The U.S. ambassador to Mozambique, Peter H. Vrooman, has sent an urgent cable to Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying that the forced withdrawal from Mozambique of all employees of the main U.S. aid agency would result in a “major vulnerability,” making it impossible for the U.S. government to properly manage $1.5 billion in aid programs, much of it delivering lifesaving humanitarian assistance.
The cable, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, said the absence of experienced agency employees in Mozambique would leave in limbo 114 active funding awards and 225 more junior workers, likely local citizens, “that will all require management and supervision.”
The cable paints a picture of chaos about to descend on the U.S. diplomatic mission and vulnerable citizens of Mozambique because of the imminent departure of the experienced aid workers, many of whom are Foreign Service officers with many years or decades of service.
“As a result, we are unable to put in place sufficient protections, procedures and management to prevent fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement,” Mr. Vrooman wrote in the cable, which is labeled “sensitive but unclassified.”
Other chiefs of missions across Africa are sending similar cables to Mr. Rubio in a rare coordinated effort, said a person with knowledge of the cables.
Mr. Rubio announced on Monday that he would be acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, or U.S.A.I.D., ending its independent status, and was appointing Pete Marocco, a divisive State Department official who worked in the first Trump administration, to oversee daily operations.
The move came after a task force led by Elon Musk, the billionaire adviser to President Trump, worked with Mr. Marocco to force drastic cuts to the agency, freeze much of its technology infrastructure and lock workers out of electronic systems, essentially halting the agency’s operations in advance of complete dismantlement.
The top officials then ordered all U.S.A.I.D. employees around the world — more than 10,000 workers — to go on leave as of Friday and said all direct hires must return to the United States within 30 days. Those orders have now been temporarily blocked by a judge.
On Jan. 20, Mr. Trump signed an executive order halting foreign aid as his major foreign policy action, and Mr. Rubio has said officials will do a 90-day review of all such aid. The total government budget for U.S. foreign aid across several agencies, much of it humanitarian assistance, is about $60 billion per year, less than 1 percent of the federal budget.
In the cable from the embassy in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, Mr. Vrooman, a diplomat of nearly 35 years who has also served as ambassador to Rwanda, argued for Mr. Rubio to allow five aid agency employees to be exempted from the forced departure “to complete required property and management controls and contract wind-down operations, if ordered, in a manner that safeguards U.S. national interests and minimizes legal liabilities” to the U.S. government.
Mr. Vrooman also argued for exemptions to eight health positions to try to keep lifesaving humanitarian assistance programs running. Mr. Rubio has granted a waiver to the blanket foreign aid halt for such programs, but many American officials say they cannot keep the programs running for various reasons. The absence of the necessary health employees “will jeopardize the effectiveness of the waiver to save lives,” Mr. Vrooman wrote, in bold letters.
He noted that U.S.A.I.D. supports 40 active lifesaving and emergency active field programs, and that in Mozambique more than two million people depend on the provision of antiretroviral drugs to prevent the spread of H.I.V., AIDS and strains of tuberculosis.
One U.S.A.I.D. program that requires an experienced manager to be present in Mozambique provides essential treatment for 389,000 people living with H.I.V., Mr. Vrooman noted.
He also wrote in the cable that U.S.A.I.D. families with school-age children should be allowed to stay in the country until mid-June, when the school year ends. Mr. Vrooman did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.
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