US embassy cable - 05MAPUTO230

UNCLAS MAPUTO 000230 
 
SIPDIS 
FOR SPAS/POL - BINGRAM 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AFSI, AFSN, MZ, PGOV 
SUBJECT: NOMINATION FOR POLITICAL LES/FSNS TRAINING 
 
 
APRIL 3-15, 2005 
REF: STATE 12397 
 
1. Personal information for nominee: 
a) Name: Naimo Vasco ANTONIO 
b) Grade 9 
c) Began service with DOS: March 1999 
d) English language ability: fluent written/spoken 
e) Pervious Training in US: Political Training for FSNS, May 
15-28, 2000 
f) Supervisor at post: Cynthia Brown, Econ/Pol Officer, 
BrownCA@state.gov 
Post will cover costs for airfare, local transportation and 
M&IE. 
 
2. Serving as the sole Political FSN at Embassy Maputo, Mr. 
Antonio manages an extensive portfolio of issues including 
human rights, domestic political developments, judicial sector 
reform, regional and bilateral relations, religious freedom, and 
corruption. Principal duties include gathering information 
from media sources, government publications, and contact with 
members of the government and civil society for reporting 
purposes; cultivating working-level and senior-level contacts 
at appropriate government ministries, political parties, municipal 
governments, and non-governmental organizations; coordinating 
high-level mission travel within the country; and drafting reports 
on various issues within his portfolio, including contributions to 
Post's annual Human Rights Report, International Religious Freedom 
Report, and Trafficking in Persons Report. Mr. Antonio also 
provides daily briefings for the Ambassador and DCM on political 
developments and current events. In addition, Mr. Antonio 
performs accounting and project oversight for the Embassy's 
Democracy and Human Rights Fund (DHRF). Mr. Antonio is the 
senior of two LES/FSNS in the combined Economic/Political 
Section, and serves as back-up Economic/Commercial specialist 
as needed. 
 
3. Embassy Maputo receives a large number of official 
visits. As one of only two official interpreters at the 
Embassy, Mr. Antonio is often called upon to provide essential 
interpreting services for visitors during high-level meetings. 
He is also responsible for drafting and translating reports 
and official correspondences from English to Portuguese. 
 
4. On February 2, Armando Emilio Guebuza was inaugurated as 
the President of the Republic of Mozambique, succeeding Joaquim 
Chissano who stepped down after serving 18 years in office. 
This change in leadership has brought about a significant 
turnover in government officials and a restructuring of several 
government institutions, with consequent increased demands 
on the Political section for accurate and updated reporting on 
key persons and policies. Although Mr. Antonio participated in 
a class on Political Training for FSNS in 2000, Post strongly 
feels that further training in interviewing, briefing, drafting, 
interpreting/translating and sharing new knowledge would be 
beneficial at this juncture. This course will be critical in 
ensuring that Mr. Antonio has the necessary skills to assist Post 
in gathering essential background information on the incoming 
government and establishing productive working relationships with 
wide array of new public officials and their staff. As a 
well-respected, senior FSN in the embassy community, Mr. 
Antonio will be able use the knowledge and skills obtained 
through this training to assist others within the Embassy in 
meeting the challenge of working with the new Mozambican 
administration. 
LA LIME