user preferences

New Events

Southern Africa

no event posted in the last week

[Mozambique] A more complex reality in Cabo Delgado

category southern africa | indigenous struggles | other libertarian press author Wednesday March 31, 2021 21:13author by Joseph Hanlon - New Frame Report this post to the editors

In the Mozambican province wracked by a violent insurgency, the convenient labelling of those rising up against the predatory elite paints a picture that is far from reality.
24march_mozambique_wires1440x960.jpg

When the uprising started in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique’s northernmost province, in 2017, the insurgents used the only weapons they had: their machetes. And they cut off the heads of local elites whom they accused of being allied to the leaders of the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) in stealing the mineral wealth.

Forty years ago, there was another civil war in Mozambique, in which the Mozambique National Resistance (Renamo) committed atrocities such as burning people alive in buses. But Renamo had been trained by the apartheid military, many of whom were believing members of the Dutch Reformed Church, which was firmly supporting apartheid. Yet no matter that the trainers thought they were doing the work of God to defend white rule and how cruel the Renamo atrocities were, those who perpetrated them were never called “Christian terrorists”. Yet we insist on calling the insurgents in Cabo Delgado “Islamist terrorists”.

Labels are important and shape how we look at civil wars. We try to label the opposition with the current global enemy. Renamo was said to be fighting “global communism” so as not to be accused of defending white rule. Now the Mozambican government is said to be fighting “global Islamists” and not protecting an elite that refuses to share the ruby, mineral and gas wealth with local people. Thus the labels shape how we see the war.

Save the Children Mozambique issued a press release on 16 March about children “murdered by armed men” – carefully not labelling the insurgents. But most media reports of the press release called them Islamist and stressed links to the Islamic State. All civil wars are cruel and brutal. Amnesty International accused the insurgents of war crimes and “heinous acts of violence” on 2 March. The organisation and others use the local name for the insurgents, al-Shabaab, which simply means the youth (and has no links to other al-Shabaabs).

And Amnesty International also stressed that “al-Shabaab is primarily a homegrown armed group fighting over local issues, an insurgency sparked by the long-term underinvestment in the Muslim-majority province by the central government. The group uses jihadist ideology as an organising tool. While Islamist ideologies have been growing in Cabo Delgado for decades, the movement did not gain traction until the arrival of resource extraction industries that provide little subsequent benefit for the local communities.” Most local researchers support that position.

Grievance and outside intervention

Fifteen years ago I was the co-author of an Open University (United Kingdom) course and its textbook, Civil War, Civil Peace. One key point was that all civil wars have two things: a grievance serious enough that people feel they must kill to save their own lives, and outside intervention. In Cabo Delgado, the grievance is marginalisation and growing poverty and inequality as Frelimo oligarchs and the mining and gas companies do not share the wealth.

Outside intervention to support al-Shabaab has included the Islamic State, which provided some publicity as well as support, including training in 2019 and 2020 but apparently not in the past six months. On the government side, outside support came first from a Russian private military company, the Wagner Group, and then its South African counterpart, the Dyck Advisory Group.

United States “green berets” arrived on 15 March to train Mozambican marines. Portugal promises to send trainers, and the European Union and South Africa are also looking to provide support. On 10 March, the US formally labelled al-Shabaab, which it calls Islamic State of Iraq and Syria – Mozambique (Isis-Mozambique), as a foreign terrorist organisation.

All of the sudden support is not to assist Mozambique but to fight the new global enemy – Islam and the Islamic State. At the press conference on 11 March, John T Godfrey said that “we have to confront Isis in Africa”. His title is acting special envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat Isis, which means his job depends on fighting it, and Mozambique is just another place to send troops as part of that war.

But the other speaker at the US press conference, Michael Gonzales, said that “addressing the socioeconomic drivers of the threat, countering Isis messaging, and providing greater economic opportunity and resilience of the community so that the attraction to violent extremism is lessened” was essential in Cabo Delgado. His title is deputy assistant secretary in the US Bureau of African Affairs, which shows he has a different perspective.

Pushing a narrative

The Frelimo leadership in Mozambique is pushing the foreign terrorism line very hard. And it does not want anyone suggesting that the insurgency is linked to the greed of the Frelimo elite, marginalisation of youths and Muslims, and growing poverty and inequality. In private, Frelimo is very clear: it wants support from individual countries and private military contractors that will provide military help and parrot the message of Islamic State terrorism.

In particular, Frelimo does not want the involvement of international organisations such as the Southern African Development Community, the EU or United Nations, which are big enough to issue reports pointing out the root causes of the insurgency. Mozambique wants humanitarian aid, but again it wants to be in charge. The UN has been waiting for more than four months for visas for 57 humanitarian experts for Cabo Delgado, UN resident coordinator in Mozambique Myrta Kaulard said on 5 March.

Of course religion plays a role in the war. Most, but not all, of the insurgents are Muslim and the original organisers are from Cabo Delgado, including local fundamentalist Muslim preachers. President Filipe Nyusi is from Cabo Delgado and is from the Makonde ethnic group and Catholic. Nyusi has had strong support from Pope Francis, who made an unprecedented visit to Mozambique during the 2019 presidential election campaign when Nyusi was standing against a Muslim candidate, Ossufo Momade of Renamo. And on 11 February the pope withdrew the outspoken Catholic bishop of Pemba, Luis Fernando Lisboa, whom Nyusi had publicly criticised because he was standing up for local people.

It is a nasty war on all sides. Amnesty International accused the Dyck Advisory Group of war crimes, including bombing civilians by apparently using Syria-style barrel bombs made from cooking gas canisters and dropped from helicopters on houses.

And Amnesty International cited government forces for war crimes. The most extreme was in Quisanga in March and April 2020, when the “permanent secretary’s house would come to be known to villagers as a place where government security forces took women to be raped, and men detained, beaten and, in some cases, summarily executed as well. Six witnesses described a mass grave behind the home, a ‘big hole’ under the trees, where people would be taken to be shot and dumped directly in the pit.”

Nyusi is commander in chief and is in much more direct control of his forces than the Islamic State is of al-Shabaab. And Nyusi is Catholic and the pope has intervened in the war. If we insist on citing “Islamic terrorism” because of the role of the Islamic State, should we be calling what happened in Quisanga “Christian terrorism”?

Hidden truths

In fact, neither label is correct. But again, labels are important. The 1980s civil war was in reality a Cold War proxy war, with the US backing apartheid South Africa to build up Renamo to fight the “communists” backed by the Soviet Union. Now Islam is the enemy and the US is back, fighting the Islamic State on Mozambican soil with the willing participation of Portugal and, probably, France and South Africa.

But the insurgency will not be stopped militarily. As Gonzales and many others stress, Islamist militants recruit young men with no jobs and who see no future; they stress that the government is stealing their future. Creating thousands of jobs for the poorly educated youth of Cabo Delgado would end the war, but that requires the gas companies and the Frelimo oligarchs who rule Cabo Delgado to use some of their profits to fund that job creation, and so far they have shown no interest. They would prefer the Islamic State to be blamed and that someone else fights the war.

The French company Total is developing a $20 billion gas liquefaction plant on the Afungi peninsula. Insurgents reached the gates of the project on 1 January and Total pulled out its staff. It told Mozambique it would only return when the Mozambique government could guarantee a 25km-radius secure zone around Afungi. That looks as if Total is happy to do gas production if the war can be kept out of sight. It has experience of this in Nigeria, where it has offshore wells and in the Niger Delta an insurgency has been going on for decades.

That is why labelling is so important. If this is treated as “Islamist terrorism” from the Islamic State outside of Mozambique, then Cabo Delgado will become like the Niger Delta and the war will continue indefinitely – with the gas companies in secure zones. But if jobs were created and marginalisation reduced, the war could be stopped. Sadly, it looks as if the gas companies, the Frelimo elite and the US building a new cold war would rather fight mythical global Islamist terrorists.

This article was first published by New Frame.

Related Link: https://www.newframe.com/the-lie-of-islamist-terrorists-in-cabo-delgado/
author by Noriel Pogi - LGTVBBQpublication date Sat Jul 24, 2021 07:21author address author phone Report this post to the editors

what a grand post! i love the way you are pointing out on this. Alluros makes made to order cabinetry.

author by Robert - Learn Morepublication date Mon Jan 03, 2022 16:13author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Creating thousands of jobs for the poorly educated youth of Cabo Delgado would end the war, but that requires the gas companies and the Frelimo oligarchs who rule Cabo Delgado to use some of their profits to fund that job creation.

author by Tracy Mier - Crawlspacepublication date Tue Jan 04, 2022 15:20author address author phone Report this post to the editors

The group uses jihadist ideology as an organising tool. While Islamist ideologies have been growing in Cabo Delgado for decades, the movement did not gain traction until the arrival of resource extraction industries that provide little subsequent benefit for the local communities

author by Nick Wood - Click Herepublication date Wed Jan 05, 2022 14:01author address author phone Report this post to the editors

One key point was that all civil wars have two things: a grievance serious enough that people feel they must kill to save their own lives, and outside intervention. In Cabo Delgado, the grievance is marginalisation and growing poverty and inequality as Frelimo oligarchs and the mining and gas companies do not share the wealth.

author by Kyle Scott - Click Herepublication date Fri Jan 07, 2022 14:27author address author phone Report this post to the editors

It wants support from individual countries and private military contractors that will provide military help and parrot with the message of Islamic State terrorism.

author by Carry - bathroomremodeltacoma.com/ publication date Mon Jan 10, 2022 15:08author address author phone Report this post to the editors

The movement did not gain traction until the arrival of resource extraction industries that provide little subsequent benefit for the local communities.” Most local researchers support that position.

author by Jasper - www.springfieldfoundationrepair.compublication date Tue Jan 11, 2022 20:47author address author phone Report this post to the editors

The most extreme was in Quisanga in March and April 2020, when the “permanent secretary’s house would come to be known to villagers as a place where government security forces took women to be raped, and men detained, beaten and, in some cases, summarily executed as well.

author by Jimmy - Crawlspace Charleston SC publication date Wed Jan 12, 2022 18:20author address author phone Report this post to the editors

The group uses jihadist ideology as an organising tool. While Islamist ideologies have been growing in Cabo Delgado for decades, the movement did not gain traction until the arrival of resource extraction industries that provide little subsequent benefit for the local communities.

author by Adam - Visit us publication date Fri Jan 14, 2022 15:05author address author phone Report this post to the editors

The most extreme was in Quisanga in March and April 2020, when the “permanent secretary’s house would come to be known to villagers as a place where government security forces took women to be raped

author by James - visit uspublication date Tue Jan 25, 2022 18:38author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Six witnesses described a mass grave behind the home, a ‘big hole’ under the trees, where people would be taken to be shot and dumped directly in the pit

author by Brandon - join uspublication date Fri Jan 28, 2022 19:21author address author phone Report this post to the editors

That looks as if Total is happy to do gas production if the war can be kept out of sight.

author by Avery - Mobile Foundation Repairpublication date Thu Feb 24, 2022 19:13author address author phone Report this post to the editors

A very nice way of explaining things related to this topic!

author by Jackson - Homepagepublication date Fri Feb 25, 2022 11:03author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Fighting the Islamic State on Mozambican soil with the willing participation of Portugal and, probably, France and South Africa.

author by Ken Harley - crawlspace vapor barrierpublication date Mon Feb 28, 2022 21:27author address author phone Report this post to the editors

This is a very good post which I really enjoy reading. It is not every day that I have the possibility to see something like this.

author by Andrew - Crawlspacepublication date Tue Mar 01, 2022 21:25author address author phone Report this post to the editors

If we insist on citing “Islamic terrorism” because of the role of the Islamic State, should we be calling what happened in Quisanga “Christian terrorism”?

author by Katepublication date Mon Jun 13, 2022 21:00author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Thanks for sharing a great site! Keep on posting,

Related Link: https://www.epoxyfloorsglendale.com/
author by sneaker resell torontopublication date Tue Jul 12, 2022 14:46author email wsteller351 at gmail dot comauthor address author phone Report this post to the editors

That looks as though Total is glad to do gas creation in the event that the conflict can be kept concealed.

Related Link: https://www.shopwithsafe.com/
author by sneaker resell toronto - sneaker resell torontopublication date Tue Jul 12, 2022 14:50author email wsteller351 at gmail dot comauthor address author phone Report this post to the editors

That looks as though Total is glad to do gas creation in the event that the conflict can be kept concealed.

author by Googlepublication date Tue Jul 12, 2022 20:23author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Do your research now

Related Link: https://www.google.com
author by Currie - Kitchen Cleaning Houstonpublication date Mon Sep 05, 2022 22:12author address author phone Report this post to the editors

It is only now that i understand the hidden truth in Mozambique. The Cold War is truly silent.

author by House Lifting Services Provider - House Lifting Services MSKBLpublication date Wed Dec 28, 2022 13:46author email houseliftingshifting1 at gmail dot comauthor address Village Halal pur, near play groundauthor phone 9729710390Report this post to the editors

House Lifting Services In Kerala include House Lifting/Raising, House Shifting/Relocation, Building lifting, Raising levels of any kind of building structure on the basis of your requirement. We provide Building Lifting by Jack in Kerala. We have delivered 1100+ Successful Projects with Assured On-Time delivery. Our experts are well-experienced in this field and us a reliable firm providing service with a guarantee of 100% satisfaction and definitely will meet all your requirements whether durability or budget. https://houseliftingshifting.in/house-lifting-services-in-kerala/

Related Link: https://houseliftingshifting.in/house-lifting-services-in-kerala/
author by Randy C. Cookpublication date Sat Mar 18, 2023 10:37author email rccook009 at gmail dot comauthor address author phone Report this post to the editors

Excellent Blog! If you want to read some article you can check out site.
http://yardgrade.com/

author by Leann Phillipspublication date Thu Mar 30, 2023 07:33author address author phone Report this post to the editors

: I just arrived at this article through Google Search . https://tophoodcleaners.com/

author by Rampal Chawan - MSKBL House Liftingpublication date Wed Apr 19, 2023 22:52author email houseliftingservices1 at gmail dot comauthor address Shop No. 3, Devi Lal Market, near Telephone Exchangeauthor phone 9813675530Report this post to the editors

Our company offers Best House Lifting Services in India, utilizing cutting-edge technology and advanced equipment for Building Lifting Services. Our team of experienced professionals specializes in house lifting with jacks, ensuring safe and efficient lifting of buildings of all sizes and types. Whether it's house lifting in India or building lifting services, we guarantee high-quality and hassle-free services. Trust us to provide the best house lifting services in India for your residential or commercial property. Contact us now for expert house lifting services in India that you can rely on.
https://houseliftingservicesindia.in/

Related Link: https://houseliftingservicesindia.in/
author by Matthew S. Levinepublication date Thu Jun 15, 2023 08:41author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Very insightful and interesting content. Thanks for sharing. https://fencingcity.com/

author by Kelly L. Taylorpublication date Tue Jun 27, 2023 15:26author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Thanks for your information, it was really very helpful.

Related Link: https://www.elizabethtowtruck.com/
Number of comments per page
  
 
This page can be viewed in
English Italiano Deutsch
© 2005-2024 Anarkismo.net. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Anarkismo.net. [ Disclaimer | Privacy ]