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Nelson Mandela - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A democratic socialist, Mandela was "openly opposed to capitalism, private land-ownership and the power of big money".[302] Influenced by Marxism, during the revolution Mandela advocated scientific socialism,[303] although he denied being a communist during the Treason Trial.[304] Biographer David James Smith thought this untrue, stating that Mandela "embraced communism and communists" in the late 1950s and early 1960s, though was a "fellow traveller" rather than a party member.[305] In the 1955 Freedom Charter, which Mandela had helped create, it called for the nationalisation of banks, gold mines, and land, believing it necessary to ensure equal distribution of wealth.[306] Despite these beliefs, Mandela nationalised nothing during his presidency, fearing that this would scare away foreign investors. This decision was in part influenced by the fall of the socialist states in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc during the early 1990s.[307]