The Great Life of Amílcar Cabral Was One of Struggle, Leadership, and Liberation

“The fight of a people, the resistance of a people, has various forms. As I already told you, our resistance began quite some time ago. Since the day that the Portuguese had the idea of dominating us, exploiting us, our resistance began in Guinea. Our resistance in Cape Verde began since the day that the social situation clearly demonstrated that—dependent on the Portuguese colonialists—our people in Cape Verde were exploited, humiliated, exported like animals, dying of hunger.” 

-Amilcar Cabral

In 1924, one of Africa’s foremost anti-colonial leaders was born. He was named Amilcar Lopes de Costa Cabral. Popularly referred to as Abel Djassi, Amilcar fought tooth and nail for the freedom of Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde, leading a nationalist movement that eventually brought independence to these nations. 

Amilcar Cabral, amongst all that knew him, was an intellectual with profound foresight and empathy for his people. He firmly believed that power belonged to the people and fought for it to be so. Amilcar was a man who despised class struggles, and human hierarchies and advocated for the equality of all. In one of his famous addresses, he is remembered for calling the African people mountains upon which the foundation of the struggle for independence ultimately rested, “There are no mountains at all. Our people call the hills in Boe region, in the south-east, mountains, because in Guinea we don’t really know what mountains are… As for the mountains, we decided that our people had to take their place, since it would be impossible to develop our struggle otherwise. So our people are our mountains.”

Sadly, in January 1973, Amilcar was assassinated by the Portuguese. The latter’s aim was to see an end to the movement for independence which Amilcar had set in motion. Fortunately, what Amilcar had started was bigger than himself. The movement went on and so did the fight. Other activists stepped in the shoes he had left behind and successfully declared independence for Guinea-Bissau in the same year. This was later confirmed by the United Nations and the Portuguese had to leave the borders they had, for so long, exploited.

Early Life

Amilcar Cabral was born in Bafata, Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau) on the 12th of September 1924. He was born to Cape Verdean parents, Juvenal Lopes da Costa Cabral and Iva Pinhel Evora. While his father originated from a wealthy and influential family, Amilcar’s mother came from a poor one. In 1929, Amilca’s mother’s background started to play a prominent role in his life when she separated from his father. To support herself and her children, she owned a shop and worked as a hotel worker. So it was that Amilcar grew up in poverty, a fact—out of many— that, according to him, spurred him to fight passionately against the Portuguese who took advantage of his people. 

His poor status, however, did not stop him from getting an education. The intellectual he eventually grew up to become came on the wings of being homeschooled until he was twelve years of age and acquiring a secondary school education at Liceu Secondary School Gil Eanes. In 1945, and at the age of twenty-one, he attended the Instituto Superior de Agronomia in Lisbon, Portugal where he studied to become an agricultural engineer. It was during his time at Lisbon that Amilcar founded student movements that opposed the unwelcome governance of Portugal in Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and in Africa at large, namely the Anti-Colonial Movement (Movimento Anti-Colonialista — MAC), and the Committee for the Liberation of Territories Under Portuguese Domination (Comité de Liberação dos Territórios Africanos Sob o Domíno Português — CLTASDP).

After his studies in Portugal, Amilcar tried to get a civil service job without success. This led him to return to Africa in the 1950s, marking the beginning of his overt efforts against colonialism. In 1956, he founded the Partido Africano da la Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde), PAIGC. He also co-founded Movimento Popular Libertação de Angola (MPLA).

Political Career

Starting a movement requires people, their dreams, hopes, aspirations, needs and desires. These must align with the central vision of the movement they are to be a part of and more importantly, its creator must exert just the right amount of influence to sway the will of the people to his side.

For Amílcar Cabral, this influence began during his work as an agronomist in Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau). While conducting an agricultural census, he traveled more than 60,000 kilometres across the country, gathering data from over 2,400 Guinea-Bissauans daily. As a result, he gradually became intimate and gained popularity with the people and land of Guinea-Bissau. These travels would later give him crucial territorial advantage in the guerrilla attacks fought against colonial rule. 

As a result of his influence, Amilcar was able to convince several people to join his cause, including civil servants, athletes, villagers, urban workers and peasants. Reportedly, when the Portuguese caught wind of this, Amilcar was exiled from Guinea Bissau, marking his return to Portugal in 1955. In response, he filed several petitions to the government and was eventually permitted to visit family. It was on one such permitted visit that he co-founded the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde which later became PAIGC and served as its Secretary-General. 

The Fight for Independence

When PAIGC initially started, it was intended to be a peaceful movement against colonial occupation.  This changed in 1959 when Portuguese soldiers opened fire on protesting workers in what would later become known as the Pidjiguiti massacre. 50 workers were killed in total but the event had created a new turn of events in Guinea-Bissau as many turned to the PAIGC for help. In response, the political movements took up arms against the Portuguese, officially declaring an armed struggle in March 1962. Their goal was simple — to attain independence for Portuguese Guinea and Cape Verde. 

Between 1963 and 1973, Amilcar led a resolute fight against the colonial government in Guinea-Bissau, deploying strategic means such as guerrilla attacks that crippled the control of Portugal over the region. Over time, territories were captured from the Portuguese and Amilcar became the de facto leader of a large portion of Guine-Bissau. 

During this period, Amilcar demonstrated incredible intellectual and physical strength as well as wisdom, earning PAIGC the full support and participation of the masses. With the permission of Kwame Nkrumah, training camps were set up in Ghana through which PAIGC lieutenants were trained rigorously in various techniques for a successful war. Amilcar did not leave anything to chance, he even trained these lieutenants in mock conversations to improve their communication skills as a means of aiding PAIG’s efforts to mobilise the support of traditional leaders. 

The fight particularly thrived on a strategic and rather creative destruction of existing colonial systems. In place of these systems, PAIGC created new structures that prioritised the people. As a war effort, local farmers were taught better farming techniques to increase productivity to feed themselves, communities and Amilcar’s own soldiers. Notably, PAIGC soldiers were known for tilling and ploughing the fields alongside locals when not engaged in warring activities. Trade and barter systems were also set up to move around the country, offering staple goods at lower prices than were obtainable from colonial stores. Health-wise, roving hospitals were also set up to provide medical care to wounded PAIGC soldiers as well as healthcare to citizens. 

Death

On the 20th of January 1973, on his way home with his second wife, Ana Maria, Amílcar Cabral was assassinated in Conakry, Guinea. The killing was carried out by Inocêncio Kani, a former PAIGC comrade turned rival, and was allegedly backed by Portugal’s secret police, PIDE. At the time, the Portuguese government had caught wind of PAIGC’s plans to declare Guinea-Bissau’s independence that same year. Fearing that such a move could trigger a chain reaction across its other colonial territories, Portuguese authorities were determined to neutralise Amilcar who was seen as the architect of the unfolding revolution.

Some theories suggest that PIDE’s original intent was not to kill Cabral but to influence internal dissent within PAIGC and ultimately capture him alive, placing him under Portuguese custody. However, the plan is believed to have gone awry. Another, more controversial theory implicates Guinean President Ahmed Sékou Touré, hinting at political jealousy and personal rivalry as motivations for orchestrating the conspiracy. Neither theory has been definitively proven, and both remain matters of historical debate.

In the immediate aftermath of the assassination, PAIGC launched a swift internal purge. Around one hundred officers and guerrilla fighters were accused of involvement in the plot and were summarily executed. Leadership of the movement in Guinea-Bissau was taken up by Amilcar’s half-brother, Luís Cabral, who would later become the country’s first president.

Unknown to Portugal, Amilcar Cabral had created a movement that had grown far greater than himself. His exceptional acumen for leadership had created a system that thrived with or without his presence. Amilcar had poured his spirit, body, soul and mind into PAIGC and its leaders, and his spirit echoed in them, even after his death.

Hence, PAIGC continued to operate effectively without Amilcar Cabral. Eight months later, specifically on the 24th of September 1973, PAIGC proceeded with their plan to declare the independence of Guinea-Bissau. In November of the same year, Guinea-Bissau’s independence was officially recognised in a 93 to 7 United Nations (UN) General Assembly vote. Two years later, in 1975, Cape Verde also gained its independence. Meanwhile, back in Portugal, the Carnation Revolution on 25 April 1974 marked the fall of the Estado Novo regime and the end of colonial rule. But by then, Cabral was no longer alive to witness the liberation he had long fought for.

Legacy

Amilcar Cabral remains one of the most revered and intellectually formidable figures in the history of African liberation movements. Hailed by Fidel Castro as “one of the most lucid and brilliant leaders in Africa,” Cabral’s influence transcended far beyond the boundaries of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde. He was not only a revolutionary leader but also a visionary thinker. Most of his addresses, speeches and writings evince an intellectually profound individual with an incredible mind. In one of his books, ‘Revolution in Guinea,’ he skillfully identifies the colonial system for what it was: oppressive, 

“Neocolonialism is at work on two fronts – in Europe as well as in the underdeveloped countries. Its current framework in the underdeveloped countries is the policy of aid, and one of the essential aims of this policy is to create a false bourgeoisie to put brakes on the revolution and to enlarge the possibilities of the petty bourgeoisie as a neutraliser of the revolution.”  

Amilcar’s legacy is both ideological and institutional. His writings on culture, liberation, and national identity remain foundational texts in postcolonial and revolutionary thought. His insistence on the role of culture in resistance—on the importance of reclaiming the dignity and agency of oppressed peoples—continues to resonate with liberation movements worldwide. As one commentator aptly noted, his influence ‘reverberated far beyond the African continent.’ Indeed, his name and memory live on in numerous tributes across continents. Cape Verde's principal international airport in Sal bears his name, “Amílcar Cabral International Airport” welcoming visitors into a nation shaped by the revolution he helped lead. In West Africa, the regional football tournament, the Amílcar Cabral Cup, stands as a celebration of unity and resistance among nations once under colonial rule.

In Guinea-Bissau, Amílcar Cabral University, the country’s only privately-owned university, was founded to honour his commitment to education, empowerment, and national development. Beyond Africa, tributes to Cabral have emerged across the globe. A public library in Bologna, Italy; a square in Moscow’s Veshnyaki District; and Amílcar Cabral Court in West London all serve as quiet but enduring reminders of his international stature.

Artists and intellectuals have also kept Amílcar's memory alive. The Angolan musician and activist David Zé immortalized him in the powerful anthem Quem Matou Cabral, performed during the independence celebrations of Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Guinea-Bissau. In 1973, Portuguese composer Jorge Peixinho wrote an elegy in his memory. East Germany honored him with a postage stamp in 1978.

Amílcar’s life has also inspired extensive scholarship. Patrick Chabal’s Amílcar Cabral: Revolutionary Leadership and People's War and António Tomás’s O Fazedor de Utopias stand among the most notable works chronicling his life, ideology, and enduring impact. The Italian photographer Bruna Polimeni captured powerful images of Cabral and the PAIGC’s struggle, many of which have been exhibited in Cape Verde, Portugal, and Italy.

Even decades after his assassination, Amilcar's stature continues to grow. In a 2020 BBC World History Magazine poll, he was voted the second greatest leader in world history, a testament to the global resonance of his ideals.

Amílcar Cabral may not have lived to witness the full liberation of his homelands, but the world has not forgotten his voice, his vision, or the revolutionary fire he lit across Africa and beyond.