Barricades and burning tires returned to the streets of Maputo this morning, with protesters protesting the process involving the general elections of October 9th and the people making way only for the military to pass.
On the Avenida Acordos de Lusaka, in the center of the Mozambican capital, hundreds took to the streets, burning dozens of tires and blocking all traffic, claiming that minutes before the police had taken some of them to the police station right next door, on the third consecutive day of protests called by presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane.
On a central artery of the city, which is usually very busy every day, thick black smoke filled the area, while the military arrived to try to do some cleaning.
"Military yes. Military yes (...) They have a way of talking to the population, they understand, they talk", explains Brian Obisse, 30, amidst the intense smoke from burning tires, without hiding his anger: "You take someone to jail who is just holding a simple demonstration, what do you take someone to the police station to do?".
Luciano Michele, 30, joined the other protesters in the center of the avenue after the police intervened.
"That's what happened, for us to reach this extreme", he reports, amidst burning tires and soldiers who passed by to try to clean them up, without much success.
"Military people come here freely", he warns, adding: "They speak well and support the people very well".
While other young people carry more tires to add to the burning barricades, João Tembe, 43, talks to the soldiers who arrive there.
"They are the only ones we trust because they are firm and show that they are with us. They are wearing hoods because of orders from above", he explains shortly afterwards.
Outraged, he assures that Venâncio Mondlane, who has called for post-election protests in Mozambique, was "just an incentive" to "awaken many young people".
"My demonstration is not vandalism, I am worried about the future of young people, what will become of them tomorrow", he says.
At least 88 people have died and 274 have been shot during the demonstrations and strikes contesting the election results since October 21, the non-governmental organization (NGO) Plataforma Eleitoral Decide reported today.
According to the report released by the Mozambican electoral monitoring platform, involving other NGOs such as the Center for Public Integrity (CIP), the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD) and Amnesty International, with data up to December 4, there are still 3,450 detainees recorded during this period.
Presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane called for a new phase of electoral protests lasting a week, from December 4 to 11, in "all neighborhoods" of Mozambique, with a stoppage of car traffic from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm (two hours less in Lisbon).
"All neighborhoods are in full swing", said Venâncio Mondlane, who does not recognize the announced results of the general elections of October 9, in a statement on his official Facebook account.
As happened in the previous phase of protests, from 27 to 29 November, the presidential candidate asked that vehicles stop circulating from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm (two hours less in Lisbon), followed by 30 minutes to sing the national anthems of Mozambique and Africa in the streets, which has been the case over the last three days in several central arteries, particularly in Maputo.
The announcement by the National Electoral Commission (CNE) of Mozambique, on 24 October, of the results of the elections of 9 October, in which it attributed the victory to Daniel Chapo, supported by the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo, the party in power since 1975) in the election for President of the Republic, with 70.67% of the votes, sparked popular protests, called by presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, which have degenerated into violent clashes with the police.
According to the CNE, Mondlane came in second place, with 20.32%, but it does not recognize the results, which still have to be validated and proclaimed by the Constitutional Council.
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