DW Discovers Corporations Prioritize Profit Over People, Again
TotalEnergies, the French energy behemoth, is facing accusations of complicity in Mozambican war crimes, according to an NGO report highlighted by Deutsche Welle. The report details how the company's $20 billion natural gas project proceeded amidst escalating conflict and human rights abuses in Cabo Delgado. This isn't just about 'corporate negligence'; it's the latest chapter in a long history
where extractivism fuels conflict, displacing populations for profit. One might wonder if the 'humanitarian concern' only kicks in when the gas flow is disrupted, not when villages burn. Remember Chevron's history in the Niger Delta, or Shell's cozy relationship with the Nigerian military during the Ogoni crisis? Western corporations have a playbook: secure resources, ignore the human cost, and
let local proxies (or sometimes, their own hired guns) do the dirty work. TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné, incidentally, announced over $20 billion in profits for 2023. These 'complicities' often seem more like calculated risks in the pursuit of ever-greater returns. How many civilian lives is a natural gas pipeline worth?