US embassy cable - 05MAPUTO771

C O N F I D E N T I A L MAPUTO 000771 
 
SIPDIS 
AF/S - HTREGER, NSC FOR COURVILLE 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/17/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, EINV, ETRD, MZ, Guebuza, MCC 
SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE - PRESIDENT GUEBUZA GIVES AMBASSADOR 
READOUT ON MEETING WITH PRESIDENT BUSH 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Helen La Lime for Reason 1.4 (d) 
 
1. (U) President Guebuza called the Ambassador to the 
Presidency on June 17 to brief her on his June 13 meeting, 
along with four other African heads of state, with President 
Bush. Guebuza was attended by Minister for Diplomatic 
Affairs Francisco Madeira and the Ambassador by Econ/Pol 
chief as notetaker. 
 
2. (C) A smiling, relaxed Guebuza began his briefing by 
saying that he had a very agreeable trip to Washington. He 
said the President greeted him and others warmly, and was 
clearly very focused on Africa and sympathetic to the 
challenges Africans face. The President told them that he 
believed in following through on commitments, that the US had 
pledged to help Africa, and he assured them that the US would 
fulfill its promises. Guebuza expressed, several times, that 
the President's personable approach made a very positive 
impression. 
 
3. (C) For their part, Guebuza continued, the heads of state 
raised with the President their concerns. They had agreed 
beforehand to divide the issues up among the countries, with 
peacekeeping being brought up by Niger's head of state, 
democracy by Namibia's, debt reduction by Ghana's. It fell 
to Guebuza to bring up the issue of assistance under the 
Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) and the problem of 
drought. Guebuza said that he expressed a common worry about 
MCA eligibility criteria and conditions for qualifying for 
future funds (Note -- Mozambique is currently eligible for 
MCA funds). The President replied that he understood and 
would look into the matter. 
 
4. (C) Guebuza then turned to his meeting with Millennium 
Challenge Corporation (MCC) head Paul Applegarth. At this 
juncture the Ambassador informed him that Applegarth had 
resigned on June 16. She reported that the press claimed he 
had done so because of criticism from some in Congress over 
the slowness of disbursing MCA funds. Both Guebuza and 
Madeira were visibly surprised and dismayed - it appeared 
they had not heard the news. Guebuza replied that his 
meeting with Applegarth had, in fact, gone very well, that 
Applegarth had gathered his MCC team together to meet him, 
and that Applegarth had been genuinely committed to moving 
ahead swiftly. Guebuza informed the Ambassador that the 
Mozambican government would provide both office space and a 
budget for a government team to work on the MCC program, and 
that the Ministry of Finance would provide a budget by the 
end of next week (June 24). He stressed that he was 
following closely progress toward an MCC compact. 
 
5. (U) Guebuza ended the meeting by saying he was looking 
forward to his return visit to the US to attend the Corporate 
Council on Africa (CCA) Business Summit in Baltimore on June 
21 - 24. He warmly thanked the Ambassador for the Embassy's 
support on the CCA and to further strengthening bilateral 
ties. He added, though, that due to the fact that 
Mozambique's independence day anniversary falls on June 25, 
he would have to depart the CCA gathering early. 
La Lime