Foreign Policy Blogs

Mozambique in Crisis

A significant hike in the price of bread and other commodities led to mass protests in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, which in turn led to trigger-happy police opening fire on crowds of people. The official stance of the state appears to be the the protests were illegal, which in addition to being absurd in and of itself, seems like a pretty thin reed upon which to hang justification for firing on even rowdy unarmed civilians.

 

Author

Derek Catsam

Derek Catsam is a Professor of history and Kathlyn Cosper Dunagan Professor in the Humanities at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. He is also Senior Research Associate at Rhodes University. Derek writes about race and politics in the United States and Africa, sports, and terrorism. He is currently working on books on bus boycotts in the United States and South Africa in the 1940s and 1950s and on the 1981 South African Springbok rugby team's tour to the US. He is the author of three books, dozens of scholarly articles and reviews, and has published widely on current affairs in African, American, and European publications. He has lived, worked, and travelled extensively throughout southern Africa. He writes about politics, sports, travel, pop culture, and just about anything else that comes to mind.

Areas of Focus:
Africa; Zimbabwe; South Africa; Apartheid

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