Amílcar Cabral - Unity and Struggle: Speeches and Writings of Amílcar Cabral

Monthly Review Press edition Introduction by Basil Davidson How was it possible for Guinea-Bissau, with no access to modern technology, ideas, or organizational forms, its population suffering under one of the most repressive of all colonial regimes, to build a victorious movement for revolutionary change? A key to understanding this process lies in the writings of Amilcar Cabral, one of the great revolutionary leaders produced by the long and arduous campaign for the liberation of Portuguese-dominated Africa — of Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and São Tomé. Cabral launched the Partido Africano da Independência de Guiné e Cabo Verde (PAIGC) in 1956, and, by 1973, when he was assassinated, his movement had effectively defeated the Portuguese colonialists. As Basil Davidson states in his introduction, “Cabral can be recognized even now as being among the great figures of our time. We do not need to wait for history’s judgment to tell us that. The evidence is available. Among this evidence are the texts that follow here.