"Fernandes, have you really decided not to think it over carefully and stay in East Africa?"
On the docks of Maputo Port, Eusebio spoke to his good friend Fernandes, who had come to see him off.
Fernandes took a drag on his cigarette, inhaled deeply, then frowned and said, "Even if I go back home now, what difference would it make? Portugal's situation is probably not much better than Mozambique's. I heard the government piled up quite a lot of debt after the war, and the economy will likely be dragged down for years to come. So many people are returning now that finding work will probably be difficult. I might as well stay in Mozambique. At least after all these years, I've developed a little attachment to this land."
Rather than attachment, it would be more accurate to say he had grown used to Mozambique. Like a prisoner locked in jail, after enough time passed, he became disconnected from society. Fernandes was more or less in that situation now.
As a former Portuguese colony, Mozambique had not fallen to the point of becoming a convict dumping ground like Britain's Australia, but it was not far off.
Back when Portugal's national fortunes were still flourishing, its colonies in South America and the Far East certainly took priority over Africa. Moreover, during the several centuries Portugal colonized Mozambique, it had kept circling around the coastal regions. True inland development had only begun in recent years.
On one hand, Portugal had lost all its other valuable colonies. On the other, East Africa's direct threat had left Portugal feeling insecure, so it began investing in Mozambique.
However, Portugal's attention to Africa had come too late. In such a short span of time, Portugal simply had no chance to change its people's perception of