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Mozambican National Resistance
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO; Portuguese: Resistência Nacional Moçambicana) is a conservative political party in Mozambique led by Afonso Dhlakama.
RENAMO was founded as an anti-Communist political organization sponsored by the white minority government of Rhodesia in 1975 following Mozambique's independence and the establishment of a Marxist-Leninist, Soviet-backed one-party state. André Matsangaissa, an ex-FRELIMO army commander, was the first leader of RENAMO. The white-minority government of Rhodesia feared that the FRELIMO government of Mozambique would provide a safe haven for ZANU militants seeking to overthrow its government. Matsangaissa was killed by government soldiers on 17 October 1979 in Sofala Province. Following a violent succession struggle, Afonso Dhlakama became the new RENAMO leader. During the Mozambican Civil War of the 1980s, RENAMO also received support from South Africa and the United States, who saw the FRELIMO government as a Soviet satellite. RENAMO insurgents were often accused of widespread brutality and human rights abuses against civilians.
In 1984, the South African government and Mozambican government signed the Nkomati Accord, in which South Africa agreed to stop sponsoring RENAMO if the Mozambican government expelled exiled members of the African National Congress residing there. However, the apartheid regime continued funneling financial and military resources until a permanent peace accord was reached in 1992 and was supervised by ONUMOZ until 1994.
The peace accord led to the disarmament of RENAMO, to the integration of some of its fighters into the Mozambican army and to its transformation into a regular political party. It is now the main opposition party in Mozambique. At the last legislative elections, 1 and 2 December 2004 , the party was the main part of the Renamo-UE electoral alliance, that won 29.7 % of the popular vote and 90 out of 250 seats. The presidential candidate of this alliance, Afonso Dhlakama, won 31.7 % of the popular vote.
Raul Domingos, negotiator at the Rome General Peace Accords and RENAMO's leader in parliament from 1994-1999, was expelled from the party in 2000, and in 2003, founded the Party for Peace, Democracy, and Development.