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

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000125 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR B. NEULING 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE 
AFR/SA FOR E. LOKEN 
COMMERCE FOR BECKY ERKUL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2011 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON ZI ZANU PF
SUBJECT: ZANU-PF SENATOR/FINANCIER PURSUES ENHANCED 
BILATERAL DIALOGUE 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Christopher Dell under Section 1.4 b/d 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  (C) Aguy Georgias, a recently appointed ZANU-PF aligned 
Senator and CEO of Trinity Engineering, on January 31 sought 
Embassy participation in an informal dialogue he hoped to set 
up with a to-be-named interlocutor selected by President 
Mugabe.  He asserted that in Zimbabwe's dysfunctional 
political environment, only Mugabe was capable of shifting 
the country's disastrous course and reorienting Zimbabwe 
toward the West, which offered its only real prospect for 
salvation.  He recognized that real bilateral re-engagement 
was predicated on meaningful political and economic reform 
but urged that the USG be open to building a rapport that 
could presage progress.  End summary. 
 
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Call for Dialogue 
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¶2.  (C) Elaborating on points conveyed generally to the 
Ambassador at a social event January 19 (including in a 
shared paper that Embassy e-mailed to AF/S), Georgias 
emphasized his personal priority on improving bilateral 
relations.  He asserted that each government had backed 
itself into a corner rhetorically and ordinary Zimbabweans 
were paying the price.  Decline had gone too far for Zimbabwe 
to pull itself out of the spiral by itself; foreign 
assistance and economic engagement with the West were 
Zimbabwe's only hope. 
 
 
¶3.  (C) Accordingly, the ruling party financier said he would 
try to use his personal relationship with Mugabe to impress 
on him the country's need of the West, and the prospects for 
rapprochement.  In this regard, he hoped to have Mugabe 
identify a trusted subordinate who could meet with the 
Embassy to explore options for refurbishing the relationship. 
 He solicited Embassy views on how to establish an informal 
dialogue and make it fruitful. 
 
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Party Dysfunctional; "Mugabe the Key" 
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¶4.  (C) Georgias stressed that President Mugabe himself held 
the key to changing the country's disastrous course.  He said 
that Mugabe was increasingly isolated from events but still 
had authority.  He got little good advice and the party saw 
little meaningful debate.  A growing generational divide 
further hampered communication.    Mugabe knew he couldn't 
trust his politburo and cabinet, most of whom either were so 
absorbed in economic self-aggrandizement or too politically 
insecure to actively support meaningful outreach to the West. 
 
¶5. (C) Georgias admitted that internal fear and loathing 
would complicate any outreach to the West.  He warned that 
the ruling party's senior leaders had become so divorced from 
the national interest that the party would not necessarily 
reorient itself to the West once Mugabe moved on, as many 
expected.  Convincing the octogenarian autocrat, he 
concluded, offered the best and perhaps last chance of 
changing the country's course. 
 
¶6. (C) The West could help in this regard, Georgias 
maintained, by appealing to Mugabe's "legacy" concerns (i.e. 
vanity and security).  He asserted that the starting point 
for moving Mugabe lay in "language of respect", regardless of 
how tough the West was in pressing its conditions for 
re-engagement.  Georgias recognized the USG's position that 
any rapprochement would have to predicated on meaningful 
political and economic reform, but suggested Mugabe's ego 
meant that conditionality themes should be subordinated to 
"confidence-building" at the outset of any informal exchanges 
that may ensue. 
 
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Ambassador's Door Open But( 
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¶7.  (C) In response, poloff reiterated points earlier 
conveyed by the Ambassador during the January 19 exchange. 
The U.S. door was open to ruling party and Government 
officials, but we saw little in the regime's behavior or 
posture that would justify improved relations.  Better 
relations required meaningful political and economic reform 
as well as accountability.  In addition, notwithstanding 
Georgias's view of prospects for Mugabe driving change, 
Mugabe appeared increasingly irrelevant.  The whole party and 
country already had one foot into the post-Mugabe era.  In 
closing, Georgias reiterated he would press his case with 
Mugabe for informal dialogue with the U.S. and the West. 
 
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Bio Notes 
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¶7.  (C) Georgias' Senate appointment probably was in 
recognition of his historical financial support for the 
party.  He emphasized that he was not a politician and, 
indeed, we have seen no evidence that he is involved in 
factional politics.  During our exchanges with him, he 
generally has eschewed personal criticisms, although he was 
excoriating in references to Security/Lands Minister Didymus 
Mutasa.  He claimed to have "beaten" Reserve Bank Governor 
Gideon Gono on fair and amicable terms in substantial 
litigation a couple of years ago and remained on good terms 
with him.  He further claimed to have earned Mugabe's trust 
for being honest in all his government contracting over the 
years, even as others were rigging contracts and brazenly 
skimming public funds. 
 
¶8.  (C) Georgias claimed to have been suffering from 
Zimbabwe's economic downturn like everybody else - his 
company's employment was down from 300 to 130.  He said that 
one key to his business success was the "American work ethic" 
he had learned while working at U.S. firm Chicago Bridge and 
Iron Company early in his career.  He said he was appalled at 
fast track land reform, and had intervened on behalf of 
several commercial farmers. 
 
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Comment 
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¶9.  (C) Georgias represents what appears to be a dwindling 
ZANU-PF-aligned business constituency that is disgusted with 
the ruling elite's &every-man-for-himself8 corruption.  His 
assertion that Mugabe himself is best situated to re-orient 
the country westward is a throwback to better days that fails 
to understand the extent to which Mugabe has burned those 
bridges.  The reality on the ground is that most Zimbabweans, 
whether ruling party supporters or not, are anxious to see 
the last of him.  We don't see Georgias getting much purchase 
with Mugabe or others his call for a dialogue.  That said, he 
may prove to be a useful conduit to Mugabe,s potential 
successors in the mold of senior Jesuit Fidelis Mukonori and 
politburo member Simba Makoni, and we continue to emphasize 
our willingness to talk to anyone as long as it's clear that 
reform is a predicate to any meaningful re-engagement. 
DELL