U.S. COMMENTS ABOUT ZIMBABWE'S FOOD CRISIS

UNCLAS HARARE 002414 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/PD, AF/S, AF/S, AF/RA, AF/PDPA NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER LONDON FOR GURNEY PARIS FOR NEARY NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KPAO ZI SUBJECT: U.S. COMMENTS ABOUT ZIMBABWE'S FOOD CRISIS MAKE FRONT PAGES ¶1. Drawing on the Reuters report of Deputy Assistant Secretary Bellamy's November 2 interview with the Washington Times, both the government-owned Herald and independent Daily News lead with reporting on U.S. concern about Zimbabwe's food crisis. The Herald's page-one, below-the-fold headline is "Anti-Zim Drive: U.S. Plans to Invade Harare." The Daily News page- one, above-the-fold headline is "U.S. Threatens Zimbabwe: Warns of Intervention to Ensure Food Reaches Needy Regardless of Political Affiliation." Both stories accurately quote Reuters and Washington Times reports, but the Herald provides page-two space for reactions from Government of Zimbabwe officials and supporters. The reactions are predictably critical. Copies of both stories have been faxed to AF/S and AF/PD. ¶2. The Herald also dedicates its November 6 editorial to the issue. Under the title "U.S. threats an insult to Africans" editorial criticizes what it sees as U.S. "deceit." Excerpts: "The threats by the American Government to openly undermine Zimbabwe's sovereignty should not be taken lightly, as it is a direct challenge to the universal norms of freedom that are not only cherished by Zimbabweans but by the entire free world. Coming barely a few months after the launch of the African Union and the last SADC summit, the American utterance, that Africans are unworthy to stand as equals among the nations of the world, is an insult to the peoples of the continent as a whole. . ." ". . .The cynical justification for the threatened intervention is three tons of food aid that was reportedly confiscated from WFP by alleged ZANU PF youths and distributed in an unfair manner, although it is not stated whether those who got it were supporters of the party or not. The three tons of maize in question can hardly feed one village for a day but for the Americans, it is good enough evidence to threaten the sovereignty of an independent country. . ." ". . .To suggest that the U.S. will intervene in Zimbabwe in a manner that will undermine the country's sovereignty in order to ensure that food relief gets to the needy, irrespective of political affiliation is the height of deceit. If the Americans are that worried about the plight of hungry Zimbabweans, they are most welcome to pour in all the required food aid and distribute it themselves as long as it meets the specifications and requirements set by the government. Unlike in Afghanistan where Yankee military planes were dropping bombs and bags of food aid simultaneously, here, they do not have to stretch themselves that far, as they will be most welcome to come in and do the distribution themselves while the government watches to ensure that food aid is not politicized." WHITEHEAD