Mozambique: the situation in Cabo Delgado at the heart of the debates at the CPLP summit in Luanda
Mozambican army soldiers bring down a structure set on fire by attackers in Naunde, in northern Mozambique, on June 13, 2018. The Cabo Delgado region is the scene of attacks by jihadist groups which have multiplied in recent years. .
AFP - JOAQUIM NHAMIRRE
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
This Saturday July 18, the summit of the CPLP, the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries, ended in Luanda.
Angola took over the rotating presidency of this organization made up of nine member states, including Mozambique.
The conflict in Cabo Delgado, in the far north of the country, where Total suspended its gas project after a jihadist attack in early April, was one of the topics of the summit, but no concrete support was decided.
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With our special correspondent in Luanda,
Carina Branco
It was in the absence of the Mozambican President, Filipe Nyusi, replaced by his Prime Minister, that the fight against terrorism in Cabo Delgado, in the far north of Mozambique, was mentioned by the heads of state and government. of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries.
In the corridors, we wondered if this absence was due to the reluctance of President Nyusi to allow the arrival of foreign troops from SADC and the European Union to fight the rebels.
Even though 1,000 Rwandan soldiers left Kigali
to join Mozambican troops on Friday, we know that the Mozambican president would have preferred simple logistical support and training.
In the final declaration of this Portuguese-speaking summit, there is therefore no decision, but only a declaration of solidarity and a condemnation of the attacks.
“
The member states of the organization take this opportunity to show their solidarity with the people of Mozambique for the suffering caused by the terrorist actions which have cruelly affected the province of Cabo Delgado.
Our meeting today strengthens the awareness of the need for multilateral cooperation for a rapid response to the challenges of the present and the future and to emerge from the serious crisis in which we find
ourselves, ”said the Angolan President simply. , João Lourenço, who took over the rotating presidency of the Portuguese-speaking bloc.
Cabo Delgado has
suffered from armed attacks since 2017, many of which are claimed by the Islamic State group.
They are estimated to have left 2,800 dead and more than 700,000 displaced.
A traffic agreement between the 9 member states
The summit also resulted in a first mobility agreement between the nine countries of the organization.
This agreement is historic, because it took 25 years, the age of the CPLP, to agree on the mobility of 300 million people from nine countries on four continents.
The resolution approved on Saturday, however, remains vague.
It establishes a "
framework for cooperation
" but in a "
flexible and variable
" manner.
That is to say, each country can choose the modes of movement and the people who are affected.
Its implementation therefore risks being a headache for the parliaments of the countries which have yet to ratify the agreement.
During this summit, the Angolan president also launched the challenge of creating an investment bank within this previously rather linguistic and cultural block.
In the summit's final resolution, the CPLP also encouraged Equatorial Guinea, also a member of the group, to keep its promise to abolish the death penalty and respect human rights.
Declaração da XIII Conferência de Chefes de Estado e de Governo da CPLP
Aceda a toda a documentação aqui 👉 https://t.co/Dc50HFMtUn#CPLP #XIIICCEG #Angola #Brasil #CaboVerde # GuinéBissau # GuinéEquatorial SãoíncipeTom #PrugalTom # TimorLeste pic.twitter.com/yIak8PAdv3
- CPLP (@_CPLP) July 17, 2021
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Mozambique
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