Why this U.S. ambassador cried at a press conference -- and is being called a hero

Michael Gonzales, U.S. ambassador to Zambia, astatine the Thursday property league erstwhile helium announced a chopped of $50 cardinal successful assistance for medications and aesculapian supplies to the country. After 29 minutes, helium was wiping distant tears: "I've cried implicit this due to the fact that I cognize that it's not going to beryllium elder officials oregon the elder radical ... who are going to hurt. I cognize it's going to beryllium the mediocre household successful agrarian Zambia whose babe gets malaria and they won't person entree to anti-malarials."
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U.S. Embassy Zambia

The U.S. ambassador to Zambia — Michael Gonzales — began his Thursday press conference connected a somber note. After 29 minutes, helium was wiping distant tears.

His distress goes backmost to a find made successful precocious 2021: Medications and aesculapian supplies donated to Zambia by the U.S. were being stolen. After 13 months of demanding alteration and 33 meetings with elder members of the Zambian government, helium said helium had nary prime but to chopped $50 cardinal successful assistance for medications and aesculapian supplies.

"I presumption this arsenic a heart-wrenching worst lawsuit scenario," helium said astatine the property conference. "I've mislaid slumber implicit this. I've cried implicit this due to the fact that I cognize that it's not going to beryllium elder officials oregon the elder radical who are getting affluent from this, who are going to hurt. I cognize it's going to beryllium the mediocre household successful agrarian Zambia whose babe gets malaria and they won't person entree to anti-malarials. It breaks my heart."

"But," helium continued. "I besides person a work to the American people, to the American taxpayer, to safeguard and guarantee the bully usage of these resources."

What happened

Between 2021 and 2023, Gonzales said his squad astatine the embassy sent "buyers" to sojourn much than 2,000 pharmacies successful each state and territory successful Zambia. They focused connected stores that sold the aforesaid benignant of medications being donated by the U.S. and others similar the Global Fund and the Zambian government. They recovered that 95% of those pharmacies were selling stolen drugs. And 45% of these pharmacies were selling products the U.S. "had provided to Zambia for escaped for Zambians successful need."

"The scope, the frequency, the patterns of the theft permission maine with zero uncertainty that this is an organized transgression endeavor that includes reasonably elder people," Gonzales said.

Annually, the U.S. provides astir $600 cardinal successful assistance to Zambia with $450 cardinal going to wellness related efforts. That includes $128 cardinal for medicines and aesculapian supplies.

The results of specified investments person been impressive, Gonzales said proudly: 98% of HIV-positive radical successful Zambia cognize their presumption and 99% are connected HIV medicine that suppresses the virus. Roughly 11% of Zambians person HIV.

"Today, millions of Zambians are surviving longer, healthier lives due to the fact that of this assistance," helium said.

At the property conference, Gonzales said helium was alarmed by the theft – and frustrated by the Zambian government's deficiency of action.

What didn't happen

On April 3, 2024, Gonzales said helium and his squad of investigators met with "very senior" authorities officials to sermon the findings of their operation. They besides offered to proviso U.S. experts successful proviso concatenation absorption and instrumentality enforcement to assistance halt the thefts and bring the culprits to justice.

There was "minimal action," Gonzales said, noting that "only a fewer mid-level officials" were arrested.

He described repeated efforts to get the Zambian authorities to halt the theft and clasp the culprits accountable earlier making the determination to chopped the magnitude of assistance provided for medications.

This chopped successful assistance is wholly chiseled from the Trump Administration's sweeping changes to overseas assistance, said Gonzales, who was appointed by erstwhile President Joe Biden and sworn successful arsenic ambassador to Zambia successful August 2022. In the archetypal fewer weeks of his term, President Trump dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development, which led to further and important medication disruptions successful Zambia and elsewhere.

Gonzales said the $50 cardinal successful enactment for medications would not halt flowing astatine the extremity of the year, giving the existent Zambian authorities clip to procure medications successful the anticipation of avoiding shortages.

That attack to cutting assistance is noteworthy, said Dr. Paul Spiegel, manager of the Center for Humanitarian Health astatine the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

"What stands retired successful this lawsuit is that, dissimilar the caller monolithic backing cuts from the U.S. medication to planetary wellness – which person been abrupt, terrible and not targeted to minimize harm – the U.S. Ambassador to Zambia noted that they are allowing Zambia clip to make alternatives to mitigate disruptions to wellness services," helium wrote successful an email to NPR, calling the play betwixt present and January 2026 "a captious window" for immoderate efforts to question alternate funding.

But that won't beryllium an casual task for the government, said Spiegel, fixed that countries successful Europe person besides slashed assistance budgets recently. "If they are incapable to [secure alternate funds], the consequences to these cuts for treating malaria, tuberculosis and HIV volition beryllium dire – and radical volition die," helium said.

After the Gonzales announcement, the Zambian Minister of Health — Elijah Muchima —- released a statement, saying "the Zambian Government wishes to reaffirm its committedness to resolving this unfortunate issue."

Muchima acknowledged the theft of medicine is simply a long-standing contented successful the country, saying it predates the existent administration, which came to powerfulness pursuing the 2021 election. He outlined steps the authorities has taken frankincense far, including the instauration of a Joint National Drug Task unit and a integer strategy to way medications. He besides said respective elder members of the Zambia Medicines & Medical Supplies Agency oregon ZAMMSA were suspended oregon removed from their positions, including the director wide successful February 2025. Muchima said that "all the suspects volition spell done the full ineligible process."

Spiegel said that theft of aesculapian supplies is "not uncommon, particularly successful countries with weaker wellness systems and inadequate oversight mechanisms." He said determination person been akin cases successful Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. Indeed, cause theft and resale is simply a planetary occupation that has been reported successful the U.S. arsenic well.

What now

News of the stolen medications and the $50 cardinal chopped successful U.S. assistance reverberated astir Zambia. Chris Zumani Zimba, a Zambian governmental idiosyncratic affiliated with the University of Central Africa, said determination were 2 simultaneous reactions.

On the 1 hand, helium said, galore were profoundly grateful to the U.S. ambassador and America.

"In the eyes of galore Zambians today, the United States authorities is being seen arsenic a leader government. It is the [U.S.] authorities that is exposing gross and expansive corruption and looting successful the [Zambian] nationalist wellness sector," said Zimba, who was an advisor to the erstwhile Zambian administration. "Zambian radical are looking to the American authorities arsenic a governmental savior and a governmental redeemer."

On the different hand, helium said, determination is simply a consciousness of fearfulness astir what lies ahead.

The quality that the U.S. is cutting $50 cardinal successful wellness assistance "was received arsenic if it was a declaration of a household ceremonial successful galore parts of Zambia, due to the fact that it is going to beryllium a wellness crisis," said Zimba. More than fractional of Zambians unrecorded beneath the planetary poorness line, and Zimba said that those astir successful request of assistance volition endure the top from the assistance cut.

Echoing the words of Ambassador Gonzales, helium said, "It's conscionable heartbreaking."