MOZAMBIQUE GOVT VS GUERILLA
YEARS: 1979-1992 | DEATHS: 200000
THE CONFLICT DATABASE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UPPSALA
Information about this conflict can be found in the conflict database made and maintained by the The Department of Peace and Conflict Research at University of Uppsala in Sweden.
DATABASE DETAILS
Quote from UUCD: "The conflict between the government of Mozambique and RENAMO dates back to late 1976 / early 1977. Following independence from Portugal in 1974, the former liberation movement FRELIMO gained power. Mozambique's independence threatened the white regimes in both Rhodesia and South Africa, since the new, Marxist, government openly supported ZANU and ANC. FRELIMO's policy of "socialisation of the countryside" succeeded in antagonising most of the peasantry when collective agriculture was promoted, traditional beliefs and ceremonies were prohibited, tribal kings were stripped of their powers and church-run social projects were closed. Thus, when the white regime in Rhodesia decided to form a counter-revolutionary force, it was able to exploit the disaffection with FRELIMO, which was rampant through much of the countryside. After Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, sponsorship of RENAMO was taken over by South Africa, who rapidly built up its force in the early 1980s. The movement lacked coherence, however, and did not have any ideology beyond its hostility to FRELIMO".