Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980, Volume XVII, Part 2, Sub-Saharan Africa

128. Memorandum of Conversation¹

New York, October 4, 1979, noon

SUBJECT

• US/Zairian Relations, Reform in Zaire, Angola

PARTICIPANTS

• US

  • Secretary Vance
  • Assistant Secretary Richard M. Moose
  • Lewis D. Junior, Director, AF/C (Notetaker)

• Zaire

  • Foreign Minister Nguza
  • Ambassador Kasongo

The Foreign Minister opened by presenting a letter from President Mobutu to President Carter,² characterizing it as thanks for Mobutu’s recent successful visit to Washington, for conversations with the President and the Secretary,³ and for the opportunity to meet with key Congressmen such as Mr. Solarz.

In response to the Secretary’s question, Nguza replied that the visit with Solarz had gone well. Personally he had liked the session, which had been handled in a frank democratic way. Mobutu had acknowledged that there is much wrong in Zaire but that it was important to assess current efforts to rectify Zaire’s problems. Mobutu had urged Solarz to come and see for himself; Solarz has accepted and is scheduled to arrive at the end of November.⁴

Nguza said the Washington visit had been a success in more ways than one. In Paris, on the return trip, Giscard told Mobutu that it was “wonderful” that he (Mobutu) had been able to meet with the “leader of the western world”. Giscard took this as a “green light” for further French aid to Zaire but had said that Zaire “must” implement the terms of the IMF agreement. Giscard had opined that the USG too would help if Zaire respected that accord. The Secretary immediately responded “Yes, if”, vocally underlining the “if”.

The Secretary went on to say that he wanted to underscore the importance of not letting the debt rescheduling process slip. He was a little worried because slippage could have adverse effects on Brussels III.⁵

Nguza responded that Mobutu not only was well aware of the importance of rescheduling but also had the political will to follow through. He had instructed that all necessary preparatory work be completed before the end of October to permit getting it to Simonet for dissemination to interested parties.

Moreover, said Nguza, Mobutu is stopping “all” GOZ expenditures not in accord with the IMF agreement. He, Nguza, had received “rumors” in New York of unauthorized expenditures, e.g., for Air Zaire, and in Lubumbashi and Gbadolite. Nguza had immediately sent a cable to Kinshasa saying that he didn’t know if the rumors were true. If so, however, the expenditures were to stop; if not he wanted a cable report. This action was consistent with Mobutu’s action on return to Kinshasa when he had ordered that all unnecessary expenditures be stopped, at least through the end of this year. This, illustratively, included a prohibition on all official foreign travel except for Nguza himself, and even so Mobutu had to review and approve each Nguza trip.

The Secretary asked about Mobutu’s trip to Angola.⁶

The trip had gone well, said Nguza. The preferred of two black candidates to succeed Neto had been chosen, Dos Santos rather than Lucio Lara who is a “hardline Leninist”. Dos Santos may be in for some internal problems even though he is believed to be the “political son” of, and “pre-selected” by, Neto. However on foreign policy he had said he would cleave to the Neto line. On relations with Zaire, Dos Santos had said “Exactly like Neto”. On Namibia, “Exactly like Neto”. On the opening to the West, “Exactly like Neto”. Per Nguza, Dos Santos had added “On the body of my brother Neto”, I will follow his line.”

The meeting terminated with the Secretary’s response, re Dos Santos’ attitude, “Good, that’s important for policy purposes.”

1. Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, North/South, Box 118, Zaire: 1–10/79. Confidential. The meeting took place at USUN. Drafted on October 9 by Junior; cleared by Moose; approved on October 15 by Seitz.
2. The letter has not been found.
3. See Documents 126 and 127.
4. In telegram 241899 to Kinshasa, September 14, the Department reported on Mobutu’s meetings with Members of Congress and a private meeting with Solarz. “Solarz was not impressed with Mobutu’s answers to the charges implicit in his (Solarz) presentation. Solarz was initially enthusiastic in accepting Mobutu’s invitation to visit Zaire, but is now backing off to take another look at his up-coming schedule.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D790420–0454)
5. The third Brussels meeting on Zaire took place November 28–29. In telegram 21050 from Brussels, November 30, Walker, who headed the U.S. delegation, gave a positive assessment of the Brussels conference. “Everyone recognized the strides that Zaire has taken in the areas of political, military, economic and administrative reform.” Still, while the donor countries volunteered more debt relief for Zaire, they did not fill the entire resource gap. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D790551–0283) The first Brussels conference took place June 13–14, 1978; see footnote 7, Document 112. Harrop’s assessment of the second conference, held November 9–10, 1978, is in telegram 21465 from Brussels, November 10, 1978. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy, D780465–0999)
6. In telegram 10792 from Kinshasa, October 9, the Embassy reported that “President Mobutu, Foreign Minister Nguza, and an entourage visited Luanda for six hours on September 27. During that time Mobutu paid homage to the late Agostinho Neto, conferred with President Dos Santos, and participated in a joint press conference which affirmed the continuation of Zairian-Angolan détente.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D790463–0262)