About a third of the corn under cultivation--Mozambique's staple crop--has been destroyed. Crops and topsoil on more than a quarter of a million acres of land has been washed away. Many peasants have lost everything, including thousands of head of cattle swept away in the floods. Some industrial areas have also been affected, such as Matola, where Coca-Cola has closed its bottling plant. Government officials are forecasting a sharp drop in gross domestic product for 2000 in what is already one of the world's poorest countries.

Official estimates put the number of dead at several hundred. Some aid agencies say the figure is likely to rise into the thousands as bodies stuck in the remnants of huts or in the mud will only become visible when the water level drops.

For more than a week, tens of thousands of working people tenaciously survived by clinging to treetops or on the roofs of buildings as rivers such as the Limpopo, Incomati, and Save in the central and southern portions of the country flooded. This followed weeks of heavy rains, a cyclone that roared in from the Indian Ocean, and more floodwaters flowing down from South Africa and Zimbabwe. "Rivers up to 300 meters wide became 25 kilometers wide," said a spokesperson for the South African military, which has been organizing rescue efforts.

Chissano has called for large-scale financial aid and cancellation of the country's $8.3 billion foreign debt.  
 

Imperialist oppression

Mozambique is a country oppressed by imperialism. Workers and peasants there waged a battle against Portuguese colonial rule that culminated in independence in 1975, opening a democratic revolution. In response, the neighboring regime of apartheid South Africa, with Washington's direct complicity, stepped up military, economic, and political efforts to destabilize the new government.

Pretoria took over the organization of the counterrevolutionary Renamo outfit. Thousands were killed as Renamo waged war against the ruling Frelimo government and wrecked what was left of the economy. The war only ended in 1992.

Today Mozambique is presented in the capitalist press as a "success story" with a rapid economic growth rate. Last month U.S. president William Clinton, as part of portraying Washington as a "partner" of African countries, pointed to the country as an example for the rest of Africa. His words turned out to be true in a way he did not intend, since none have escaped the harsh reality of underdevelopment imposed on them by imperialism.

South African capital in particular--which has exploited the labor and land of Mozambique for decades--has intensified its penetration of the economy. Despite such "success," per capital annual income hovers at about $150 a year.

Mozambican officials have criticized Washington, London, and Lisbon for their slow response to aid requests. South African military helicopters had picked close to 10,000 people out of trees by the time that more helicopters, food, and other material aid began arriving in quantity from the United States and Europe. More than a week after the worst floods developed, Washington sent up to 900 troops into Mozambique.

An editorial in the country's main newspaper, Notícias, captured the view of many in the country when it wrote: "When the West wants to intervene militarily anywhere in the world, they get there in record time."

In contrast, the government of revolutionary Cuba has provided a brigade of volunteer doctors in Mozambique for decades. Today there are 93 Cuban doctors deployed throughout the country.

CNN, the BBC, and big-business newspapers worldwide present Mozambicans as nothing but victims. One reporter, however, put a dent in the familiar image of helpless Africans as portrayed ad nauseum in North America and Europe.

"Amazing tales of heroism, compassion, and almost superhuman endurance on the part of countless ordinary farmers and townspeople are surfacing in the wasteland of mud called Mozambique," wrote Paul Salopek, reporting in the March 6 Chicago Tribune from Chokwe. "Their stoic resilience and toughness offer a counterpoint to the image of hapless victims awaiting rescue in trees."

The article quoted Sybil Baloyi, a South African missionary in the town. "They are survivors. I have talked to men and women who spent four days without food in the trees. The trees were filled with rats and snakes, but they just laughed. They said all the animals left each other alone because they just wanted to live like everyone else."  
 
 
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