Cablegate: Media Reaction President Bush's Visit to Africa;

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS HARARE 001377

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KPAO KMDR ZI
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION PRESIDENT BUSH'S VISIT TO AFRICA;
HARARE

1. Weekend editorials continue to focus on President
Bush's first trip to Africa. Excerpts follow:

2. Under headline "Rude awakening awaits Bush" the
government-controlled weekly "Sunday News" (06/29)
comments:

"The announcement that U. S. President George W.
Bush, whose hands are dripping with the blood of
brave Iraqi soldiers and defenseless Iraqi women and
children, is set to visit Africa from 7 to 12 July
should surely send chills in the spines of
independent thinking, peace loving Africans and anti-
imperial forces on the continent. Already one such
peace loving statesman on the African continent. .
.Mr. Nelson Mandela has set the tone for the sort of
reception which Bush should expect from independent
Africans when he visits next month. . .The United
States leader, George W. Bush is now a loose canon
in world politics. . .It is clear therefore that
during his visit to Africa, Bush will try and
influence African leaders to `rein in' President
Mugabe who is exposing U. S.'s hegemonic tendencies
in return for aid. Americans are known for their
belief in the carrot and stick approach as a
political arsenal in world politics. . .Like what he
did in Iraq, he is playing the savior for what he
regards as `poor Zimbabweans' under a dictatorship.
Such a patronizing attitude can never be brooked by
any serious independent African both in the
continent and in the Diaspora unless they are
prepared for the re-colonization of the continent.
There is no need for U. S. involvement in the
solution of the problems bedeviling
Zimbabweans. . .If America is genuinely interested
in helping Zimbabweans solve their problems it
should stop fuelling politics of hatred and
sponsoring attempts to overthrow a legitimate
government. . .The British and American machinations
to isolate Zimbabwe are well documented and so is
the resistance by African countries to be used in
this game. . .We therefore call upon all Africans to
continue with this African solidarity when Bush
visits the continent next month. Africans for
Africans - that should be the guiding rule. . . ."

3. Under headline "Act against American meddling" the
government-controlled daily "Chronicle" (06/28)
comments:

"The world, it appears, is yet to see more of
American meddling and indiscriminate bullying at the
instigation of the Bush administration. This is the
same administration that took over from Bill Clinton
and further dented the credibility of the United
Nations. The U. N. could be mistaken for some
department in Bush's administration since he can
veto its decisions and out rightly defy others with
no fear of punishment. While the rest of the world
has complained about the flagrant disregard for
international law where the U. S. seeks to protect
or expand its interests, very little had come our
way from the State's people with regard to the way
it conducts its business, and even other
people's. . .Zimbabwe, in its small way has tried to
play its part in bringing order to the region by
sending its troops to trouble spots on the
continent, with the most recent under the auspices
of SADC, in the DRC. However, the Americans have
been the stumbling block since they have backed the
two countries whose armies invaded the DRC. . .To
this day, that country has not seen peace, and the
U. S. seems content. . .And the plunder by a country
that fails to run its own elections yet accusing all
other countries of failing to run theirs, seems to
be going a gear up amid reports that Bush will be
visiting the Southern African region, where he is
threatening to unleash his disastrous recipe on
Zimbabwe. He is so obsessed with regime change
throughout the world under the false belief that it
would guarantee him some emperor tag. . .Zimbabwe is
presently under Western-imposed sanctions. So was
Iraqi before the American invasion that has resulted
in misery for the Iraqi people. The U. N. has to
act against the continued invasions or the little
that remains of its credibility will vanish. . . ."

SULLIVAN

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