The assassination of Amílcar Cabral was intended to weaken the struggle of the libertarian movements in Mozambique and Angola. This was the conclusion reached by the first Mozambican president, Samora Machel, in a historic speech following the death in 1973 of the "father" of the independence of Guinea and Cape Verde.

"By destroying the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), the Guinean revolution would be isolated to some extent, freeing up troops and material to fight in Mozambique and Angola. This is the true meaning of the cowardly and hateful murder of Amílcar Cabral."

Samora Machel declared, in the official speech read at the funeral of Amílcar Cabral in January 1973, in Guinea-Bissau.

In the speech that is today among a series of communications by Samora Machel, stored in the Historical Archive of Mozambique, the Mozambican President holds the now-defunct PIDE (International State Defense Police) responsible for the murder of Cabral, in January 1973, in Conakry.

"The colonial government recognized its imminent defeat, the collapse of its military operations. Imperialism viewed with anguish the emergence of yet another anti-imperialist base, which, due to its strategic location, would diminish its room for maneuver against the African revolution," Machel declared.

The historic leader of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) recognized Amílcar Cabral as the pioneer of the unity movement among the peoples of the former Portuguese colonies against colonialism, classifying him as a leader of all African liberation movements against the Portuguese colonial regime.

"The blow to the PAIGC, the pain suffered by the people of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, is a blow to all Portuguese colonies (...) A man of unity among the people of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, Amílcar Cabral understood and defended a broader vision of the struggle. This is why we see him as a pioneer of the unity movement among the peoples of the Portuguese colonies," stated Samora Machel.

The historic Mozambican leader argued that Amílcar Cabral's death should be transformed into "incentive" in the struggle of liberation movements. "Experience proves that, for revolutionary forces, tragedies like today's in the PAIGC (…) constitute radical vaccines against enemy and reactionary action," he stated.

The historic founding leader of the Guinea and Cape Verde independence party was born on September 12, 1924 and lost his life on January 20, 1973, at the age of 49, in Conakry, at the hands of his own companions, eight months before the unilateral proclamation of the independence of Guinea-Bissau (September 24, 1973).

Officially, to this day, the masterminds behind the murder remain unknown.

Ten years after the death of Amílcar Cabral, Samora Machel, the leader who proclaimed Mozambique's independence in 1975, also lost his life in a plane crash in Mbuzini, South Africa, the causes of which still raise doubts today.