation in relation to social structure 151 nAtIonAL CULtURe 15 National liberation and culture 169 16 Return to the source 185 Cabral_unity&struggle.indd 5 6/6/08 12:44:02 PM vi PARt 2 ReVoLUtIonARy PRACtICe 205 the stRAteGy foR PoLItICAL MoBILIsAtIon 17 Message to Guinean and Cape Verdean civil servants and employees in commerce 207 18 Message to the Portuguese settlers in Guinea and Cape Verde 210 19 Message to the soldiers, officers and NCOs of the Portuguese colonial army 213 20 Memorandum from the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) to the Portuguese Government 216 21 An open note to the Portuguese Government 222 ARMeD ACtIon AnD MILItARy MethoDs 22 Proclamation of direct action 225 23 The battle of Como and the Congress of Cassaca 227 24 The eighth year of armed struggle for national liberation 231 25 The situation of the PAIGC’s struggle in January 1973 260 GeneRAL WAtChWoRDs 26 Be aware at every moment of the situation of the struggle 273 27 Continually develop and strengthen political work and Party organisation 276 28 Constantly improve organisation of our armed forces 279 29 Know well our own strength and the enemy strength 283 30 Strengthen security and discipline in all sectors of the struggle 286 31 Destroy the economy of the enemy and build our own economy 289 32 Improve our knowledge and defend our health 292 33 Apply Party principles in practice 296 InteRnAtIonAL ReLAtIons 34 The options of the CONCP 301 35 The people of Guinea and Cape Verde before the UN 311 the stAte of GUIneA-BIssAU 36 Creation of the People’s National Assembly in Guinea 327 37 New Year’s message 339 Cabral_unity&struggle.indd 6 6/6/08 12:44:02 PM vii ABBReVIAtIons CLSTP (Comité de Libertação de São Tomé e Príncipe) Committee (later Movement) for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe CONCP ( Conferência das Organizações Nacionalistas das Colónias Portuguesas) Conference of the Nationalist Organisations of the Portuguese Colonies CUF (Companhia União Fabril) FRELIMO ( Frente de Libertação de Moçambique) Mozambique Liberation Front MPLA ( Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola) Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola OAU Organisation of African Unity PAIGC or PAI (Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde) African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde [Frequently referred to in the text as ‘the Party’] PIDE (Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado) International Police for the Defence of the State (created for Portu- gal by the Salazar regime, extended to Africa after 1954) Cabral_unity&struggle.indd 7 6/6/08 12:44:02 PM Cabral_unity&struggle.indd 8 6/6/08 12:44:02 PM ix foReWoRD Carlos Lopes* For more than 20 years, any student or activist eager to know the works of Amílcar Cabral has had to struggle hard to find them. Despite being considered a leading political and historical figure of the African independence movement and an intel- lectual giant respected by thinkers and militants alike, Cabral disappeared from the bookshelves before the Internet age. This sad reality has now been repaired, at least in part, with the publication of the present volume by Unisa Press. Amílcar Cabral’s writings are essential for an understanding of the liberation struggle of Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde. But his influence stretches beyond the two tiny territories in West Africa he helped liberate. From an early age, Cabral was the natural leader of a large movement fighting against Portuguese colonialism. His participation in the foundation and consolidation of many political institutions within the Portuguese colonies is well established. His participation in the southern move- ments and the pan-African movement is also legendary. A shrewd guerrilla tactician, Cabral was capable of a level of sophistication unmatched in contemporary African movements. Cabral’s contribution has been recognised in different ways. However, the most important recognition is still missing: a study of his singular contribution to African philosophy. This prospect is now taking root in a number of universities. Amílcar Cabral was born in 1921 in Bafata, Guinea Bissau. His father Juvenal Cabral, a teacher, and his mother Iva Pinhel Évora, an independent small businesswoman, were Capeverdeans who migrated to Guinea Bissau in search of a better life. They left behind drought and despair, but they eventually returned to the islands, giving Amílcar a chance to begin his highly rewarding study. In 1944, at the time of the Second World War, Amílcar completed his secondary studies at St Vicente and was looking for ways of expressing love for his country, as manifested in various poems and cultural interventions. In the autumn of 1945 he secured, with great difficulty, a fellowship to pursue his university studies in Lisbon: Cabral wanted to be an agricultural engineer. Apart from being a brilliant student, he was extremely active in the emerging nationalist movement for the liberation of the Portuguese colonies. He quickly became a reference point among the small group of African intellectuals residing in Lisbon, who established a Centre for African Studies. When he returned to Guinea Bissau in 1952, his purpose in life was clear and his focus known even by the feared Portuguese political intel- ligence and repressive police force, the PIDE. * Carlos Lopes is a Guinea Bissau scholar who has published numerous articles on Cabral. He acted as liaison for the publication of this volume with the Amílcar Cabral Foundation in Praia, Cape Verde. Cabral_unity&struggle.indd 9 6/6/08 12:44:03 PM x LOPES Cabral was appointed as a public servant engineer in Pessube. He used his profes- sional position to engage in research that allowed him to deepen his knowledge of the country. His participation in an agricultural census would have given him the chance to get closer to the ground and establish an extensive network. However, based on friendly advice, Cabral left Guinea, returned to Lisbon and travelled extensively to Angola where he participated in the foundation of the MPLA. In 1956 Cabral founded the PAIGC. This represented the consolidation of a clan- destine battle and a landmark for the nationalist movement in the Portuguese colonies. The generation that led the struggle would later be known as the ‘Cabral generation’ in recognition of his intellectual and strategic leadership and his personal investment in the consolidation of unitary movements. In 1960, the year of African independence, Cabral formally denounced Portuguese colonialism and made the nationalist move- ment more visible to the world. What followed during the 1960s associated Cabral’s name with the likes of Che Guevara, General Vo Nguyen Giap, not to mention Fanon, Nasser, Lumumba and Nkrumah. Cabral understood that the fundamentals of the national liberation struggle were political and therefore victory would only be possible if the liberation movements could articulate political positions first and only thereafter justify military action. Cabral developed the concept that the liberation struggle was an act of culture. He catapulted the PAIGC into a series of innovations that made its struggle for inde- pendence renowned and credited for being a central element in the downfall of the fascist regime in Portugal in April 1974. But Cabral was no longer alive when the independence of Guinea-Bissau, in September 1973, followed by the Carnation Revolution in Portugal one year later, created a space for the independence of all remaining Portuguese colonies. On the tragic night of 20 January 1973, a few months before his dream of indepen- dence in Guinea Bissau was fulfilled, PIDE agents assassinated Cabral in Conakry. However, as Mário de Andrade put it, Amílcar Cabral’s life story had already become history. This book, with contributions written during the height of the liberation struggle, is full of lessons for today’s debates. It may be surprising for many readers to see how many of Cabral’s formulations remain relevant and provocative. It will be important to read them in context. But the reader will quickly realise how profound and unusual this guerilla leader was. It is that uniqueness that is now in your hands. Cabral_unity&struggle.indd 10 6/6/08 12:44:03 PM
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