Human Rights Developments

Defending Human Rights

The Role of the International Community

The international community's prime focus during the year was on humanitarian assistance at the time of the floods. For post-flood, reconstruction emergency aid was quickly deployed and South Africa played an important role, including through helicopter rescue operations, while Western countries procrastinated during the early stages of the crisis. As with Hurricane Mitch in Central America fifteen months before, debt relief quickly became a central issue. Mozambique continued to be part of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, which had reduced debt service payments by about U.S.$1 million weekly.

United States

United States-Mozambique relations deteriorated over the election period, especially after the U.S. issued a statement in December 1999 suggesting that the government had been responsible for electoral fraud. A subsequent Washington Post article, quoting an undisclosed senior State Department official saying the government probably won by fraud, resulted in an even frostier period. The U.S. response to the flooding crisis led to a rapid improvement of the relationship as U.S. Marines were sent to assist in the relief efforts. During 2000 the U.S. continued to be the largest bilateral donor in Mozambique.