VZCZCXRO5465
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHTO #0164 0540953
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230953Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY MAPUTO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8598
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 0001
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0121

UNCLAS MAPUTO 000164 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CU PGOV PREL ECON ETRD MZ
SUBJECT: CUBA AND MOZAMBIQUE: A LONG AND CONTINUING 
RELATIONSHIP 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  More than 3500 Mozambicans have studied 
in Cuba since 1977; many of them now occupy important 
positions in the Government of Mozambique (GRM) and in the 
ruling FRELIMO party, even as close advisors to current 
President Armando Guebuza.  Relations between the two 
countries' governments cooled somewhat when Mozambique 
embraced a market economy in the early 1990's.  There now 
appears to be an attempt by the GRM to at least maintain if 
not revive relations between the two countries which share a 
revolutionary past, if for nothing else than to continue to 
benefit from Cuban doctors still working in country. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U) Cuban support of Mozambican education began in 1977 
when former Mozambican President Zamora Machel visited 
Havana.  During that visit, Fidel Castro offered to educate 
thousands of Mozambican youth at Cuba's expense.  Many other 
Mozambicans received training either in Cuba or in Mozambique 
from Cuban instructors who taught courses on health, 
education, agriculture, defense and security. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Nearly 3500 Mozambicans have been trained or 
educated in Cuba to date; many received their entire formal 
schooling in Cuba.  Numerous Cuban-trained Mozambicans hold 
or have held positions in the GRM: Aiuba Cuereneia, current 
Minister of Planning and Development (one of the ministers 
closest to President Guebuza); Edgar Cossa, former Deputy 
Spokesperson of FRELIMO in the National Assembly; the late 
General Sebastiao Mabote, former army commander; and Castigo 
Langa, Minister of Industry and Trade in the Chissano 
government and currently Chairman of the Mozambique-Cuba 
Friendship Association. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Cuban political figures are held in high regard 
among Mozambicans who studied in Cuba.  Stories of how Cuban 
intelligence has repeatedly foiled USG attempts to 
assassinate Fidel Castro are common.  Members of the 
Mozambique-Cuba Friendship Association often address each 
other in Spanish when they meet, listen to Cuban music and 
lead retrospective discussions on what they view as Cuba's 
generosity to many nations in need in Africa. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Cuba continues to provide doctors to the Mozambican 
Ministry of Health, though the Mozambicans must provide 
housing and a stipend of about $1,000 per month per doctor. 
A Ministry of Health contact noted that the number of doctors 
has been declining in recent years as other countries 
seemingly were able to provide larger stipends for the Cuban 
doctors, something the GRM was not prepared to do.  Cuba 
maintains a small Embassy in Maputo, though its Ambassador, 
Evangeline Seoane Dominguez, maintains a low profile and 
rarely appears at diplomatic events. 
 
¶6.     (SBU) COMMENT:  Cuba's friendly relationship with 
FRELIMO and the GRM began during Mozambique's war for 
independence but cooled in the early 1990s, when Mozambique 
embraced a market economy.  There now appear to be efforts by 
the GRM to at least maintain if not revive relations between 
the two countries.  In May 2005, the Mozambican Minister of 
Foreign Affairs paid a visit to Cuba during which she praised 
the Cuban authorities for their efforts in helping Mozambique 
with an anti-cholera vaccine and expressed the hope that 
Cuban scientists would provide help to Mozambique in fighting 
malaria and tuberculosis.  In 2006, on the occasion of the 
80th birthday of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, the 
Mozambique-Cuba Friendship Association held a ceremony in 
Gaza province which was attended by the Cuban Ambassador to 
Mozambique, Cuban doctors working in Mozambique and 
Mozambicans who had studied in Cuba.  At the ceremony the 
village of Nhpondzone was renamed "Fidel Castro Village."  In 
2007, the Mozambican Minister of Education expressed the hope 
that Cuba would assist in creating a school of medicine at a 
university in northern Mozambique.  Minister Cuereneia 
traveled to Cuba in 2007 to discuss continuing ties between 
the two countries.  Cuba and Mozambique's relationship is 
rooted in its shared revolutionary past.  Continuing the 
medical assistance received from Cuba would seem to be the 
tangible reason for Mozambique's interest in maintaining this 
relationship. END COMMENT. 
Chapman