
Manifestações violentas na cidade de Maputo. Foto arquivo
Maputo, 21 Oct (AIM) – Clashes between police and protestors continued in parts of Maputo throughout Monday afternoon.
The independent presidential candidate, Venancio Mondlane, had initially called a “national general strike” for Monday against election results he regarded as fraudulent.
But when unidentified gunmen on Friday night murdered Mondlane’s lawyer, Elvino Dias, and Paulo Guambe, the election agent of the Podemos party, which had supported Mondlane’s presidential bid, the strike became converted into a march through the streets of Maputo.
Heavily armed police, including dog units and even a helicopter, aborted the march, firing tear gas into the crowd. At about 11.00, Mondlane’s supporters dispersed, and Mondlane himself urged them to “go home”.
Despite this groups of demonstrators reformed, and continued to protest, this time well away from the city centre, in neighbourhoods such as Maxaquene and Polana-Canico. They erected barricades of burning tyres, so the police had to dash from one fire to the next putting them out, in some cases rolling the burning tyres into drainage channels.
Clouds of smoke, from the volleys of tear gas and from the burning tyres hung over the city. For some time, major thoroughfares, such as the road to the airport were completely blocked.
In one incident, protestors overturned a police armoured vehicle and were filmed jumping up and down on it.
In the central city of Beira, crowds of young Mondlane supporters burnt tyres on the main road leading out of the city. Tyres were also set alight at the main market in the Beira neighbourhood of Massamba, according to a report in the independent paper “O Pais”.
Mondlane could claim success for his strike in that most institutions in Beira remained closed during the day. Parents did not send their children to school, and most shops did not open.
In Quelimane, capital of the central province of Zambezia, the police surrounded the local headquarters of Podemos, and detained two Podemos members.
Most other cities were calm, but few institutions opened. Part of the reason for this is that transport operators took their vehicles off the roads, fearing that they might come under attack.
Mondlane has promised that the “general strike” is just the first of four stages of protest he has planned against the election results. He gave no details about the other three stages.
Mondlane told reporters he could not understand why the police had resorted to force. He had planned the march as a peaceful event, and there was thus no need to fire teargas at the marchers.
“I want to tell all young people to stop the strike”, he said. “Our goals were achieved in that 95 per cent of economic activities were paralysed. This shows that Mozambicans have embraced our cause”.
He have this instruction to his followers in the late morning – yet clashes with the police continued for several more hours.
(AIM)
Pf/ (484)