Africa-Press – Mozambique. Former President of Mozambique, Joaquim Alberto Chissano and former Minister of State of Senegal, Abdoulay Bathily on Wednesday stressed Algeria’s contribution to liberation movements in Africa, highlighting the role of the Algerian media in making these movements known worldwide.
“The liberation movement in Mozambique was inspired by the struggle of the National Liberation Front (FLN)” in Algeria, said former President of Mozambique Joaquim Alberto Chissano during a conference organized by the Forum El Moudjahid under the theme “Algeria’s contribution to decolonization and the awakening of pan-Africanism”.
Referring to the pivotal role that Algeria played in the liberation struggle of Mozambique, Chissano recalled certain historical truths which testify to the unfailing solidarity enjoyed by Mozambique during its war against Portuguese occation.
“When we started the armed struggle on September 25, 1964, Algeria was in the process of rebuilding itself and organizing itself, but it did not hesitate to be the first country to give us aid,” he noted. “Algeria has always been at the side of the peoples who fight for their independence.”
Chissano referred to the contribution of the Algerian media in giving a global dimension to the struggle of the people of Mozambique.
“The Algerian state, through its media, played a role in making our struggle known all over the world,” he said.
Congratulating the Algerian people on the 67th anniversary of the outbreak of the National Liberation War, the former head of state of Mozambique stressed that November 1st continued to inspire new generations.
For his part, the former Minister of State of Senegal, Abdoulay Bathily said that “the outbreak of the armed liberation struggle by the FLN on November 1, 1954, is a founding event in the process of liberation of our continent, and particularly by countries under French colonial rule”.
Like the former head of state of Mozambique, the Senegalese historian and academic also returned to the role of the Algerian media in raising awareness of the importance of liberation movements in Africa.
Mr. Bathily explained in particular that, during his school and university career, he followed, with his fellow citizens, the journey of Algeria during its liberation struggle. He mentioned the role of the media as an instrument of struggle, recalling that the newspaper El Moudjahid “was the voice of the voiceless and of those who longed for another world and another Africa, not only in Algeria, but elsewhere”.
The former Senegalese minister further explained that November 1 “constituted a shift in the process of struggle” in Africa, saying that “it led to a modification of the balance of power between the colonizer and the dominated peoples, in particular in countries under French domination”.
Expressing his admiration for the Évian Accords and the men who were at the centre of the negotiations preceding the independence of Algeria, Mr. Bathily recalled that the former president of the Council of Senegal had declared that “it was in Algeria that French colonialism experienced its most bitter defeat on the African continent”.
In the light of these historical facts, Mr. Bathily highlighted the need for the proper “appropriation of our history”, noting that this “had become a major issue”.
