Welcome Comrade Machel

Pictured here is the revolutionary leader Samora Machel, who became Mozambique’s first president following the country’s independence from Portugal in 1975. As announced by the bold text, “Welcome Comrade Machel,” Medu issued this poster to mark the leader’s visit to Gaborone in 1982 for the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC).

The SADCC was a consortium of nine countries that organized in the late 1970s to renounce the apartheid regime and promote economic independence from South Africa. While still in office, Machel died tragically in a mysterious 1986 airplane crash; many believe the apartheid government was to blame.