Chibalo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is orphaned as few or no other articles link to it. Please help introduce links in articles on related topics. (July 2006) |
Chibalo is the concept of forced labour in the Ultramar Português or, the Portuguese overseas provinces in Africa, most notably in Angola and Mozambique (it must be noted that, unlike the other European empires of the 20th century, the Portuguese possessions were not considered colonies, but full-fledged provinces of the Portuguese state). In 1869 the Portuguese officially abolished slavery, but in reality it continued nonetheless. Chibalo was used to build the infrastructure of the African provinces, as only Portuguese settlers and assimilados received education and were exempt from this forced labour.
Under the New State regime of Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, chibalo was used in Mozambique to grow cotton. Foreign investment in the Portuguese overseas was outlawed so that Portugal would benefit directly. All males of proper age had to work in cotton fields, which became useless for food production, leading to hunger and malnourishment. Chibalo finally ended with the 1974 Carnation Revolution which overthrew Salazar's government.