Retired general Alberto Chipande accuses the United States of being behind the sabotage of oil and gas exploration projects in Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country, which has been plagued by terrorist attacks since the end of 2017.

Alberto Chipande breaks the silence about the war in Cabo Delgado with the discovery of natural resources and reveals that in 1988 he worked in Mocímboa da Praia.

This founding member of FRELIMO, the party that supports the government, questions the sudden withdrawal of US oil companies from exploration activities in the 80s.

"I worked with Anadarko and the French who are here, because of the oil and gas in Mbau. We drilled there, I went there to watch. Then Anadarko left, why? The French came to tell us to leave, and they calmed us down. Many thanks to France, they were the ones who calmed us down. I was with my colleague, who worked with me, the American defense minister, Colin Power, and then he died, he went on to invade Iraq. We set up a joint force in Mocímboa da Praia to protect that project. Colin Power left me and I asked him where he was going, and he left. France stayed. Then more Americans came back, not to Mocímboa da Praia but to Palma. What do you mean? You leave and go to Palma to do what?" asked Alberto Chipande, quoted by RFI.

However, the reserve general didn't stop there. "Why are you coming back? It's good that Mozambicans now know the truth and that the world also hears the truth. We don't hold grudges. Come, but let these projects go," he concluded.

Alberto Chipande, a retired general and one of the founding members of the party that supports the government in Mozambique, was speaking at the 58th edition of FACIM - Maputo International Fair - which closed its doors on Sunday in Ricatla, Marracuene district, southern Mozambique.