Raul Domingos was appointed state adviser to Mozambique’s President Filipe Nusi in April and was for many years ranked number two in the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), the main opposition party, before being expelled from the organization. after general elections. 1999
In an interview with Lusa, the politician noted that the province of Cabo Delgado has “serious socio-economic problems” that make young people in the region vulnerable to the temptation of extremist groups that have been involved in armed violence for more than three years. …
“The fact that we have young people who are easy to recruit into a rebel group is evidence of serious socio-economic problems,” said Raul Domingos.
Once these problems are resolved, he continued, there will be “half the battle” for a final settlement of the armed violence in Cabo Delgado.
The state adviser argued that a solution based on foreign military intervention could exacerbate the conflict, pointing to the failure of foreign military assistance in the 16-year civil war as an example of the impossibility of external military support.
“Military forces from Zimbabwe or South Africa in an unknown location may have the same end as the Russians in Cabo Delgado, and the same end as the Tanzanians who participated in the 16-year war,” he stressed.
Mozambique, he continued, must learn from past experiences to cope with situations such as what is happening in the north of the country.
Raúl Domingos’s reference to the Russians stems from allegations that members of a Russian security company have been involved in anti-armed groups operating in Cabo Delgado since 2017, as they left the theater of war without being able to halt progress. rebel forces.
To draw attention to the risk of the presence of foreign troops in the war in Cape Delgado, the state adviser also recalled the failure of the Tanzanian and Zimbabwean troops who aided the government forces of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) in the war against the Mozambique Liberation Front. the guerrilla movement of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), which ended only 16 years later with the signing of the General Peace Agreement in 1992.
Raul Domingos said that Mozambique should examine the possibility that organizations linked to groups that control the production of natural gas and oil in the world are behind the war in Cabo Delgado in order to prevent the African country from influencing the energy market once production starts. natural gas in the Rovum basin.
He went on to say that the world’s traditional gas producers may not “welcome” Mozambique’s presence in the market.
In that sense, he defended, it was imperative that the Mozambican authorities identify the leaders of the armed groups operating in Cabo Delgado with a view to examining all solutions, including possible negotiations.
“The rebels are the face of terrorism or war, as we want to call it, in Cabo Delgado, but behind this lies all the logistical and strategic support that drives this war, this is not an accidental attack on Palma. [onde estão os projetos de gás] and the threat of Afunga, ”said Domingos.
The politician said that in the military field, the government should strengthen the training cooperation it conducts with several countries, including the United States and Portugal, in order to equip the Defense and Security Forces (SDF) to fight armed groups without the need for the presence of foreign troops in Mozambique.
On the other hand, the newly created Agency for the Integrated Development of the North (ADIN) should deliver results quickly, mainly in job creation for young people who have been lured into armed violence by armed groups, Raul Domingos said.
The idea that oil interests in other countries may be behind the armed violence in Cabo Delgado is not new to Mozambique.
Recently, former executive secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and former Mozambican finance minister Tomas Salomau have also supported this theory, pointing out fears by major natural gas producers about Mozambique’s joining the club.
According to the organization’s report, a SADC technical assessment mission that visited Cabo Delgado last month is proposing to send 2,916 military and military personnel to assist the country in countering armed groups that have carried out attacks in Cabo Delgado.
Armed groups have terrorized Cabo Delgado since 2017, with some attacks reported by the Islamic State jihadist group, following a wave of violence that has already resulted in more than 2,500 deaths according to the ACLED conflict registration draft, and 714,000 displaced according to the government of Mozambique. …
The last attack took place on the village of Palma on 24 March, resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries.
The Mozambican authorities regained control of the village, but the attack forced the oil company Total to indefinitely leave the section of the gas project, which is scheduled to begin production in 2024 and on which many of Mozambique’s expectations of economic growth in the next decade are based.