A Tainted Legacy: the Policies of Samora Machel in Independent Mozambique

For nearly 500 years, Mozambique existed under the dictatorship of Portuguese colonial rule. Following this bloody, arduous struggle, Mozambicans gained independence in 1975. But hopes for a true democracy soon were lost under Samora Machel, a rebel leader who became the country's first president. Oppressed for centuries, Mozambicans were subjected to a new totalitarianism -- homegrown, defiant and destructive.