Mozambican blogger Manuel Araújo happens to be in New York, where he arrived yesterday, and provides his fresh testimony on the elections:

A noite Nova Yorkina foi calma apesar de calmo ser um conceito relativo quando se ttrata de Nova York, a cidade que nao dorme! A um dia das historicas eleicoes americanas toda a conversa estava virada ao embate Obama – McCain. Ao contrario do que notei em Santo Domingo, Republica Dominicana (onde quase todos os inquiridos apoiavam Obama) a semana passada, aqui em territorio americano as opinios estao divididas. Na rua, e nos cafes as camisetes dos dois contendores disputam a atencao dos traunseantes. Sentado num cantinho, tentando recuperar da viagem, aproxima-se um jovem forte, de cabelo grisalho em tom ameacador: have you voted already? ou seja ja votaste. referindo-se ao voto ‘adiantado’ que foi a estrategia adoptada por muitos Obamistas, para evitarem as bichas do dia D.

The night in New York was calm despite the fact that calmness is a relative concept when it comes to New York, a city that never sleeps! A day to go for the historic American elections, the Obama-McCain dispute were the subject of all conversations. Differently from what I noticed in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic (where almost everyone supported Obama), in this last week opinions are divided here in the U.S. On the streets, in cafes and on t-shirts, the two candidates dispute the passers-by's attention. I was sitting on a corner trying to recover from the trip, when a strong, gray-haired guy approached me and asked in a threatening tone: ‘Have you voted already?’ referring to the ‘advanced voting’, the strategy adopted by many Obama supporters to avoid the queues on the Big Day.

Entre dizer-lhe a verdade e entrar na jogada dele, preferi a segunda opcao, pois desconfiava que se lhe dissesse que nao era americano ele partiria para outra e eu ficaria a chuchar o dedo e como devem imaginar esta cronica nao teria lugar! dai que , opensando em voces, decido entrar na jogada. Esbocei um sorriso e respondi-lhe em seco. Not yet. tomorrow is the voting day! ou seja amanha e o dia da votacao!  meu amigo nao gostou da resposta. ofereceu-me uma cerveja, ao que aceitei e pediu-me para que nao ficasse a espera que o milagre acontecesse. Que era imperioso nao deixar nada ao acaso pois ‘eles’ tudo fariam para que o ‘nosso’ nao chegasse a Casa Branca!

Between telling him the truth and playing along, I preferred the second option, because I suspected that if I said I was not American, he would leave me for another American and I would be twiddling my thumbs and as you should imagine this chronicle would not happen! Thinking about you, I decided to join the game. I tried a dry smile and answered. ‘Not yet. Tomorrow is the voting day!’. My friend did not like the answer. He offered me a beer, which I accepted, and asked me not to wait for a miracle to happen. It was imperative to leave nothing to chance because ‘they’ would do everything so that ‘ours’ would not reach the White House!

Pormenorizadamente recontou-me a historia dos negros americanos desde a escravidao, ate a guerra civil americana, passando pelo advento da Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, para no fim chegar a uma conclusao basica. A historia americana era uma historia de exclusao e conspiracao contra a raca negra! razao pela qual deveriamo-nos unir. Alias era um dever de cada um de nos fazer a sua parte, para que finalmente a justica fosse feita, pois na sua optica, nos tambem eramos filhos de Deus!

He told me in detail the story of black Americans since slavery to the American Civil War, through the advent of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, in order to reach a basic conclusion. The American history was a history of exclusion and conspiracy against the black race! That's why we should get united. Actually, it was everyone's duty to do their bit so that justice was done at last, because in his view, we were also children of God!

Fiquei cabisbaixo e ingeri mais um gole da minha cerveja. Ofereci-lhe uma e ele aceitou, afinal de contas eramos todos irmaos, tentando corrigir os erros da historia! Achei esta conversa interessante pois o meu novo amigo, nem sequer perguntou-me a quem apoiava. ele assumiu, que sendo negro e estando onde estava, so poderia apoiar um candidado- Barack Obama!

I became dispirited and had another sip of my beer. I offered him another one which he accepted, after all, we were all brothers, trying to correct the mistakes of history! I found this conversation interesting because my new friend did not even ask me who I supported. He assumed that, being black and being where I was, I could only support one candidate – Barack Obama!

Estaria o meu amigo certo? Sera isto que move a todos os negros? e os nao negros, como e que reagem a esta mensagem? porque e que seguem Obama? Nao havera algo em Obama que ligue a todos independentemente da raca? Sao perguntas a que tentarei responder ao longo dos dias em que estarei deste lado do Atlantico, porque sei que tambem sao perguntas que lhe apoquentam! se tiver ideias, opinioes e quica respostas sobre elas nao hesite! ca estarei para compartilharmos!

Would my friend be right? Would this be what moves all black people? And how would the non-black ones react to this message? And why would they support Obama? Isn't there something in Obama that connects to all regardless of race? These are questions I will try to answer over the days I am this side of the Atlantic, because I know these are also hot questions! If you have ideas, opinions and perhaps answers about them do not hesitate [in sending] and I will be here to share them with you!

Mas hoje nao e dia para cronicas. E dia de accao. O dia nasceu lindo, e logo de manha dei uma volta ao quarteirao. para minha surpresa, havia longas bichas, duas horas antes da abertura das urnas! Parecia que estava em Maputo ou Cheringoma. Para mais detalhes daqui a algumas horas pois cada minuto aqui no computador significa menos minutos na interessante peca que sao as eleicoes americanas! Um abbraco patriotico das terras do tio SAM.

But today is not a day for chronicles. It is a day for action. The day was beautiful, and early in the morning I went for a walk around the block. To my surprise, there were long queues, two hours before the opening of polling stations! It was like I was in Maputo or Cheringoma. I will provide more details in a few hours because every minute here on the computer means a minute less watching the interesting play that the American elections are! A patriotic hug from Uncle Sam's land.