MOZAMBIQUE: VIOLENT EXTREMISM AND TERRORISM IN CABO DELGADO PROVINCE

Abstract

The article analyzed terrorism in Cabo Delgado Province, in northern Mozambique. It aimed to understand the conflict, examine the processes of radicalization of young people and verify the causes using typologies and categories of analysis. It used qualitative methodology, combined with a literature review and documentary research. It mobilized conflict theories: Huntington's clash of civilizations, Ted Gurr's relative deprivation and Mary Kaldor's new wars. Why has Mozambique become the newest epicenter of violent religious extremism and terrorism in sub-Saharan Africa? Three types of perspectives — domestic, international and the resource curse — explain the causes of the conflict. Alongside religious issues, the dispute over natural and mineral resources are the reasons for the conflict, which has changed the country's domestic and foreign policy, bringing the government closer to authoritarian and dictatorial regimes in Africa and Europe. Faced with the ineffectiveness of the national defence and security forces, the state internationalized the conflict by authorizing the entry of private military corporations and foreign armies, militarizing and creating a salad of interventions in the country.