Amílcar Cabral, the PAIGC and the Media: The Struggle in Words, Sounds and Images

Abstract

Amílcar Cabral stood out both as an African political theorist and as the leader of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC). Although he would write that ‘the struggle is not just a conversation, nor words, either written or spoken’, one of PAIGC’s strongest weapons in the struggle for independence was the creation of a system of mass media. Chapter 16 reveals the enormous effort Cabral expended on the media, by way of intensive diplomatic activity, constant exposure to the international media and to journalists, and the organisation of a party-controlled press and radio that conducted ‘psychological warfare’ to counter the enemy’s propaganda.