The small country in southern Africa, populated by 2.3 million inhabitants, probably did not expect this stake launched from Washington. The Lesotho government said on Wednesday March 5, “Shocked and embarrassed” by the comments made the day before by the American president, Donald Trump, for whom “No one has ever heard of Lesotho”.
The tenant of the White House justified in front of the congress the massive budget cuts in the help of the United States abroad, in particular citing “Eight million dollars to promote LGBT+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which no one has ever heard”.
“Have you heard of the kingdom in the heavens?”The apostrophe on X (ex-Twitter) and the Malédium militant proddémocracy Austho. I imagine no, too busy playing golf to notice it. »» “Lesotho is the only country in the world entirely located more than 1,000 meters above sea level, higher than your popularity has ever beenhe continues. We are here, we are proud, and we are not there to serve you to make jokes. »»
“We did not expect a head of state to evoke another sovereign nation in this way”told the Agency France-Presse (AFP), the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lejone Mpotjoane. The Government of Lesotho, a mountainous kingdom of 2.3 million inhabitants, is “Shocked and embarrassed”he said. “We do not take this case lightly”Added the minister, explaining that the government would send an official letter of protest to Washington, who has an embassy in the capital of Lesotho, Maseru.
No trace of the $ 8 million
The help program to which Donald Trump was referred to Tuesday was not clarified on Wednesday. The main NGO supporting LGBT+ people in Lesotho, People’s Matrix, assured AFP on Wednesday that he had not received the “8 million dollars” mentioned by the American president. “We literally do not receive American funds”said the spokesperson for the NGO Tampose Mothopeng. “We have no idea the assignment of these $ 8 million”Added Tampose Mothopeng. “We do not know who has received or will receive this money. »» “We do not have such a budget or a contract approaching a quarter of half of this sum”he still assured.
The American government portal Foreignassistance.Gov compiling the subsidies of all its agencies does not mention anything about funding from NGOs supporting LGBT+people.
The American president ordered drastic budget cuts in American humanitarian aid and development, as part of an savings plan also to align these programs to Donald Trump’s foreign policy. The American Development Agency (USAID) has been almost dismantled and more than 90 % of its funding abroad have been abolished.
American aid against HIV
If it is difficult to find the trace of the possible sum of $ 8 million mentioned by Donald Trump, it is nevertheless true that Lesotho has been a major beneficiary of American aid in recent years.
Indeed, the country has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world: around one in four adults is HIV positive, according to the Ministry of Health. And health is the first sector helped by American funds with $ 120 million allocated in 2024, including 43.5 million for the fight against HIV/AIDS. In the absence of funding from the United States, the programs to combat HIV in Lesotho are likely to collapse, some thirty non-governmental organizations warned in mid-February.
