ABSTRACT
This chapter presents some concrete facts about an important experiment in political mobilisation for development in one particular country. It examines the foundations and exercise of political power ‘on the ground’ in the liberated areas of Guinea-Bissau. The beginnings of a dymamic political process of development are clearly discernible in Guinea-Bissau. The following extract from a message to the party cadres by Amilcar Cabrai in 1965 demonstrates how clearly the mechanism of political mobilisation is realised by the Partido Africano da Independencia da Guiné e Cabo Verde leaders. Remember always that the people do not fight for ideas, for things that only exist in the heads of individuals. The liberated areas of Guinea-Bissau have been administratively divided into the North and the South. These two main divisions are each headed by a twelve man ‘National Committee’. The legal framework of Portuguese colonial domination in Guinea and the Cape Verde islands has been thoroughly analysed by Amilcar Cabrai himself.
