US embassy cable - 05GABORONE1026

UNCLAS  GABORONE 001026 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
AF/S FOR MUNCY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, ETRD, US, BC, Vice President Khama, SAN/CKGR Relocation, Trade 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S FAREWELL CALLS WITH BOTSWANA 
PRESIDENT AND VP HIGHLIGHT BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS 
 
REF: (A) GABORONE 738 AND PREVIOUS (B) GABORONE 1002 
 
     AND PREVIOUS 
 
 1. (SBU)  Summary.  In his farewell calls with Botswana's 
President Festus Mogae and Vice President Seretse Khama Ian 
Khama July 21, Ambassador Huggins highlighted promoting 
Botwsana business and human rights, specifically the 
Kenneth Good and Basarwa issues.  The President and VP 
thanked the Ambassador for having deepened and broadened 
US-Botswana relations.  Ambassador urged Mogae and Khama to 
work aggressively to attract foreign direct investment 
(FDI), saying Botswana could not just rely on its positive 
reputation. Khama hoped the new Government-Business Council 
would redynamize Botswana's FDI efforts.  The Ambassador 
said Botswana must plan now for downstream projects that 
would follow the development of the coal bed methane project, 
which the 
USG has supported through TDA and OPIC funding. He also 
highlighted for Khama the Botswana Export Development 
Investment Authority (BEDIA)-Disney 
agreement to promote Botswana at Disney World during the 
September-November 
time frame. On human rights, the Ambassador told President 
Mogae and VP 
Khama that both the Ken Good (Ref A) and Basarwa (Ref B) 
cases depicted Botswana in a negative light, although the 
court cases showed the rule of law was observed.  Mogae 
said his government would await the outcomes, while Khama 
defended the GOB action on Good, saying his criticism had 
grown more insulting and was not constructive.  President 
Mogae faulted Survival International for telling lies about 
the Basarwa issue and diamonds. Both Mogae and Khama agreed 
that a San cultural project might result in great economic 
benefit for Basarwa living in the relocation villages. 
End summary. 
 
--------------------- 
US-Botswana Relations 
--------------------- 
 
2.  (U)  President Mogae thanked Ambassador Huggins for 
having 
broadened and deepened US-Botswana relations in both 
government and non-government circles.  He singled out in 
particular the Ambassador's promotion of government-private 
sector partnerships with those working on HIV-AIDS.  He 
also expressed thanks that members of the U.S. Congress had 
visited Botswana and that the country was now much better 
known in Congressional circles. 
 
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Promoting Business 
------------------ 
 
3.    (U)  The Ambassador told Mogae and Khama that he hoped 
Botswana 
would take advantage of the U.S. private sector initiatives 
as it 
would benefit the country in its economic diversification 
program.  He also 
encouraged both leaders to be more active in developing a 
strategy to attract FDI.  Khama, taking up the business 
theme, hoped that 
Botswana's public service had improved since his last 
meeting with the Ambassador but admitted that more progress 
was yet to be made.  Khama attributed the economic downturn 
to devaluation of the U.S. dollar (which affects Botswana's 
diamond revenues), drought, and HIV/AIDS but said Botswana 
was working hard to attract FDI and learn from successful 
models. 
 
4.  (U) The Ambassador highlighted for Khama the coal bed 
methane project which the U.S. supported through TDA and OPIC 
funding.  To exploit this new resource fully, he said, 
Botswana must start thinking now about how to use the gas in 
developing downstream projects.  Such opportunities include 
selling the gas as liquified natural gas, exporting excess 
gas to the region and beyond, using it locally as a power 
source for homes and industries, and utilization of the 
enormous byproduct of water for industrial waste water 
processing or irrigation.  He noted that an Israeli operation 
with a farming project in northern Botswana had already 
contacted the group developing the coal bed methane about 
using the water. 
 
5.  (U)  The Ambassador also flagged the BEDIA agreement with 
Disney World to exhibit at the Food and Wine Show in 
September-November 2005 as a great initiative to promote 
 
 
Botswana both in the U.S. and internationally.  This 
initiative could benefit Botswana's efforts to generate 
revenue through increased tourism. 
 
--------------------- 
The Kenneth Good Case 
--------------------- 
 
5.  (SBU)  Ambassador Huggins raised the Kenneth Good and 
Basarwa cases with both the President and Vice-President, 
saying that both cases showed Botswana in a bad light. 
While the two cases were still in court, the deportation of 
Professor Good (Ref A) had raised his profile. 
Constructive criticism should be encouraged in a democracy as 
freedom 
of speech is one of the major pillars in a democratic state, 
said the Ambassador.  He also commented that he did not 
perceive Kenneth Good  as a threat to Botswana. If government 
had 
evidence to that effect, it should release into the public 
domain 
to better explain its position. 
 
6.  (SBU)  VP Khama reacted defensively, saying the U,S. and 
Britain have 
come up with ways to deal with terrorism that might be 
eroding democracy.  Assuring safety of citizens without 
eroding democracy is always a challenge.  He further hinted 
that outsiders became interested only when the subjects 
were white, calling it a "color thing."  He then cited the 
Mariana Bortch case 
of a white South African who was hanged for murdering her 
lover in 
Botswana.  The VP went on to state, &We have deported 
Africans in the past 
and heard nothing from the West.  We have hanged Africans in 
the past and 
heard nothing from the West.  Why is that the West is only 
interested in cases 
that involve white people?8 
 
7.  (SBU)  Khama further expounded that Kenneth Good had 
been criticizing the government for years but that his 
criticism had grown more "insulting."  It was no longer 
constructive, said the VP.  Kenneth Good had gone 
"overboard," writing in papers outside Botswana that 
portrayed the country 
in a negative light.  Khama had 
"no regrets" about what had happened to Professor Good, 
saying he would be "forgotten over a period time."  Both 
President Mogae and 
VP Khama said they would await the results of Good's 
Appeal before speaking further. 
 
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The Basarwa Case 
---------------- 
 
8.  (SBU)  On the Basarwa case (Ref B), the Ambassador 
suggested that Botswana seek middle ground on settlements 
since only the elderly seemed interested in returning to 
the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR).  President Mogae 
seized on Survival International's (SI) insistence that the 
Basarwa case was about diamonds.  The President concluded 
that perhaps  SI was doing Botswana a favor by "telling 
lies."  That way, ex-critics were learning that diamonds 
were an "add-on" to SI,s campaign for the Basarwa.  He added 
that any 
suggestion that the Basarwa wanted to return to ancestors' 
gravesites was SI fiction, since as nomads, the Basarwa 
never stayed in one place.  He said the GOB would do a better 
job in explaining 
its position. 
 
9.  (SBU)  VP Khama focused on the environmental issue, 
saying the returning Basarwa had brought livestock such as 
cattle, sheep, donkeys, and horses that led to wildlife 
decline and degraded the  environment.  He faulted SI as 
inciting the Basarwa to flout the law. The VP said he had 
reflected on possible solutions that would, as Ambassador 
Huggins suggested, give the Basarwa economic opportunities, 
such as a cultural village. The Ambassador noted that he 
had visited the settlements and that the Basarwa could not 
easily earn a living when villages such as New Xade and 
Kaudwane were so 
far from the main road.  Khama suggested that a cultural 
village in the park might work.  The Ambassador told Mogae 
and Khama the U.S. was ready to assist the Basarwa set up a 
 
 
cultural village. 
 
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Comment 
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10.  (SBU)  Both meetings were very cordial, exemplifying 
our excellent relations.  The Ambassador also discussed 
with the Vice President the latter's eventual succession to 
the presidency (septel). 
HUGGINS 
 
 
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