US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger meets Mwalimu Julius Nyerere at his residence, Msasani Dar-es-Salaam on April 25, 1976.
The meeting lasted 7:05 to 8:15 p.m.The meeting, started with a confidential conversation in Nyerere’s office which l have left out because it is so long and l think many of you would find it boring.
Anyway after the private meeting between Nyerere and Kissinger at exactly 7:58 the two leaders proceeded to the large meeting room, where Nyerere introduced his colleagues to the Secretary’s party.
Everyone is seated. Nyerere offers wine, but Kissinger refuses. Then the conversation goes:Nyerere: You’re a teetotaler!Kissinger: Yes. I almost never drink.Nyerere: I was a teetotaler until the victory in Mozambique. I never dealt with Portugal.
I never knew Portuguese wine. Then Samora Machel discovered stacks and stacks of wine in cellars there. He sent it to me. So they’ll serve it to you.
[Laughter]Since Samora sent it to me, I call it “Samora.” [Laughter] I always say: “Bring me Samora.” [Laughter]Kissinger: How did Frelimo get started?Nyerere: How did it get started?
I used to go to the United Nations as a petitioner. This country was a trust territory under the UN, administered by the British. Twice I came to the United Nations.
On one trip I met Dr. Mondlane. He had been teaching in the United States, but was then working for the UN. And we discussed liberation. I said: “Why don’t you come to Dar es Salaam, instead of working for the UN, and work for the liberation of your country?”So he came in 1962.
There were several organizations. . Mondlane helped put them together into a front for the liberation of Mozambique—FRELIMO. It was really a coalition of small parties. They started with agitation.
That was all we knew, from our experience. They tried it, but it wasn’t enough. Then they started fighting—a year after the formation of the OAU.Kissinger: But where did Machel come from?Nyerere:
Machel was one of the freedom fighters. When they came together, Machel was there. He was a hospital assistant—a dispenser. He escaped and came here and was recruited and came into the Army, and became the leader of the armed force. When Mondlane was assassinated.Kissinger: Oh, Mondlane was assassinated?Nyerere:
He was assassinated here. The same thing happened with Cabral.Kissinger: Do you have any idea who did it?Nyerere: It was planned by the Portuguese, with infiltrators.When he was assassinated, they came together to find a new leader. They were divided, as the politicians now fighting in Rhodesia.
But at the Congress, the fighters came, so they chose Machel.Kissinger: Senator Percy, whom you met, and who met Machel, was very impressed.
