TotalEnergies 'Shocked' by Violence Over Its Mozambique Gas Fields
TotalEnergies (formerly Total SA) is facing allegations of complicity in war crimes in Mozambique through its $20 billion liquid natural gas project. The company claims ignorance, stating the violence is a complex issue involving an 'insurgency.' This isn't the first time an energy giant has played dumb while security forces, often under their indirect influence or direct employ, 'pacify' areas of
resource extraction. Consider Shell's history in the Niger Delta, paying government forces who then committed atrocities against Ogoni activists. Or the countless historical instances of resource-rich nations descending into chaos, conveniently clearing the way for foreign exploitation. TotalEnergies’ latest quarterly results? Up 16% to $5.5 billion. One might almost wonder if stability isn't
always good for business. How many 'insurgencies' must erupt around critical resource sites before we connect the dots? The BBC covers the allegations ( French energy giant Total faces war crimes allegations over Mozambique massacre ), but rarely connects the corporate defense to a long, ugly history of Western companies benefiting from, if not directly instigating, local conflicts in
resource-rich nations. They call it 'insurgency'; locals call it losing their land, livelihoods, and lives for a natural gas project.