Background
Osvaldo was born in 1938, at Bissau.
Osvaldo was born in 1938, at Bissau.
He was educated locally, then began training in a chemist’s laboratory, rising to be a pharmacist’s assistant.
His political activity began in 1959, when he became a full-time party worker. After a course at PAIGC headquarters at Conakry he so impressed the leadership that he was sent back at once to train villagers in the bush in resist¬ance techniques. In 1961 he was one of seven sent to China for an instructor’s course in guerrilla warfare at Nanking Military Academy.
After a year’s training he was assigned to the north-east sector of Portuguese Guinea where he became commander of the forces there. The guerrilla movement was expanded and trained under his leadership for a new offensive launched in July 1963 across the Farim river. Its success in ambushing three Portuguese army trucks and seizing automatic arms and ammunition won the support of doubting villagers.
A shortage of trained personnel hampered the scale of PAIGC offensives on all fronts until Vieira was given a new mandate as inspector-general. With courses in the Soviet Union and training facilities in Algeria he steadily built up a series of strike forces which command increasing respect of the 30,000-strong Portuguese army. His tactics have driven them to evacuate isolated camps and concentrate in fortified enclaves within reach of the towns.
China-trained guerrilla commander, noted for his skill and bravery in laying ambushes. A tall, lean chemist’s assistant who has become a student of military strategy with a great reputation for courage in leading his men in the bush. A natural improviser, he conquered initial shortages of equipment by carefully-timed raids on Portuguese vehicles, arms and ammunition. As one of the original seven executive committee members appointed on February 17, 1964, he has the seniority of a pioneer of the liberation movement.