Good afternoon. This week is set to finish on a rather uninspiring note. After weeks of protests over the contested election results, there is little to show for it except dozens of dead bodies and the smell of tyres burnt on the roads.
There are no plans for talks between the government and opposition presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, and no sign of a political resolution to the crisis. Ruling party Frelimo is showing no interest in uniting the country; instead it looks like it or its allies are spreading propaganda to try to discredit the opposition. Messages going around on social media are outlandishly claiming that the Swedish government is supporting and financing Mondlane and the Podemos party that supports him. President Filipe Nyusi is carrying on as if there is no problem. Today, ridiculously, he is in Gaza province inaugurating a social security office, while people scream for electoral justice. Mondlane, for his part, does not seem to have much of a plan besides calling for yet more demonstrations, which Frelimo seems determined to sit out.
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If the country does not look like it will erupt in widespread violence at this stage, neither is there any sign of the violence decreasing. The same pattern is being repeated. Police shoot protesters, who get enraged and respond by attacking police officers and stations. The demonstrations have spread all over the country, beyond big cities, which has made it harder for the police to control the protests in every case. In some places, they are just outnumbered. And protesters seem to be getting bolder about confronting police. Today and yesterday, police have allowed protesters to close the N4 highway linking Maputo and its port to South Africa, blocking goods traffic to the port all day long.
