ABSTRACT

This chapter shows that developments in Southern Africa in the spring of 1984 are an expression of a more fundamental crisis in Soviet Africa policy. Nkomati and the Lusaka Agreement have not dealt the final blow to Soviet activities in Southern Africa. However, the Nkomati Accord in particular was paralleled by an "opening to the West," as the media called it, not only in the economic but also in the political, ideological, and to some extent, even the military field. Developments in Mozambique are already an interesting case in point. Although there is no doubt that Nkomati was seen by the Soviets as a heavy blow to their policy, Moscow did not retaliate by cutting aid or calling back advisors from Mozambique. On December 26, 1983, with Nkomati already ante portas, the Soviet Ambassador in Maputo, Sepelev, made quite clear in a public statement that it was essential to understand that Mozambique was an independent country and "nobody's puppet.".