maskerade
1st September 2010, 14:26
There isn't usually lots of information about Africa on this forum, so I thought I'd post this. I'm in Maputo at the moment, and I've been hearing sporadic gunshots throughout the day. The protesters have blocked the main roads by turning over containers, human walls etc.
The gap between the rich and the poor is massive in Mozambique, and particularly in Maputo, the capital. The ruling party, which was formerly Marxist-Lenninist, no longer caters to poor or working people, but rather to national and international capitalists. Almost all investment is in tourism and natural resources, whereas very little is made to make life better for the very vast majority of the population.
Being a worker in Mozambique is not easy - high living costs coupled together with the fact that most workplaces with large employment are usually laundering money (Mozambique is a known transit point for narcotics)
Six people are reported to have been killed during riots in Mozambique's capital Maputo over rising food and fuel prices.
Police confirmed the death of two children and said there had been "widespread disorder" in the city, according to Reuters news agency.
Rioters threw stones at officers and blocked roads. Police reportedly responded by firing on demonstrators.
The authorities had earlier warned that protests would not be tolerated.
The demonstrations are against recent rises in the cost of essential foods, fuel and cement.
'Outraged'
Mozambique's private S-TV television station and Portugal's Lusa news agency said that six people were killed in Wednesday's riots across the capital.
Lusa also quoted hospital sources as saying that 11 people had been injured.
But the police only confirmed two deaths.
"We have a number of injured people. Two children have been killed in the suburb of Mafalala. There is a widespread disorder and confusion across the city," police spokesman Arnaldo Chefo told Reuters.
Shops have closed and public transport has come to a halt following Wednesday's clashes.
"I can hardly feed myself... I'm outraged by this high cost of living," Maputo resident Nelfa Temoteo told Reuters news agency.
Mozambicans have seen the price of a loaf of bread rise by as much as 25% as the value of the national currency, the metical, has fallen against the South African rand. Fuel and water prices have also risen.
In 2008, clashes between police and rioters over rising prices left at least four people dead and more than 100 injured.
The riots then forced the government to cancel plans to raise fuel prices.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11150063
The gap between the rich and the poor is massive in Mozambique, and particularly in Maputo, the capital. The ruling party, which was formerly Marxist-Lenninist, no longer caters to poor or working people, but rather to national and international capitalists. Almost all investment is in tourism and natural resources, whereas very little is made to make life better for the very vast majority of the population.
Being a worker in Mozambique is not easy - high living costs coupled together with the fact that most workplaces with large employment are usually laundering money (Mozambique is a known transit point for narcotics)
Six people are reported to have been killed during riots in Mozambique's capital Maputo over rising food and fuel prices.
Police confirmed the death of two children and said there had been "widespread disorder" in the city, according to Reuters news agency.
Rioters threw stones at officers and blocked roads. Police reportedly responded by firing on demonstrators.
The authorities had earlier warned that protests would not be tolerated.
The demonstrations are against recent rises in the cost of essential foods, fuel and cement.
'Outraged'
Mozambique's private S-TV television station and Portugal's Lusa news agency said that six people were killed in Wednesday's riots across the capital.
Lusa also quoted hospital sources as saying that 11 people had been injured.
But the police only confirmed two deaths.
"We have a number of injured people. Two children have been killed in the suburb of Mafalala. There is a widespread disorder and confusion across the city," police spokesman Arnaldo Chefo told Reuters.
Shops have closed and public transport has come to a halt following Wednesday's clashes.
"I can hardly feed myself... I'm outraged by this high cost of living," Maputo resident Nelfa Temoteo told Reuters news agency.
Mozambicans have seen the price of a loaf of bread rise by as much as 25% as the value of the national currency, the metical, has fallen against the South African rand. Fuel and water prices have also risen.
In 2008, clashes between police and rioters over rising prices left at least four people dead and more than 100 injured.
The riots then forced the government to cancel plans to raise fuel prices.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11150063