MUGABE HEWS TO HARD LINE IN HEROES' DAY

1. (C) PRESIDENT MUGABE'S NATIONAL HEROES' DAY ADDRESS
TO A LARGE BUT LISTLESS CROWD AT HEROES' ACRE WAS
DEFIANT IN TONE AND UNCHANGED IN SUBSTANCE. MUGABE
LAMBASTED THE BRITISH FOR THEIR HISTORICAL SINS AND TOOK
AIM AT THE U.S. OVER THE SENATE PASSAGE OF ZDERA. HE
TALLIED UP FIGURES FOR LAND ACQUIRED AND PEOPLED
RESETTLED IN THE FAST TRACK LAND PROGRAM AND WARNED
COMMERCIAL FARMERS NOT TO RESIST. MUGABE CALLED ON
COMMERCIAL FARMERS TO COOPERATE AND IMPLIED TROUBLE IF
THEY DID NOT. IN FOLLOWING CONVERSATIONS, UK HIGH
COMMISSIONER DONNELLY TERMED THE ADDRESS "AN OLIVE
BRANCH WITH THORNS." OTHER WESTERN DIPLOMATS WITH MORE
SEASONING IN ZIMBABWE WONDERED IF THIS WERE NOT AN
OVERLY OPTIMISTIC READ.



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THE ANGLO-SAXON CONSPIRACY


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2. (SBU) A CROWD ESTIMATED BETWEEN 4,000 (OPPOSITION
PRESS) AND 10,000 (GOVERNMENT PRESS) WERE TREATED TO AN
HOUR AND TWENTY MINUTES OF PRESIDENTIAL RHETORIC ON
AUGUST 11. A HEARTY LOOKING MUGABE, WHO DELIVERED HIS
ADDRESS IN FIRM TONES, BEGAN WITH A CONDEMNATION OF
WESTERN HYPOCRISY. HE ACCUSED THE DEMOCRATIC WORLD OF
NOT RAISING A FINGER IN THE PAST AS THE "BRITISH RACIAL
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AUTOCRACY" BRUTALIZED AND TRAUMATIZED BLACK ZIMBABWEANS.
HE ACCUSED THE COLONIALISTS OF PILLAGING THE COUNTRY'S
MINERAL WEALTH AND FORCING THE ZIMBABWEANS TO WORKS THE
LAND "TO FEED THEIR (BRITISH) CHILDREN." HE ACCUSED UK,
US, AND GERMAN MERCENARIES OF FIGHTING ON THE SIDE OF
THE RHODESIANS DURING THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE, USING
NATO WEAPONS AGAINST THE POPULATION.



3. (SBU) MUGABE DELIVERED A DIATRIBE AGAINST THE
AMERICAN SENATE AND CONGRESS, WHO HE STATED HAD NEVER
CONSIDERED IMPOSING SANCTIONS AGAINST THE UDI
RHODESIANS. INSTEAD, THE U.S. HAD ASKED TO BE EXEMPTED
FROM UN SANCTIONS IN ORDER TO BUY CHROME FROM THE IAN
SMITH REGIME, REFUSING THE OPTION OF BUYING FROM THE
SOVIET UNION, WHICH WAS "A FREE STATE AT THAT TIME." HE
CHARGED THE SAME SENATORS OF WORKING WITH THE OPPOSITION
TODAY ON THE "INFAMOUS ZDERA." HE ASKED RHETORICALLY
WHAT CRIME ZIMBABWE HAD COMMITTED TO CAUSE TALK OF
SANCTIONS, THEN ANSWERED BY SAYING HOW DARE A BLACK
GOVERNMENT WITH A WHITE COMMUNITY CHALLENGE THE KIN OF
THE GOD-CHOSEN ANGLO-SAXONS. THIS WAS SEEN AS
PRACTICING TERRORISM AND AUTOCRACY.



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A WALLOW IN COLONIAL HISTORY


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4. (SBU) MUGABE NEXT TOOK DIRECT AIM AT THE BRITISH,
NOTING THAT VICE PRESIDENT MUZENDA HAD BEEN TORTURED
WITH NEEDLES WHILE IN INCARCERATION. SPEAKER OF
PARLIAMENT MNANGAGWA WAS HARD OF HEARING DUE TO BEATINGS
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FROM PRISON AUTHORITIES. MUGABE THEN READ FROM THE
JOURNALS OF COLONIAL AUTHORITIES ABOUT THE 1897/1898
EXECUTION IN SALISBURY OF TWO MEN AND A WOMAN CONVICTED
OF MURDERING AN ASSISTANT DISTRICT COMMISSIONER. HE
CONTINUED BY CRITICIZING BRITISH REFUSAL TO RETURN THE
HEAD OF AN EXECUTION VICTIM STILL HELD IN (THE) BRITISH
MUSEUM. MUGABE DESCRIBED THE BURNING OF CROPS BY
BRITISH SOLDIERS IN 1896/7 AND HOW INVADERS HAD CAUSED
"ARTIFICIAL HUNGER."



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HOLDING FIRM ON LAND


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5. (SBU) MUGABE SEGUED INTO THE LAND ISSUE, EMPHASIZING
THAT "WE WILL NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF THE GOAL OF
CONTROLLING THE LAND." HE REPEATED THE STANDARD LINE ON
THE FAST TRACK PROGRAM, CALLING COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE
UNFAIR, INEFFICIENT, AND NOT ENVIRONMENTALLY
SUSTAINABLE. HE DENOUNCED "RACIAL, IMPERIALIST
DOMINANCE" BUT NOTED THAT HE HAD HEARD THAT PARTS OF THE
COMMERCIAL FARMERS UNION (CFU) HAD CHANGED THEIR HEARTS
AND WANTED TO JOIN THE GOVERNMENT IN REFORM. THESE WERE

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INFO LOG-00 AID-00 CIAE-00 DODE-00 SRPP-00 EB-00 EUR-00
H-01 TEDE-00 INR-00 IO-00 L-00 NSAE-00 NSCE-00
OIC-02 PM-00 PRS-00 P-00 SP-00 SS-00 STR-00
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11FA08 141202Z /07
O 141105Z AUG 01
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9458
INFO SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
NSC WASHDC
AMEMBASSY NAIROBI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 02 OF 02 HARARE 002397

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF, AF/S, AF/RA, AND DRL
LONDON FOR GURNEY
PARIS FOR WILLIAMS-MANIGAULT
NSC FOR SENIOR DIRECTOR FRAZIER
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/14/06
TAGS: PGOV PHUM UK US ZI
SUBJECT: MUGABE HEWS TO HARD LINE IN HEROES' DAY
ADDRESS

WELCOME. IN THE PAST, HOWEVER, FARMERS HAD EMPLOYED
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WILES AND SUBTERFUGE AND WORKED WITH THE "SO-CALLED"
OPPOSITION TO EXTEND BRITISH HEGEMONY BY PROCURING UK
MONEY FOR THE OPPOSITION.



6. (SBU) HE SPOKE DIRECTLY TO RECENT EVENTS IN
CHINHOYI, CHARGING THAT THE COMMERCIAL FARMERS HAD
ORGANIZED TO ATTACK LANDLESS SETTLERS. HE STATED: "WE
WARN THEM (FARMERS) TO DESIST." MUGABE SAID THAT WHITE
FARMERS ARE WELCOME TO STAY BUT ONLY IF THEY OBEY THE
LAW. HE SAID THAT THE GOZ WILL NOT BUDGE ON LAND
REFORM, AND WILL PROCEED WITH THE REFORM PROGRAM WITH OR
WITHOUT CFU COOPERATION AND INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS.
MUGABE THEN READ A LIST OF THE NUMBER OF FARMS GAZETTED,
ACREAGE TOTALS, AND PEOPLE RESETTLED.



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QUOTING HIMSELF ON RECONCILIATION


--------------------------





7. (C) MUGABE STRESSED THAT WHAT ANGERS AND DISTURBS
THE CIO, POLICE, AND ZDF MOST IS THE FACT THAT THE
FARMERS NOW PROVOKING INCIDENTS ARE THE SAME ONES WHO
FOUGHT AGAINST THE CURRENT AUTHORITIES IN THE LIBERATION
STRUGGLE. HE OBSERVED THAT IF HE HAD DONE AS THE
MILITANTS HAD WANTED IN 1980, THE (FORMER RHODESIAN
FIGHTERS) WOULD HAVE BEEN "DECAPITATED" AND WOULD NOT
"BE WRIGGLING BACK TO LIFE AGAIN." HE SAID THAT WE
(ZIMBABWEANS) WERE BETTER, MORE MORAL, AND HAD INSTEAD
EXTENDED THE HAND OF FRIENDSHIP AND RECONCILIATION.
MUGABE QUOTED HIMSELF FROM 1980 ON BEATING SWORDS INTO
PLOWSHARES BEFORE CONCLUDING WITH SOME PORK BARREL
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POLITICS -- INCREASED SCHOOL (AND OTHER) ALLOWANCES FOR
THE WIDOWS AND CHILDREN OF HEROES -- AND A FINAL
CONCLUDING SHOT AT ZDERA AND THE U.S.



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COMMENT


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8. (C) MUGABE WAS IN FINE FETTLE, AND HIS PERFORMANCE
-- DEMAGOGIC THOUGH IT OFTEN WAS -- PUTS TO REST FOR NOW
TALK THAT HE IS TOTTERING ON THE BRINK OF PHYSICAL
COLLAPSE. WESTERN DIPLOMATS WHO HAVE BEEN TREATED TO
PAST PERFORMANCES NOTED THAT THERE WAS AN UNUSUALLY
LARGE COMPONENT OF UNIFORMED MILITARY IN THE AUDIENCE
THIS YEAR. THE CROWD CHEERED ON CUE, BUT THERE WAS A
NOTABLE LACK OF ENTHUSIASM OVERALL.



9. (C) IN A FOLLOWING CONVERSATION, BRITISH HIGH
COMMISSIONER DONNELLY SPOKE ON THE CHINHOYI SITUATION AS
WELL AS HIS TAKE ON THE SPEECH. HE SAID THAT THE CFU
TEAM NEGOTIATING THE LAND ISSUE WITH THE GOZ HAD
REPORTED A "GOOD" MEETING WITH MUGABE ON AUGUST 19,
ALBEIT ONE THAT HAD BROUGHT NO BREAKTHROUGH. CONNELLY
CALLED THE SPEECH AN "OLIVE BRANCH WITH THORNS."
SEVERAL OF HIS WESTERN COUNTERPARTS WHO HAVE BEEN IN
ZIMBABWE FOR LONGER PERIODS TOLD CHARGE THAT THEY HAD
PERCEIVED MORE THORN THAN OLIVE BRANCH AND FELT THAT
MUGABE'S POSITION REMAINS UNCHANGED.



10. (C) THE SENATE'S PASSAGE OF ZDERA HAS CLEARLY
CAUGHT MUGABE'S ATTENTION. DONNELLY OBSERVED THAT WHILE
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PAGE 04 HARARE 02397 02 OF 02 141202Z
THE UK'S SINS HAD BEEN MOSTLY HISTORICAL THIS TIME
AROUND, THE U.S. WAS NOW GRABBING TOP BILLING IN THE
AREA OF CURRENT EVENTS.

WHITEHEAD

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