US embassy cable - 02HARARE1951

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 001951 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/PD, AF/S, AF/RA 
NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER 
LONDON FOR GURNEY 
PARIS FOR NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, KPAO, KMDR, ZI 
SUBJECT: ZIMBABWE'S GOVERNMENT MEDIA PLAY UP "PLOT" 
 
 
  1.   Under the headline "American madness" the weekly 
      ZANU-PF house organ "The People's Voice" (08/25) 
      comments: 
 
      "The U.S. Government this week shamelessly went 
      public about its plans to oust the 
      democratically elected President of the Republic 
      of Zimbabwe Robert Gabriel Mugabe, from power. 
      This American madness has been witnessed in 
      Cuba, Iraq, Libya, Iran and the Democratic 
      People's Republic of Korea among others. 
      American bureaucrats forget that it is not their 
      business to choose leaders of the countries of 
      the world.  This is the prerogative of the 
      peoples of these countries by God's divine 
      ruling.  In exercising that exclusive 
      prerogative, the people of Zimbabwe elected 
      President Mugabe. . .  ZANU PF, the government 
      and people of Zimbabwe will stand up against any 
      world power and their international network in 
      defense of the country's national sovereignty 
      and independence.  No Western power is mighty 
      enough to intimidate the heroic people of 
      Zimbabwe. 
 
      "British and American citizens must be extremely 
      worried that their governments have given 
      themselves the Satanic role of spreading misery 
      and strife throughout the world.  Where other 
      nations are striving for international progress 
      and development, the British and American 
      governments are being retrogressive because of 
      their selfish and myopic interests.  Zimbabwe 
      and the progressive world in general, will not 
      stand for that.  The sooner the British and 
      American governments realize that the better. 
      The world will not tolerate a situation whereby 
      the British and Americans speak so highly of 
      people's democratic will but are quick to punish 
      the same people when that democracy fails to 
      yield pre-determined western results. . .  Our 
      government owes its allegiance not to the United 
      States and Britain but to the people of Zimbabwe 
      who elected it." 
 
  2.   Under headline "Zimbabwe's neighbors humiliate 
      U.S. Assistant Secretary" the pro-government weekly 
      "The Sunday Mirror" (08/25) carried the following 
      article on its "Media Focus" column on page 9: 
 
      "Not content with blasting Afghanistan's Tora 
      Bora mountains to smithereens in search of an 
      elusive Osama bin Laden, and planning on 
      ejecting Iraqi strongmen Saddam Hussein from 
      power, the U.S. has focused its interest on 
      Zimbabwe.  In flagrant violation of the 
      principle that `none of us can choose who leads 
      governments or administrations in foreign 
      countries,' the U.S. has endeavored to dabble in 
      the politics of the country with the hope of 
      instilling its own preferred candidate in the 
      seat of government.  In a humiliating slap in 
      the face, Botswana, South Africa and Mozambique 
      have shot down claims by the U.S. Secretary of 
      State for Africa, Walter Kansteiner, that their 
      governments had signed up to a U.S. plan to 
      isolate President Robert Mugabe. . .  The snub 
      America has received from the region has 
      exploded the myth that it has the influence to 
      manipulate the political dynamics in the region 
      in its favor, and with the moral blessing and 
      active co-operation of the region itself. . ." 
 
  3.   Under headline "Zimbabwe is not a colony" the 
      government-controlled weekly "The Sunday News" (08/25) 
      comments: 
 
      ". . .Mr. Walter Kansteiner. . .told the world 
      that the illegitimate Bush administration has 
      hatched a plot to topple the elected government 
      of Zimbabwe.  This is not news to most Africans. 
      The only starling aspect of Mr. Kansteiner's 
      utterances is that he actually found such racist 
      nonsense newsworthy. . .  The man either suffers 
      from a severe strain of amnesia or is hopelessly 
      addicted to the despicable pastime of political 
      mischief.  His own un-elected boss, President 
      Bush, is an illegitimate leader who bulldozed 
      his way to power by manipulating partisan 
      Supreme Court judges appointed by his Republican 
      Party.  Any serious watchers of international 
      politics would know that Mr. Bush was elected by 
      judges whereas President Mugabe has the mandate 
      of the people of Zimbabwe. . .  We owe our 
      legality, democracy and rule of law to none but 
      ourselves. . .  The confrontational stance 
      adopted by Washington and London against 
      Zimbabwe's land reform program is futile because 
      the agrarian revolution is irreversible.  The 
      legitimacy of Zimbabwe's political system is 
      neither decided by George Bush and Tony Blair 
      nor by southern Africa's so-called regional 
      powers. . .  American and British politicians 
      must be reminded that foreign interference in 
      the internal affairs of a sovereign country is a 
      clear violation of international law and norms. 
      Any Western leader. . .who assumes that he can 
      use his economic and military muscle to bully 
      Zimbabweans into reversing the perfectly legal 
      and morally justifiable land redistribution 
      program is not being sincere to himself and his 
      country.  Zimbabwe is not a colony and Zimbabwe 
      is not for sale." 
 
  4.   Under headline "Zimbabwe will not be 
      intimidated!" the government controlled daily (08/24) 
      "Chronicle" comments: 
 
      ". . .The reason behind (the American) resolve 
      to see the Zimbabwe government out of office is 
      that they backed the wrong horse at the last 
      election, and that the government in power will 
      not bow down to their evil machinations.  The 
      people of Zimbabwe are more than ready to defend 
      their sovereignty and will not be intimidated by 
      statements from people whose only pre-occupation 
      is protecting the interests of a few white 
      farmers at the expense of the black majority. . 
      .Where are the voices of the likes of Amnesty 
      International and the United Nations?  Do the 
      landless majority of this country not have any 
      rights?  Would somebody know what happened to 
      the Universal Bill of Rights. . .?  It seems 
      President Mugabe's only sin is to redistribute 
      land to fellow blacks, and winning the elections 
      when the Americans and the British gave him no 
      chance.  The new democracy through the barrel of 
      a gun will not be tolerated, and the ganging up 
      against the country only goes to show that 
      imperialists cannot get over their colonial 
      paternalism and disdain for African authority. . 
      .  The Americans and the British are still to 
      deliver on their promise of funding for land 
      reforms made in 1979.  For the record, our 
      President has delivered a few months after 
      elections. . . We have not meddled in 
      Washington's affairs and in the same spirit we 
      hope the Americans steer clear of Harare and do 
      not get caught up in their British cousins' 
      nostalgia." 
 
  5.   Under headline "Belligerent U.S. joins Zimbabwe's 
      tormentors" the August 24 edition of the government- 
      controlled daily "Chronicle" carried the following op- 
      ed by Peter Baka Nyoni: 
 
      "After the British, the Europeans and the white 
      Commonwealth and their attempts to force their 
      own kind of change in Zimbabwe's political 
      landscape over the last eight months without 
      success, it has now fallen to the Americans to 
      try their hand too.  How frustrating it must be 
      for little Zimbabwe to prove such a hard nut to 
      crack for those who live outside it!  The 
      present American government is distinctly 
      different from the one that preceded it.  Bill 
      Clinton had a human face to him. . .  By 
      contrast, the George W. Bush administration is a 
      belligerent one.  It only understands the 
      language of war and threats.  It has marked 
      itself out on a mission to exhibit American 
      power and might as the sole super-power of the 
      world. . .  Zimbabwe this week stands under the 
      shadow of the most direct and menacing of the 
      American threats.  Where others have failed, the 
      mighty U.S. is not expected to fail.  After all 
      it is the world's last Big Brother that we have 
      around. 
 
      "America's so-called Zimbabwe Democracy and 
      Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA) has now been upon 
      us for over six months.  Under it we faced a 
      select range of financial and immigration 
      sanctions. . .  The reality has proved a little 
      more complicated.  Thus the search is on for 
      other and more effective ways to bring this 
      stubborn government to its knees.  For some 
      strange and inexplicable reason, the internal 
      revolt and mass uprising premised on the efforts 
      of the internal political opposition have so far 
      come to grief.  It is common cause now that the 
      opposition coalition is hopelessly divided and 
      ineffectual.  Its backbone, in the white farming 
      community, has now been finally 
      broken. . .  Internally, the opposition is a 
      lost cause. . .  It is this realization that 
      appears to have pushed the Americans to center 
      stage in the fight against Zimbabwe. . ." 
 
  6.   Under headline "United States spills the beans" 
      the government-controlled daily "The Herald" (08/24) 
      published the following editorial on page 8: 
 
      "The American government spilled the beans last 
      week with their revelation that they are working 
      with some `independent' journalists in Zimbabwe 
      to topple the ruling ZANU PF government.  We 
      have always known that the private media in this 
      country was controlled from Britain and America 
      and it comes as no surprise that the U. S. is 
      confirming it. . .  The U.S. Assistant Secretary 
      of State, Mr. Walter Kansteiner has exposed them 
      for what they really are: shameless turncoats 
      who are prepared to sell their own country to 
      the highest bidder.  It is indeed a sad chapter 
      in Zimbabwe's media history as a new madness has 
      gripped the privately owned Press.  Instead of 
      being the first line of defense of the country's 
      sovereignty, values and dignity, they celebrate 
      at its denigration and are even players in the 
      process. . ." 
 
      Sullivan