Sun of Our Freedom
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SUN OF OUR FREEDOM THE INDEPENDENCE OF GUINEA BISSAU SUN OF OUR FREEWM (Second Printing, Nove.ber 1974) Ihe year 1974 wu one of unprecedented victories for tho people of Guinea-Bissau, Angola, Mozambique, Su, Ton and Princi~-- and of Portugal itself. After thirteen yem of haaip the Portuguese people had become ron and mra unwilling to continue the unjust and futile colonial wars in Africa. The victories scored by the African Liberation Movements precipitated a oaup in Portugal on April 25, 1974, which bagan the process of dismantling the fascist dictatorship at horn, and 500 years of colonialism in Africa. On Sqtember 10, 1974, the new Portuguese govern- ment acknarledged Guinea-Bissau's independence and bogn withdrawing its troops. On September 17th the Republic of Guinea-Bissau was formally admit- ted to the United Nations. 'IHE STRUGGLE CONTINUES But the liberation struggle in Guinea-Bissau con- tinuu: the struggle for land, for education, for health care,for eqmlity md justice; the struggle to grew rn~rfifed md to control one's own re- soiurces; the stluggle to red and write; the struggle to live beyond the age of five; the struggle to finally expel colonialisr from the C.g Verde Islands.. .in short, the struggle to forge 8 nw nation, one which will control its own destiny. This is the history that the people of Guinea-Bissau are making today. A LIRA ONTINUA! NO PINTCHA! THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES! FORWARD ! "OWL ~UIUmati .b pain and bod StRcLight mad fit rwr The bun o$ ow Qwtdom.. .. " (from "Our Sure Roadt' by Cape Verdem poet, Supajudo) PROCLAMATI8H OF THE STATE 0F GZfINEA BISSAU by the Peap1e1$ Natisnak Asscnilsly "The cuhncur;t m e$ mzhs,b kinltehg A &mMzed by the b;DluggEe ob peopiEu doh ;tkein ~~ hd- pa;tian wbWm, impuda&hm, &dm and aLt ofiett dam 04 domina;tion,and opphe6ahn hmp- uciy1g kurnh deviztepme&- and &gnLtg, peace erred pmg/tesb 6 ?lo &e .t%Med Urn 04 Gui~eaBiAaau, scln. pup&, guLd&d. try Pam%& A$~eanoda lnde- pendeurcLu. $a Gde & Cdo Vde f PA1 GCf .UA~.WL&c enRig&cn&d~XeadmkCp ed 4bdaand.No, 1 miell;anX, ~WICab&, b, fie &@tide66 17 ym04 poUd a.n$~wdar;tkttgg.te, co~ur.twc- ed a w fib& wd now pa46u6e6 a conbXanA;eg- evoRving a$midlt;rwLtive oagerziza*tion, a a& and cuR;Wtae aettvicu, a judic/iae ayaltem, a alteadiey devaoping ewvwmy and nationat med dotrces.. .. At & rneu%ng 04 14 SepXmbex 1923 in ;the.-Bee- teg.is.w, fie Peoplea& Nattod haedaly,d expneeaiing Rhe aoudgn cafRey06 $he. peepte: SQ~E,@If.Y PROCLAIMS 'Tff E STATE Of GUllJEA 8lSSAU The .S;tw*te o&Guina U~au..& a &ave/r&gn, xepub- Limn, dm~au.Ec,srttZt+ealeoWZ ahti+&- hpimWAlt SMe wko~epmmy ebjedves a Rhe complete Uehafion o 4 &e peeptc e 4 .Guiiutea- Bbau and e~peVadc and, (oksiatj e g ,a unisn be- &eea &me liwa Xwr,Lte~&aieh lEhe pwysda-e e$ b uiecLirzg -rzAltrrang A$~canhem&kd- $cdic&&d 20 pmg/teb~. The amangemem% M wtiolz wa be Weminest, ajjxerr x;thae -two ltWe~aa Lib-$, k~ 8tccsrtLQaMce wa&te luiRe 04 lthc peoptc, The SAX.& 0.5 Guinedt Bi~swaam& amd d@ ofi &king action to expeue, by evay meam, Rhe expuRnion 06 Rhe fiohceb 06 aggmhbn ofi Pas- uguebe coloni~m&om Rhat pa4.t ofi the ;tWq a fi Guinea Bhaau which Rhey hWoccupy and to ivLtemifiy the hlf;tLugglein Rhe Cape Vende lhlan&, which born an integhae and iwenable patLt od Rhe don& tWtryofi Rhe people 06 Guinea- Bhhau and Cape Vende.. .. The Sme ofi G&ea ;&inamanhwnes ne6pomLbLLLtq don pmrnofing Rhe economic advancement 04 Rhe cody, Rheneby orr.ea/ting Rhe ma;tW babh doh Rhe dev&opment 04 cWe,bcience, and ;technology, with a view to Rhe can;tinuling irnpmvement ofi Rhe aaciae and economic LLvLng h&mfa&b od om pop- u8a;tian and with Rhe UaXeaim ofi achieving a LLQe 04 peace, w&-being and ph0ghUh doh om coun;trtyta chithen.. .. I! PEOPLE'S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY Boe region, 24 September, 1973 On Septeaber 24, 1973, the West African nation of Guinea-Bissau declared its independence from Portugal. By November, 74 nations throughout Africa and the world had recosized the new re- public . The declaration of independence culminates five centuries of militant struggle, and follsws a ten-year war against Portuguese rule, led by the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, the PAIGC. The declaration came at the first meeting of the newly elected National Assembly held in the southeastern region of Boe in liberated Guinea Bissau. The 120 delegates had been chosen a year before in popular elections held throughout the areas liberated from Portuguese control. The Assembly adopted a constitution establishing a 15-person Council of State, headed by Luis Cabral, Deputy Secretary General of PAIGC and brother of the late party leader, Amilcar Cabral , assassinated by Portuguese agents in January 1973. Aristedes Pereira was chosen to head the Party as Secretary General. In desperation, Portugal called the declaration of independence a mere "~ropagandastunt". How- ever, the United Nations General Assembly supported the new republic when 94 countries voted to comdemn Portugal as a "foreign aggressor" in the "sovereign state of Guinea Bissau." The United States, true to its ally, wted with 5 other countries in deny- ing the existence of the new republic. Located on the west coast of Africa between Senegal on the North and the Republic of Guinea (~onakry) on the East and South, Guinea Bissau covers 14,000 square miles and holds a population of approximately 800,000, with a high population density of 40 per- sons per square mile. A diverse terrain allows abundant wet rice to be cultivated along the coast- al lowlands, while groundnuts, millet, and cattle are raised on the savannah plateaus of the interior. The major language groups are the Balante(200,000), the Mandjak (110,000), the Na(80,000) and the Mandinka (70,000) ; and the Pepel, Mancagne, Felup, Bissagos, and others all number around 200,000 including those living on Cape Verde, 350 miles west and north of the Guinean mainland. A&ica AQnica deupdwqi uenty A~rcictl.AQnica Gwle .in ysw hand4 Fek independence. Viva Memd Cape Ven$e Viva Angob MazambQue Saa Tome We aUpu/t down Co&Wm keB om land aee Bwi land l;tt6 $on OWL pw)llee We ah& pui dam 1 mpenicLeidm wi;th &hgum, luiRh Jtheirr money We dwtt need Ahem wha;tlac&i~a Nm AWCa A6fLiw A&iu vim GcLCne .e Cub vw Viva &dea Mouunb~ue Saa Tome. Seng of Freedom Fi$hters in duines Elssatu, from No ~intcha,T. Ogawa, 1972. PORTUGUESE COLONIALISM IN GUINEA BISSAU Portuguese domination hi Guinea Bissau is older than colonialism itself. From the firteenth through the eighteenth cexturiw Guinea Bissau and the Cape Verde Islands were the center of Portugal1s flourishing trade in slaves, gold and ivory. Plantations and trading posts were set up in Cape Verde, which becm the center for Portuguese administration. Africans from the mainland were carried ss slaves to Cape Verde, or sent on to Brazil. It was only in the nineteenth century, when the rest of Europe began its scramble for African land and resources, that Portugal formally colonized its "territories" (including also Angola and Mozambique) and attempted to penetrate the inter- ior of Guinea Bissau. The verb "to colonize" cannot adequately describe the process that then took place. For Portugal. inflicted- the harshest forms of forced labor, racial- deeaaation by its policy of "assimila;tionl', cultural destruction via, its "civilizing mission", adeconomic exploi- tation that left the Guineans without adequate food, shelter, health care, sr the mans to subsist. Owing to the Ouinean people's streng resistance to assimilatien, aa well as to PortugalSs own parti- cular brwd 0.9 racism, in 500 ye~ksLess. than 3$ of the AMcan population waa "assidlated. " ' Furthermore, even under colonial rule, the' occupy- ing Portuguese were never able to extend their presence into the whole territory, and they made no eifart to settle maw than a few enclaves. Despite the official policy of assimilation, the Portuguese showed ao interest in developing tha area for the welfare of its inhabitants, who were regarded as no more than a source of unlimited, if inwluntary labor. And the forced labor exact- ed its toll in blooa. Nau d4m he noX avaieabte To fie drteamm, Nan AOngd To fie Singm. In home lanth Vmk night And coLd Ateel Pnevate ---- But -the &eam Will came back And -the hang B/reak 71t6 Jd. Langst on Hughes Oppression THE MOlBIvENT FOR NATIONAL LIBERATION BEGINS "The viotence wkich ha ded oven -the onddng od -the coLoniae waned, wkich h ceab&aaLy chummed -the rrhylthm dun lthe deshaXon 04 native aociae born and bna km up cui;thau;t ned enve the A yaZem6 ad ne~enence04 the economy, -the CLL~ZO~~OQ drteba and extetuzae fide, a%& aame vhtence cuie& be ceaimed and ;taken oven by lthe na;tive .in the moment when, deciding @ embody kis.121h.y .in ki6 own pen- aon, he amga into the dottbidden quamW~," F'ranz Fanon The Wretched of the Earth "In SepZembeh 1956, mew9 sechetey in &ismu, a dew Afihcam decided .to embody &.tony in theiR awn pwons. They domed the A&can Parr;ty dot Independence a 4 Gccinea and Cape Vertde latanah (PAIGC). They numbened exady aix, .inc&uding Amiew~Cab&, who wu ltheirt gcLiding apm; bu,t they hn~whme ltheg wme going, They pnoceed- ed a3 puce&& appeal2 don paUc& and ao& change, and wme answmed by aLtence wd hawed nepne66ion.