US embassy cable - 04HARARE2026

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 002026 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR B. NEULING 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE, D. TEITELBAUM 
PARIS FOR C. NEARY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2009 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PREL, ECON, TSPL, ZI, Parliamentary Affairs 
SUBJECT: MUGABE TONES DOWN RHETORIC IN STATE OF THE NATION 
ADDRESS 
 
REF: HARARE 1913 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Christopher W. Dell under Section 1.5 b/d 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY:  In his State of the Nation speech to 
Parliament December 9, Mugabe avoided direct attacks on the 
U.S., U.K., and other western critics of his government, 
lauded the supposed economic rebound, and said upcoming 
Parliamentary elections would be nonviolent and meet SADC 
principles.  The speech had little of note in its content but 
was significantly more moderate in tone than last year,s 
speech.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Foreign Policy: Why Can,t We All Just Get Along 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
2. (SBU) President Mugabe's 2004 State of the Nation address 
made before Parliament on December 9 was notable in its 
markedly different tone in comparison to last year's address 
and other presidential speeches of the past few years. 
(Embassy has faxed a full text of the speech to AF/S.) 
Foreign policy references in the speech were bland, 
especially compared to last year when Mugabe blasted the 
&unholy Anglo-Saxon alliance8 and its opposition to 
Zimbabwe,s land reform and support for the war in Iraq. 
This time around there were negative comments, but they were 
more general in nature and not specifically targeted at the 
U.S., the U.K, or any other Western governments.  Mugabe said 
he wanted to draw the world,s attention to the &hostile 
machinations of our detractors8 and to the need for Zimbabwe 
to condemn &illegal acts of aggression perpetrated by some 
powerful nations against smaller states.8 
 
3. (SBU) After noting the &defeat8 of the Zimbabwe human 
rights resolution at the UN, Mugabe said, &we seek no enmity 
from any quarter whatsoever.  We seek only friendship with 
everyone, and any nation, provided, of course, there is 
unconditional recognition of our sovereign right to determine 
our own future and destiny.8 
 
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The Stupid Economy 
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4. (SBU) The &economic rebound8 took a prominent position 
at the start of the speech.  Mugabe painted a rosy, if wildly 
inaccurate, picture of abundant rains, a five-fold increase 
in exports, reduced inflation and a slowing decline in GDP. 
All of these accomplishments he attributed to the regime,s 
felicitous policies. 
 
5. (SBU) He also proposed a new national &biotechnology 
policy8 and the establishment of a National Biotechnology 
Authority to manage &sustainable development and the 
application of biotechnology consistent with relevant 
multilateral protocols.8  (Comment: Zimbabwe has been on the 
fault line of the global debate on biotechnology.  Biotech 
has a constituency among Zimbabwe's sophisticated but 
dwindling scientific and agro-business community and field 
trials of GM corn and cotton are being conducted here. 
Nonetheless, Zimbabwe rejected all but milled GM food 
assistance last year over trade and environmental concerns 
after a heated internal debate.  End comment.) 
 
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Parliamentary Elections 
----------------------- 
 
6. (SBU) Mugabe also discussed the upcoming March 
Parliamentary elections early on in the speech but moved off 
the topic quickly.  He restated the Government,s commitment 
to nonviolent elections and said the elections were an 
opportunity for the government to &seek renewed mandates.8 
Mugabe claimed recent amendments to the electoral law had 
made Zimbabwe compliant with SADC standards and guidelines, 
but he stated that outside observers for the elections would 
be by &invitation8 only and would not include countries 
hostile to Zimbabwe. 
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Comment 
------- 
 
7. (C) Mugabe seems ever more confident in his and ZANU-PF,s 
position in the upcoming elections and is trying to project a 
more moderate--if not more accommodating--face to both 
domestic and international audiences.  Local observers have 
noted a sharp break in ZANU-PF rhetoric, especially since the 
recent Party Congress.  One element of this has been a 
noticeable softening of the regime,s anti-American and 
anti-Western rhetoric of late.  That said, we do not yet see 
any indication of significant policy changes in the offing 
(reftel) that would address U.S. and international concerns, 
and take every opportunity to tell our GOZ and ZANU-PF 
interlocutors that the rhetoric is nice but we're waiting to 
be shown the beef. 
DELL