IMPORTANCE OF BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP STRESSED IN

UNCLAS MAPUTO 000741 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/S; USAID FOR AA/AFR AND AFR/SA; MCC FOR SGAULL AND MHARRINGTON; USDOC FOR RTELCHIN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID ETRD MZ PREL SUBJECT: IMPORTANCE OF BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP STRESSED IN AMBASSADOR'S FAREWELL CALL ON PRESIDENCY SECRETARY-GENERAL SUMBANA REF: MAPUTO 703 ¶1. (U) Ambassador made a farewell call on Presidency Secretary-General Antonio Sumbana at Sumbana,s request on SIPDIS June 19. The Ambassador reviewed her June 15 farewell call on President Guebuza (reported septel). Sumbana expressed great pleasure with the state of the bilateral relationship and said he wanted the USG to have no doubts that Mozambique was a strategic partner in the region. ¶2. (U) Sumbana raised the USAID-funded corruption assessment that has made headlines recently (see reftel). He expressed pleasure that the Embassy had given the Presidency an advance copy and said the report showed that the USG understood the government,s efforts to educate the government and people about the damage of corruption and to have senior government officials be examples of proper behavior. He also cited the importance of President Guebuza,s visits to the United States, saying that while some criticized the decision to travel to the U.S. four times in 2005, Guebuza insisted that it was necessary in order to build the bilateral relationship with the U.S. Sumbana stressed time and time again how key Guebuza believes the U.S. is to Mozambique,s efforts to build a stronger market economy. ¶3. (SBU) The Ambassador responded to these points and others raised by Sumbana. She said we welcomed the discussion generated by our corruption report. She emphasized the attention Guebuza,s personal leadership in the fight against HIV/AIDS was receiving within the USG. She informed Sumbana that she had highlighted Guebuza,s actions in her presentation at last week,s PEPFAR annual meeting in Durban and that many participants had said that Guebuza was a leader in the region in this area. She urged Sumbana to convey to Guebuza the importance of continuing his efforts and the need for him to talk about AIDS in ways that were not typical for Presidents. ¶4. (SBU) On the negotiations between the OPIC-financed Nacala Corridor railway/port project and the Brazilian firm CVRD over a possible CVRD buyout of the railway line for use transporting CVRD coal and interest by some in having the coal be shipped via a different route, she said that the USG supported use of whichever rail line was most commercially viable to transport the coal, but that we understood that the company believed this was the Nacala line. She asked Sumbana to confirm which GOM officials would accompany Mrs. Guebuza to New York for the First Lady,s Global Literacy Conference in September; Sumbana promised an answer. She also reviewed the President,s Malaria Initiative, progress toward signing an MCC compact in the first quarter of 2007, and our progress toward obtaining a New Embassy Compound site. ¶5. (SBU) Comment: Sumbana has been a useful channel to the President and has given us greater access to the Presidency than other embassies have. He has consistently emphasized the importance Guebuza places on the relationship with the USG. We look forward to continuing the relationship. End Comment. La Lime