Mozambique’s opposition leader, Venâncio Mondlane, has returned to the country from self-imposed exile, saying he is ready for talks with the government after claiming October’s elections were stolen from him.
In large dark sunglasses, Mondlane dropped to his knees as he exited the arrivals door of Maputo’s international airport and appeared to be praying. He spoke to journalists outside, wearing a fake flower garland, before his car edged through crowds of cheering supporters.
Mozambique has been beset by protests since the 9 October presidential and parliamentary votes, which Mondlane and his allied party Podemos said they had won. More than 280 people have been killed by security forces, according to the Centre for Public Integrity, a local monitoring group.
“I had to break this narrative that I was absent because of my own will,” Mondlane told reporters in comments that were also broadcast live on his Facebook page. “So I’m here present, I’m here in the flesh, I’m here to say that if they want to negotiate, if you want to talk to me, if you want to sit down for a discussion, I’m here.”
The charismatic populist said he had also returned to witness what he labelled a “silent genocide” of his supporters and to defend himself against charges that he was culpable for damage caused during the protests.
Daniel Chapo, the candidate for Frelimo, the party that has ruled Mozambique since independence from Portugal in 1975, is due to be sworn in as president on 15 January.
On 23 December, the country’s highest court declared Chapo secured 65.2% of the vote, which triggered another wave of protests by supporters of Mondlane, who the court said won 24.2% of the vote.
Election observers have said there was evidence of vote rigging, but some analysts have cautioned that Frelimo may still have won without any manipulation.
The outgoing president, Felipe Nyusi, called for talks with Mondlane in November and said in December that they had spoken by phone.
Mondlane previously said he had left Mozambique for an undisclosed location for fear of being assassinated. On 19 October, two of his allies, Elvino Dias, a lawyer, and Paulo Guambe, a filmmaker and Podemos official, were shot dead by unknown attackers.
No one has been arrested for the killings, which human rights researchers say fit a pattern of targeted killings of opposition figures without anyone being brought to justice.
These days I only have one rule when it comes to New Year’s resolutions: do not, under any circumstances, write them down. Don’t put them on social media, or on a Post-it note stuck to your bathroom mirror, or in the notes section of your phone. Chances are high you won’t keep your resolutions, but as long as you don’t write them down, chances are equally high you’ll have no memory of making them by next December.
I’ve learned there is simply no point in negotiating with future you—this person who no longer shares your goal to write a play or to read 50 books in a year. Don’t let their failure be your failure. Besides: if you only manage to read nine books in 2025, you’ll still be nine books less stupid than you were in 2024.
In the meantime, here’s something you can do right now to override future-you’s lack of commitment: support the Guardian’s work in 2025. You’ll be supporting independent journalism at a time when it’s more desperately needed than ever, and I promise that we will never send you an email reminding you to practice your Italian.
