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.

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MOZAL ALUMINUM SMELTER WOES
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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.

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IMMIGRATION RAIDS EXPAT RESTAURANT
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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.

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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.

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CONFLATING RACE AND NATIONAL ORIGIN
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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.

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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