PAPAL VISIT RAISED TOUGH ISSUES; DOS SANTOS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LUANDA 000193

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/25/2014
TAGS: PREL PHUM KIRF AO VT
SUBJECT: PAPAL VISIT RAISED TOUGH ISSUES; DOS SANTOS
OFFERED FRANK RESPONSES

REF: A) LUANDA 61 B) VATICAN CITY 38

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Classified By: Ambassador Dan Mozena for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: In his March 20-23 visit to Angola, Pope
Benedict XVI addressed national reconciliation, poverty
alleviation, transparency and anti-corruption in public
events with as many as two million participants. The
official reaction to this message was strikingly responsive,
with President Jose Eduardo dos Santos acknowledging--in the
most explicit terms yet--the magnitude of poverty in Angola
and the government's struggles with corruption. Pope
Benedict's visit was overall a well-executed major
international event, despite the deaths of two would-be
spectators in the crush of people to attend. The Pope's
visit contributed importantly to stimulating debate on
political and human rights issues as well as spiritual. End
Summary.


2. (SBU) Pope Benedict's four day visit to Luanda, the first
by a Pope since the resumption of armed conflict in 1992,
received broad and enthusiastic participation from the
population and the state. The Angolan authorities organized
the visit effectively and professionally, managing the
participation of nearly two million Angolans. In a March 25
meeting with the Ambassador, Papal Nuncio Angelo Becciu
agreed with the public assessment of the visit as smooth and
well organized, with the cooperation of Church officials,
government ministries, and the security services. Becciu
noted, however, that the Pope and the Church were deeply
saddened by the deaths of two Angolan women in a trampling
incident in the hours before the Pope addressed the faithful
at a local soccer stadium. Becciu suggested the incident was
caused by an insufficient number of open doors in the stadium
and poor crowd control.

Taking on Africa's problems
--------------


3. (U) The Pope spoke directly about building a more
prosperous, just, and democratic society in Africa as a
whole. In his arrival speech, he called for a freer and more
peaceful Africa. Addressing Angolans in particular, he noted
the country's natural wealth and military strength, but
warned that Angolans must not yield to the "law of the
strongest," a reference to corruption and abuse of power that
he made more explicit by speaking about income inequalities
and abuses of the poor and their rights. He called on both
civil society and the government of Angola to take action.


4. (C) The Pope extended his call for more effective
governance in his address to the political authorities and
diplomatic corps held at the Presidential Palace following
his meeting with President Dos Santos, saying it was up to
political leaders to free their people from "the scourges of
greed, violence and unrest" and to lead them with the
civic-democratic principles of "respect and promotion of
human rights, transparent governance, an independent
judiciary, a free press, a civil service of integrity, a
properly functioning network of schools and hospitals,
and--most pressing--a determination born from the conversion
of hearts to excise corruption once and for all." (Note:
Although the Pope applied these comments to Africa as a
whole, his concerns were meant and perceived by the attendees
as a harsh comment on Angola. End note.)

Dos Santos's "Confession"
--------------


5. (SBU) Seemingly aware of the content of the Pope's
remarks, Dos Santos, in opening the session at the
Presidential Palace, was candid and frank in acknowledging
Angola's problems. Dos Santos quantified the economic and
social challenges facing Angola, saying Angola's rate of
poverty is 40 percent and its rate of unemployment is 28
percent. Dos Santos said that 60 percent of Angolans do not
have access to clean drinking water, 50 percent do not have
access to energy, and a further 50 percent do not live in
suitable housing.


6. (C) On corruption, Dos Santos said Angola must "clearly
separate private business from the business of the State and
confront with fortitude the improper appropriation of the
goods of the State by its officials." On poverty, Dos Santos
called for a "more just fiscal policy" involving more
redistribution of wealth from the elites to the poor, "the
other great challenge that we face." Making light of Dos
Santos's own involvement over the years in the very practices
that the Pope had condemned, the Papal Nuncio joked to the
Ambassador that Dos Santos's speech was "as if the President

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were giving a confession of his sins."

Radio Ecclesia off the table?
--------------


7. (C) Several privately-owned weekly papers carried analytic
articles predicting the Pope would take on the status of
church-owned Radio Ecclesia, a strong independent voice for
civil society and open debate, which is prohibited from
broadcasting outside of Luanda, where state-run Radio
Nacional has a monopoly. Many in the public and media were
disappointed when the Pope was silent on the issue and when
Bishop Filomeno Vieira Dias, chief organizer of the visit,
subsequently made a statement that it was strictly between
the Angolan church and the government. With a different
take, the Papal Nuncio told us that Radio Ecclesia had in
fact been on the agenda for the Pope's private meeting with
Dos Santos, but that the Pope simply did not have time to
broach the subject. The Papal Nuncio said the status of
Radio Ecclesia remains on the Vatican's agenda.


8. (C) Comment: The Pope succeeded in energizing the faithful
and bringing important political issues to the forefront.
Judging from Dos Santos's surprising frankness about poverty,
unemployment, and even corruption in reaction to the Pope's
call for building a freer society, the visit engaged Angola's
leader publicly on the nation's most fundamental challenges.
The President's frank acknowledgment of these problems should
lead to improved conditions for public debate of them. As
such, the Pope's visit paid rich dividends in the political
and human rights arenas, as well as the spiritual. End
Comment.
MOZENA