Freedom Fighter
Joaquim Chissano represented Frelimo, the Mozambique independence movement, in Paris during the 1960s. He was known there as a soft-spoken diplomat who worked to reconcile radical and moderate Marxist factions of the Frelimo party.
He went on to fight in the Mozambican War of Independence against the Portuguese colonial government and the authoritarian regime of the Estado Novo, by then engaged in a multi-front colonial war. By the time that Mozambique finally achieved its independence in 1975 as a result of the liberation struggle and the Carnation Revolution in Portugal, Chissano had risen to the rank of major-general.
The new president of Mozambique, Samora Machel, appointed him foreign minister. Chissano served in this position for the next eleven years. In 1974, he participated in the Lusaka talks, which paved the way for the independence of Mozambique, and subsequently was elected Prime Minister of the Transitional Government.
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