A source close to Venâncio Mondlane said that the opposition presidential candidate will no longer be meeting with the Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, due to ‘security issues’, emphasising that he is ‘withdrawn’.
‘Yesterday, Wednesday 15 January, there was an escalation of violence, and in view of security issues he had to withdraw, which led to the meeting not taking place, also taking into account the tight schedule of the Portuguese Foreign Minister,’ explained the source quoted by Lusa.
After the inauguration ceremony of Daniel Chapo as the fifth Mozambican President, Paulo Rangel said that Portugal is available to support mediation of the post-election crisis in the country, but believes that this will not be necessary.
On that occasion, the head of Portuguese diplomacy confirmed that, during his stay in Maputo, he planned to meet with Venâncio Mondlane, who has called for successive stoppages and demonstrations against the results of the 9 October general elections.
‘We’ll certainly talk to him too, that’s planned. It’s planned to talk to everyone, so Portugal’s predisposition is always to help. Obviously, we can’t substitute ourselves in any way, we don’t want to interfere in Mozambique’s sovereignty, but we think that there is an opportunity here to create an agenda of consensus, of reforms, on the one hand institutional and, on the other, certainly economic and social,’ he argued.
Recently, Mondlane accused the Portuguese foreign minister of bias and of ‘manipulating’ public opinion by saying that he is monitoring the post-election process in Mozambique.
When asked by journalists about these statements, Paulo Rangel downplayed them, looking at them ‘with great fair play. I understand that in this context people express their opinions freely and therefore Portugal’s objective, as I said from the beginning, is a very constructive posture and attitude to facilitate dialogue, to create the willingness to help, if that is wanted and necessary,’ he explained.
Paulo Rangel insisted that in this process, marked by demonstrations and post-election tensions that have led to more than 300 deaths and 600 people shot since 21 October, ‘dialogue is needed from this moment on.’
The investiture ceremony was marked by renewed clashes between the police and supporters of presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who does not recognise the election results, with at least five deaths reported in Maputo.