Gunfire Greets Mozambican Opposition Leader Back From Exile
- Mondlane has orchestrated months of post-election protests
- Fiery leader, who fled country in October, returns to Maputo
This article is for subscribers only.
When Venâncio Mondlane started out as a political commentator, an almost 7-foot-tall television journalist was tasked with questioning him. More than two decades later, the two are locked in a standoff, with Mozambique’s future at stake.
Mondlane, 51, has directed the biggest protests the southeast African nation has seen after official results showed he lost Oct. 9 presidential elections to ruling-party candidate Daniel Chapo, his one-time interviewer. The opposition leader, who returned home Thursday almost three months after fleeing, reiterated a readiness to talk. Soon after, police shot and killed three people as they dispersed thousands who had gone to meet him.