MARCELINO DOS SANTOS CELEBRATES HIS 85TH BIRTHDAY

“As long as there’s a revolution to make, there’s no time to die!”, declared veteran Mozambican nationalist Marcelino dos Santos, on Tuesday, as he celebrated his 85th birthday.Dos Santos was a founder member of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) in 1962, and remains a member of the Frelimo Central Committee to this day.

Speaking to reporters he insisted that, despite almost four decades of independence, the Mozambican revolution is not yet over. He urged young Mozambicans “not to sit back and fold their arms”.Asked about the secret of his longevity, Dos Santos replied “I look at things politically. The secret to reaching this age is to know what we want. But what we want must be something popular, otherwise nobody will be interested”.Key to living a long life, he insisted, “is the capacity to envision the future, and awareness of the objectives we wish to achieve”.Dos Santos spent 27 years in exile, fighting for the independence of Mozambique. He admitted that he had experienced difficult moments “particularly because I was so far from my family”.

Even in his ninth decade, he had every intention of remaining active. “I have said this before – but as long as there’s a revolution to be made, there’s no time to die!”, dos Santos insisted. “I said that in 1975 (the year of Mozambican independence), and I’m repeating it now, in 2014”.As for the forthcoming elections, dos Santos said he gives his unconditional support to the Frelimo presidential candidate, former defence minister Filipe Nyusi. “I am sure that Nyusi will win these elections, because I think this feeling is in the hearts of many people”, he declared.Nyusi paid a visit to dos Santos on Tuesday night, in order “to pay homage to someone who, since the days of his youth, has dedicated his life to the cause of freedom”.Dos Santos told Nyusi that it was “imperative” that he win the October election.