Pidjiguiti: Portuguese Colonial Massacre and the Fight for Independence in Colonial Africa
It was not the first time the workers from Guinea-Bissau organized themselves to protest the treatment they received from Portuguese colonial authorities and companies. On August 3rd of 1959, the workers from the port of Pidjiguiti took over to the streets to demand higher wages.
With their numbers, they soon packed the port and stopped it from operating. The military, the police and security personnel from the Casa Gouveia, a company part of the group Companhia União Fabril, were ready to stop this invasion. The security forces tried to invade the port but the workers were able to close the gates and barricade themselves inside the installations.
The offensive went on and when the authorities finally broke across the gates they stormed the port of Pidjiguiti shooting at everyone. After the massacre that left 50 people dead and hundreds injured, many were still arrested and tortured by the PIDE (International and State Defense Police).
The history of conflict among colonizers and colonized is an old one. Pidjiguiti is one example of colonial oppression of African workers. Although forced labor was abolished after World War II and salaries came into the economic relation between capitalists and their labor, wages were humiliating low.
