US embassy cable - 02HARARE1994

UNCLAS HARARE 001994 
 
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, KPAO, KMDR, ZI 
SUBJECT: EDITORIAL ON WSSD 
 
  1.   Under headline "Too many words, too little 
      action," the independent weekly "The Financial Gazette" 
      dedicated its August 29, 2002 editorial to the World 
      Summit on Sustainable Development. Excerpts: 
 
  2.   "Zimbabweans, as indeed many other Africans, will 
      be forgiven if they dismiss as a circus the World 
      Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) now under way 
      in South Africa. . .  They and millions of others in 
      the developing world are only acutely aware that too 
      many similar talk shops have been staged before and the 
      result has almost always been the same: no tangible 
      improvement in the basic quality of their wretched 
      lives. . .  The world's poor have now become used to 
      helplessly watching their leaders gather for such lofty 
      meetings at a great cost to formulate right-sounding 
      policies and pledges which are quickly forgotten. 
 
       "The timing of the staging of the WSSD could 
       not have been more ironic, or perhaps an eye- 
       opener, for Zimbabwe. . .  Dubbed the Third 
       Revolution, President Robert Mugabe's ruthless 
       campaign to stay in power at whatever cost has 
       been truly sobering to the nation.  A wasteland 
       is all that remains of a country that was only 
       rivaled in Africa at independence by economic 
       powerhouses South Africa and Nigeria.  But 
       Zimbabweans can be certain that Mugabe, when he 
       joins other leaders at the WSSD, will make the 
       usual positive declarations of eradicating 
       poverty and disease and of empowering his 
       nation and protecting its natural resources - 
       the key goals of the summit.  And yet back 
       home, the actions of his government will indeed 
       highlight why such summits, at least for 
       Africa, are useless talk shops that are better 
       forgotten. 
 
       "Indeed Mugabe's weekend appointment of the 
       so-called war Cabinet - a Cabinet whose mandate 
       is to crush opponents and all voices of 
       democracy - once again makes the point that he 
       is determined to take Zimbabwe down with him at 
       his suicidal path. . ." 
 
SULLIVAN