VZCZCXRO2629
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHTO #1085/01 3221208
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 171208Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY MAPUTO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9562
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHPA/AMEMBASSY PRAIA 0024

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 001085 
 
AF/S FOR MSHIELDS 
AF/PD FOR CANYASO, DTITUS AND LALLISON 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO KMDR PREL PGOV KDEM MZ
SUBJECT: U.S. ELECTION NIGHT CELEBRATION DRAWS RECORD CROWDS 
 
REF: MAPUTO 963 
 
MAPUTO 00001085  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  In the final weeks of the 2008 U.S. Election, 
Mozambicans remained captivated, and Public Affairs Maputo responded 
with a number of programs, culminating in a grand elections night 
bash with close to 600 people at the national conference center. 
The November 4 celebration is not the end of elections programs, 
however.  There is great interest in th transition process and the 
coming presidency, which provide an excellent opportunity to 
continue to engage Mozambicans on issues of democratic development 
and U.S. policy toward Africa.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  On November 4, our rented pavilion at Mozambique's National 
Conference Center was a vision in red, white and blue as close to 
600 guests - academics, journalists, civil society, government 
officials, and American citizens -- celebrated the end of the 
campaign.  At the largest U.S. Mission event on record, non-American 
guests participated in a mock-vote; took pictures with the 
candidates' cut-outs (printed copies of the photos offered to them 
as "favors" at their departure); engaged with Embassy officials on 
the facets of the U.S. electoral process; viewed on various screens 
across the room live news coverage, the presidential debates and the 
candidates' biography films; and cheered on Mozambican university 
students as they did a mock debate playing the roles of Obama, 
McCain, Biden, and Palin.  The Charge d'Affaires later hosted an 
early breakfast on November 5 for a group of 30 Ambassadors and 
government officials, fortuitously timed to coincide with 
President-Elect Obama's victory speech. 
 
ENTHUSIASM HIGH IN THE FINAL MONTH 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  Turnout on November 4 was so high in part due to sustained 
elections programming beginning in July. We used our Public Affairs 
Center to show all four U.S. Debates (taped).  While we could not 
offer them in Portuguese, enthusiastic students, most of whom have 
at least some English, attended and watched attentively. The PAO and 
PDO led discussions afterwards to clarify concepts like "Joe the 
Plumber" and to engage the audience on what they thought not only of 
the candidates' performance but on the style of American debates. 
Responding to the interest on campuses, Public Affairs took one of 
the debate programs outside of town to 100 students at the Higher 
Institute of International Relations (ISRI). 
 
¶4.  On October 8, we supported two local NGOs -- the Center for 
Mozambican and International Studies (CEMO) and the Martin Luther 
King Institute (IMALK) - for a panel discussion on the U.S. Election 
and foreign policy to a crowd of 200 at a local hotel.  Two Embassy 
officers spoke respectively on each party/candidate, with a local 
media editor and a university professor giving commentary. The 
following Q and A led to some debating, "Would an Obama presidency 
really benefit Africa more?"  The media commentator underscored that 
the Bush Administration has given unprecedented levels of aid to 
Africa and cited PEPFAR, PMI and MCC.  (The distribution of our 
Mission newsletter "Estamos Juntos" at the event likely helped spur 
the idea.) 
 
STUDENT DEBATES KICK OFF AROUND TOWN 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶5.   The October 8 event served as a catalyst for a series of 
student debates with university students around the Maputo area that 
followed in the four weeks leading up to Election Day.  Four student 
finalists were selected from that debate series.  Representing the 
Democratic and Republican parties, they squared off in true 
American-style debates (Presidential and Vice Presidential) at our 
Election Night celebration.  In Mozambique, where gender equality 
suffers, guests were enthralled by the petite young female student 
representing Joe Biden; the international relations student had 
studied the Democratic Senator's policies to a tee and gave a 
riveting performance deserving of the large crowd that 
enthusiastically gathered around the stage to see her.  (A male 
candidate stood opposite her playing Sarah Palin.)  The debates were 
moderated by accomplished journalist and editor Salomao Moyane, who 
had covered the final U.S. Presidential debate in New York on the 
Foreign Press Center's October tour. 
 
¶6.  While most programming was in or near Maputo, the Charge used 
his trip to the northern city of Nampula to give the mostly Muslim 
population there a chance to engage with him on the U.S. elections. 
In an informal setting at Nampula's Catholic University, the Charge 
took questions on the candidates' policies and the electoral process 
from a group of 65 students, educators and media members. 
 
MOZAMBICAN JOURNALISTS OFFER A FIRST-HAND VIEW 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶7. In addition to Moyane),  we assisted two other prominent 
Mozambican journalists to travel to the U.S. during the elections 
 
MAPUTO 00001085  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
period: a Noticias (state-owned daily national newspaper) writer 
attended the Edward R. Murrow International Visitor program and sent 
in regular stories about his experience engaging American citizens 
across the nation.  Independent media Soico editor participated in 
the Foreign Press Center's "embed" tour, spending three weeks in the 
United States and doing live (call-in) broadcasts on S-TV, which is 
now a station with near national reach. His more than adozen 
articles in the newspaper O Pais gave Mozambicans a chance to 
understand the U.S. elections from the perspective of a respected 
Mozambican voice. 
 
¶8. On November 5, the Charge held a press conference in his home to 
talk about the results.  Fifteen media reps, including three 
editors, came and quoted the Charge's comments in that evening and 
the next day's news.Due to IIP's fast translation work for us, we 
sent out translated Portuguese versions of the President-Elect's 
victory speech and the concession speech by Senator McCain. The 
former was used in at least two newspapers. 
 
¶9. Finally, from November 4 - 5, two Mozambican television stations, 
S-TV and TIM (Independent Television of Mozambique) did special 
hours-long block reports on our Elections Night event interspersed 
with the results coming in from the U.S.  TIM featured a lengthy 
interview with the PAO, who explained in Portuguese the concepts of 
National Party Conventions and the Electoral College, and also aired 
several interviews with Americans and Mozambicans from our grand 
event. Both stations broadcasted the IIP-produced short videos on 
"Obama Volunteers" and "McCain Volunteers" which we had subtitled in 
Portuguese for them. 
 
 
INFORMATION CENTER AT ELECTIONS NIGHT GALA A HIT 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶10. In addition to providing copies of elections-themed e-Journals 
and translated America.gov and IIP publications, such as the 
candidates' bios/family bios and articles on their expected Africa 
policies at our IRC, American Corners and other events, guests at 
the November 4 bash visited a mini-information center where they 
could collect IIP materials.  The IIP elections PowerPoint formed 
the backdrop for the Mission panelists' presentations on the U.S. 
electoral process, while the two short IIP videos on campaign 
volunteers were a huge hit with party guests.  Visitors to the IRC 
continue to ask for information on President-elect Obama and the 
electoral process. 
 
 
IT'S NOT OVER YET 
----------------- 
 
¶11. The Obama victory continues to dominate headlines.  Taking 
advantage of the sustained interest, the PDO chose as our monthly 
Public Affairs Center movie on November 6 the biography film on 
President-Elect Obama.  It was one of the best-attended film 
screenings to date; participants also received copies of Obama and 
McCain speeches translated overnight by IIP. 
 
COMMENT: Profound Impact a Unique Opportunity 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶12. The new ground broken in our political experience has resonated 
strongly here.  Mozambicans currently campaigning for their own 
elections here are evoking the American experience; analysts and 
commentators are publicly asking, "What about Africa? What about 
Mozambique?", questioning whether this continent can get over racial 
and ethnic divisions as the United States has appeared to have 
accomplished.  The transparency of our entire elections process, 
from the primaries to the conventions to the concession speech and 
President Bush's open cooperation with President-Elect Obama has 
deeply impressed Mozambicans and led them to call for the same. 
 
¶13. Floods of emails, cell phone text messages and phone calls came 
in after November 4 congratulating our Elections Night event and our 
new President-Elect. We face a time of amazing opportunity to win 
over skeptical Mozambicans now heartened by the elections.  This 
nation's founding father's widow, American citizen Janet Mondlane, 
told the Charge and PAO at a recent lunch that "This is the time to 
bring together the peoples of both countries," and we plan on doing 
so with increased outreach, taking advantage of new exchange program 
offerings like YES (Youth Exchange and Study) and working up until 
and after January 20 to explain what is "a peaceful transition in 
the world's most powerful nation." 
 
¶14. The success of Mission programs was greatly aided by the volume, 
variety, and quality of IIP materials we received, and the speed 
with which they were translated into Portuguese, so we send our 
thanks to IIP/Africa and the translation office in Cape Verde. 
 
CHAPMAN