Return to the Source: Selected Speeches of Amilcar Cabral
SynopsisPlot
Amilcar Cabral, who was the Secretary-General of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and the Cape Verde Islands (PAIGC), was assassinated by Portuguese agents on January 20, 1973. Under his leadership, the PAIGC liberated three-quarters of the countryside of Guinea in less than ten years of revolutionary struggle. Cabral distinguished himself among modern revolutionaries by the long and careful preparation, both theoretical and practical, which he undertook before launching the revolutionary struggle, and, in the course of the preparation, became one of the world's outstanding theoreticians of anti-imperialist struggle.
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About this book
Amilcar Cabral served as Secretary-General of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and the Cape Verde Islands, known by its Portuguese acronym PAIGC. Under his leadership, the PAIGC gained control of roughly three-quarters of Guinea's rural territory in under ten years of armed struggle against Portuguese colonial rule. Cabral was assassinated by Portuguese agents on January 20, 1973, shortly before Guinea-Bissau declared independence.
This collection gathers several of Cabral's principal speeches from his final years, delivered during visits to the United States. The talks address anti-colonial theory and revolutionary strategy, subjects Cabral had studied and developed over a long preparatory period before the armed campaign began. His approach was notable for the depth of its theoretical groundwork, combining practical organization with sustained political analysis.
The book was edited by the Africa Information Service and presents Cabral's ideas in his own words, drawn from a period when the independence movement was well advanced. Guinea-Bissau, a small West African country between Senegal and Guinea, remained under Portuguese administration until 1974. The speeches collected here reflect the political conditions and arguments of that transitional period.
