XENOPHOBIA: MORE THAN ELECTIONEERING, THIS IS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 000661 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/12/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV SOCI MZ SUBJECT: XENOPHOBIA: MORE THAN ELECTIONEERING, THIS IS DIFFERENT REF: A. MAPUTO 610 ¶B. MAPUTO 493 ¶C. MAPUTO 381 ¶D. MAPUTO 656 Classified By: Pol/Econ Chief Matthew Roth, Reasons 1.4(b+d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The GRM appears to be increasingly xenophobic in the run-up to October 28 national elections. The Ministry of Labor has implemented an anti-foreigner labor law (ref A),aggressively inspected organizations with foreign employees (ref B),and has denied labor authorizations for new foreign workers--the Mozal Aluminum Smelter's current labor problems serve as a prime example. Immigration authorities recently cordoned off a popular expatriate restaurant, entered at gunpoint, and detained anyone present who did not have identification. National police arrested foreign New-Age religionists near Cahora Bassa dam, held them incommunicado for two weeks, and charged them with attempting to sabotage the dam. GRM officials and government-controlled press have conflated Mozambican cultural pride and national self-esteem with the evils of excessive foreign intervention in Mozambican affairs. While our contacts indicate that some level of xenophobia is common during presidential election cycles, some suggest that this is the worst the country has seen since independence in 1975. END SUMMARY. -------------- MOZAL ALUMINUM SMELTER WOES -------------- ¶2. (C) In late March, after the Australian-controlled aluminum smelter and exporter MOZAL laid off 90 Mozambican laborers due to the difficult economic climate (ref C),both the Ministry of Labor and union representatives alleged discrimination and threatened action in the event those dismissed were replaced by foreign employees. Minister of Labor Maria Helena Taipo stated that she would not approve additional visas for foreign workers at MOZAL. The plant represents over 50 percent of Mozambique's exports, and the GRM owns a minority stake in the BHP Billiton concern. In June, MOZAL's board of directors transferred its board meeting from Tokyo to Maputo in order to express its concern and displeasure with the GRM. MOZAL's Chairman told Emboffs that they met with Prime Minister Luisa Diogo to complain and she assured that she would direct Labor Minister Helena Taipo to fix any remaining problems MOZAL had with labor permits. -------------- IMMIGRATION RAIDS EXPAT RESTAURANT -------------- ¶3. (C) In April, a squad of AK47-toting police officers, accompanied by immigration officials, raided a local restaurant patronized primarily by expatriates, demanding documentary proof of legal status from each of the patrons present. At gunpoint, the officials lined women and children up on one side of the establishment, and men on the other--irrespective of family association. In what appeared to be an orchestrated event, press arrived on the scene and the officer-in-charge gave a well-crafted interview. An American citizen whose passport was 300 meters away in his hotel room was taken to the local police station and detained for more than 12 hours. -------------- -------------- POLICE ARREST NEW-AGE RELIGIONISTS FOR 'SABOTAGE' -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) In May, national police spokesperson Pedro Cossa gave a press conference announcing that four foreigners had been arrested in the central province of Tete and accused them of attempting to sabotage the Cahora Bassa hydroelectric plant, the site of Africa's second largest dam. The clearly scripted conference included footage of the detainees in shackles and prison garb. Political commentator Gil Lauriciano and analyst Calton Cadeado, appearing on a broadcast of a Radio Mozambique weekly show, described the four as 'mercenaries and terrorists.' More objective observers investigated the case, and found that the four foreigners were members of a New-Age sect who travel around the world, dumping small amounts of quartz into bodies of water to release positive energy from the water and to purify it. Somewhat refreshingly, a few independent press sources subsequently criticized the GRM actions as pure political posturing. Most worrisome however, is that the GRM had held the foreigners for nearly two weeks before informing their MAPUTO 00000661 002 OF 002 respective consular representatives. -------------- CONFLATING RACE AND NATIONAL ORIGIN -------------- ¶5. (C) In an interview with national daily O Pais, famous author Mia Couto (a white Mozambican of Portuguese ancestry) accused members of the ruling FRELIMO party of using government property for personal ends--a fairly unremarkable and unsurprising allegation. The article prompted a vituperative published response from a black Mozambican writer who compared Couto to a "xiconhoca" -- a derogatory term popular some twenty years ago to refer to enemies of the revolution. The same writer contrasted Couto with another racially-tinged term, "Mocambicanos originarios", used to describe "true" Mozambicans. ¶6. (C) Later in May, GRM representatives took advantage of the Second National Conference on Mozambican Culture to call for national resistance to global cultural influences. The conference went well beyond exalting native values and was interpreted by some analysts as an attempt by the GRM to encourage and foment xenophobia. At the conference, President Guebuza described the importance of maintaining Mozambique's "cultural purity" against colonizers new and old. -------------- -------------- COMMENT: XENOPHOBIA NORMAL IN ELECTIONS, BUT THIS IS DIFFERENT -------------- -------------- ¶7. (C) There has already been some violence in the runup to October 28 elections (ref D),and anti-foreign sentiment appears to be growing. It has been standard practice in elections past for the GRM to use xenophobia to distract the populace from the discomforts of a weakening economy, high unemployment, and a shortage of opportunities for Mozambique's growing number of university graduates. However, this year's outbreak of xenophobia, as assessed by others with a longer-term view and experience, seems different. It is likely that the situation reflects the GRM's nervousness about the appearance of a serious new opposition party, the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM),which may present more of a challenge to FRELIMO's entrenched interests than its old foe from the revolutionary days, RENAMO, now largely seen as ineffectual. Local contacts have described the atmosphere as increasingly comparable to the darkest days just after independence in 1975--President Guebuza (then the Minister of Interior) famously became known as "Mr. 24/20" for advising many persons of Portuguese descent, even those born in Mozambique, that they had 24 hours to depart the country and could take only 20 kilograms of belongings. Nationalism during an election campaign is understandable, but the recent actions of the GRM go way beyond, causing many in the expatriate community---embassies, NGO's, and long-term residents--to be increasingly concerned about the ongoing welcome to be expected in Mozambique. CHAPMAN