45 YEARS LATER ?

Some in Portugal want to prove their position on the conflict by sending soldiers back to their former colony. On January 1, 2021, Portugal assumes the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, and some military and government officials are increasingly using this circumstance to push for the EU's military involvement in Mozambique, with an important Portuguese presence.

A few days ago, Defense Minister João Gomes Cravinho (who will be in Maputo in a few days and was the penultimate ambassador in Maputo)) said that Portugal could send troops to help Mozambique fight terrorism. Former President Ramalho Eanes also said: "The answer will be easy as long as there is strength and initiative and action to mobilize Europe and the United Nations, and it is very easy, with specialized forces and drones, to resolve the situation". About 10 days ago, Portuguese PM, António Costa, called the President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, saying that “Portugal is in solidarity and ready to support Mozambique's efforts to fight terrorism in Cabo Delgado, bilaterally and within the framework of the EU ”(Público - Lisbon - 1 Dec). Portugal's ambassador to Maputo, Maria Amélia Paiva, said last week that a Portuguese delegation is coming to Mozambique this week specifically to discuss Cabo Delgado.

"It is undeniable that the barbaric attacks have increased in recent weeks", writes Michael Hagedorn in Público (Lisbon). “However, the Mozambican government continues to refuse to address the multiple causes of this conflict, of which a considerable part is its responsibility. Thus, it avoids, in addition to a military offensive, that other important measures are taken to deal with the causes of the conflict, namely to give the local population perspectives of a dignified life ”.

(Portuguese colonial army on the front against the guerrilla of the Liberation Front of Mozambique, 1960s and 1970s)

Hagedorn concludes: “Portugal and the EU would do better to face the situation in all its complexity, than to exclusively and unconditionally support the Frelimo government and its narrow military vision for the solution of the conflict in Cabo Delgado”.  President Filipe Nyusi said recently that "terrorism is not combated unilaterally" and that Mozambique "is open to any kind of support that can be given in matters of terrorism". (JH)