US embassy cable - 02HARARE2374

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 002374 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR JENDAYI FRAZER 
LONDON FOR CGURNEY 
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER 
PARIS FOR NEARY 
ECA/PE/V/G/A FOR BREED 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, ELAB, PHUM, KPAO, ZI 
SUBJECT: ZCTU SECY-GNL'S THOUGHTS IN ADVANCE OF IVP VISIT 
TO US 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR INTERNET POSTING. 
 
1. (SBU)  Summary.  Laboff met with Mr. Wellington Chibebe, 
Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions 
 
SIPDIS 
(ZCTU), to review any last-minute questions about his 
upcoming IVP travel to the United States.  Mr. Chibebe is 
prepared and excited, and looks forward to the opportunity to 
exchange views with people interested in Zimbabwe.  However, 
Mr. Chibebe articulated concerns about ZANU-PF's continuing 
manipulation of food and other political machinations, and he 
expressed fears about potential developments in Zimbabwe 
during his absence.  End summary. 
 
2. (SBU)  Chibebe stated that Minister of Labour July Moyo 
(and thus the ZANU-PF government as well) was aware of his 
upcoming travel, and attempted to bait him during a recent 
meeting about his lengthy absence.  Despite attempts by 
Minister Moyo to disconcert him by alluding to US 
sponsorship, however, Chibebe simply acknowledged that he was 
traveling and changed the subject.  Chibebe stated that after 
a recent trip to the UK -- during which he was received by 
Prime Minister Tony Blair -- the GOZ attempted to diminish 
his standing by fresh leveling of accusations that Chibebe is 
a puppet of the Western imperialists and that the ZCTU has 
degenerated into a political organization.  While Chibebe was 
resigned to the fact that the GOZ will probably attempt to 
mis-characterize his current IVP trip along the same lines, 
he is taking a measure of comfort from the protection 
afforded by increased international recognition. 
 
3. (SBU)  Chibebe shared his concerns that ZANU-PF continues 
to manipulate the distribution of food to deadly effect.  He 
is aware that food entering the country is a mere fraction of 
that necessary to halt impending famine, and believes that 
openly MDC regions are suffering disproportionately.  He is 
concerned that even in cases where lists of beneficiaries are 
drawn up in an apparently "transparent" manner, those lists 
are still under the control of headmen, chiefs and local 
authorities who are predominantly aligned with ZANU-PF. 
(Comment:  In fact, food distribution lists are drawn up at 
meetings of the entire community rather than headmen.  End 
comment.)  Chibebe also reported that when his sister-in-law 
contested a seat as an MDC candidate during the recent rural 
district elections, she was subsequently refused relief food 
which was being distributed by Care International.  ZANU-PF 
campaigners publicly denounced her and stated that neither 
her affiliation with the MDC nor her relationship to Chibebe 
and the ZCTU would do her any good.  Both during and after 
her unsuccessful campaign, she was castigated by ZANU-PF at 
rallies and was prevented from buying food from the Grain 
Marketing Board.  Chibebe reported that his sister-in-law had 
to travel to the regional Care office at Masvingo and 
register a complaint about her exclusion in order to obtain 
any food after ZANU-PF targeted her. 
 
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MISINFORMATION ABOUT US FOOD AID 
-------------------------------- 
 
4. (SBU)  Chibebe also reported that ZANU-PF publicly claims 
that all food that is entering Zimbabwe is a benefit 
exclusively intended for its own supporters.  He claimed that 
even in instances where food is clearly marked as donations 
from USAID or British relief organizations, ZANU-PF leaders 
are claiming to villagers that the GOZ has coerced both the 
US and the UK to offer the food as reparations for their 
crimes against Zimbabwe.  As improbable as such claims may 
be, there appears to be no effective counter to this 
strategy.  As evidence of the effectiveness of the political 
use of food, or promises thereof, he pointed to the recent 
ZANU-PF success in the Insiza elections.  Even with the 
heavy-handed campaign tactics -- pungwes, militia deployment, 
threats and violence -- in both the 2000 elections and the 
presidential election, Insiza had not voted for ZANU-PF. 
However, facing starvation, and with ZANU-PF promising that 
food would only materialize through its patronage, Insiza 
finally succumbed and elected a ZANU-PF MP. 
 
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CONFLICT DIAMOND ACCUSATIONS AGAINST PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKER 
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5. (SBU)  Speaking about recent UN revelations that Emmerson 
Mnangagwa -- the parliamentary speaker and most likely 
ZANU-PF successor to Mugabe -- had been implicated in 
money-laundering and plunder in relation to Democratic 
Republic of Congo resources, Chibebe believed that this was 
highly unlikely to have any effect on Mnangagwa's potential 
succession, should Mugabe eventually choose to bow out. 
After all, he said, Mugabe himself had been directly 
implicated in far worse crimes -- including the slaughter of 
20,000 Ndebele during the early 1980s and the "disappearance" 
and death of revolutionary colleagues -- and he had still 
been embraced by the international community as an upright 
leader.  Rather, Chibebe speculated that if Mugabe stepped 
aside, Mnangagwa would proclaim a new era of reform, preach 
national unity, reach out to international institutions, 
allow former ZANU-PF leaders to retire in comfort, and 
receive the relieved support of the international community 
-- while proceeding to annihilate the opposition at the same 
time.  As a result, Chibebe believed, existing political 
opposition and any semblance of future political freedom in 
Zimbabwe would be permanently destroyed. 
 
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COMMENT 
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6.  Chibebe is departing his country at a tumultuous time 
with no notion of what he will find upon his return.  As a 
man publicly identified as a threat to ZANU-PF's hold on 
power, he is suspicious not only of ZANU-PF's motives but 
also its methods.  He is leaving a country where Raymond 
Majongwe, the secretary-general of an accredited union, was 
arrested and tortured with impunity -- twice within two weeks 
-- by the GOZ.  In addition to gaining insight about American 
society and labor groups, Chibebe can provide valuable 
insights as to his perspective on what is happening here.  He 
has a unique opportunity to present an alternative view of 
Mugabe's presentation of the crisis in Zimbabwe as a 
racially-based land dispute and refocus international 
attention on the effect Mugabe's policies are having on 
ordinary Zimbabweans. 
SULLIVAN