Sanctions carried out against Zimbabwe by the British, American and EU states, coupled with an internationally coordinated campaign of slander and vilification of the ruling party and the government, has isolated the country and severely crippled its economy.
IMPERIALISTS BUTT IN AS OPPOSITION ABANDONS ZIMBABWE ELECTION
ZANU-PF denies human rights violations
By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire
Published Jun 26, 2008 6:40 AM
Reports emanating from Western press agencies and Zimbabwe opposition forces claim that acts of violence and political repression have led to the withdrawal of the Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai from the June 27 run-off elections. As a result of these accusations, which include acts of arson and murder, there have been fresh calls for intensifying the existing economic sanctions against this southern African nation. On June 23 it was also reported that the leader of the MDC-T, Morgan Tsvangirai, had taken temporary “refuge” in the Dutch embassy in Zimbabwe.
Nonetheless, the President of Zimbabwe and leader of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriot Front Party (ZANU-PF), Robert Mugabe, has denied that the state and its security apparatus, as well as its organizational cadre, have engaged in acts of retribution against the Western-backed opposition MDC-T.
According to an article published in the state newspaper, The Herald, on June 24, Pres. Mugabe accused the Western imperialist nations of further attempts to overthrow the ruling party. The veteran leader was “adressing more than 15,000 people at Gaza Stadium in Chipinge yesterday, when he said: ‘Britain and her allies are telling a lot of lies about Zimbabwe, saying a lot of people are dying. These are all lies because they want to build a situation to justify their intervention in Zimbabwe.’”
President Mugabe “urged Zimbabweans to safeguard the country’s sovereignty by voting for him in Friday’s presidential run-off since MDC-T was a creation of the West.” The Herald article continues: “[A]ddressing thousands of Zanu-PF supporters at Masvosva Business Center in Makoni West later during the day, Comrade Mugabe said people should ensure an emphatic victory for the ruling party in memory of those who perished during the liberation struggle.
“He said many sons and daughters from Manicaland died during the struggle and people in the province should not allow the country to be recolonized.”
In another article published in the Zimbabwe Herald on June 24, it states that: “Two days after announcing his intention to withdraw from the June 27 presidential run-off, MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai is yet to write to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to make his position official. It was only later that day that Tsvangirai’s withdrawal letter reached the ZEC.
“ZEC yesterday said it was ready for Friday’s presidential run-off and the three House of Assembly by-elections with deployment of polling officers having started while election material is being moved to the districts.”
UN Security Council statement
On June 23, after five hours of debate, the United Nations Security Council issued a statement in response to the political situation in Zimbabwe. The statement read in part that the atmosphere inside the country “made it impossible for a free and fair election to take place.” The statement was passed with a unanimous vote.
However, an alternative statement that called for placing opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in power by recognizing him as the de facto leader of the country was rejected. This statement was drafted by the United States, Britain and France, and would have provided a political weapon to justify further support for the Western-backed MDC-T in its quest for regime change in Zimbabwe.
The current strategy of the Western nations is to work toward the total denial of international legitimacy and recognition of the ZANU-PF government in Zimbabwe. The passage of this United Nations resolution represents the first time that the internal affairs of Zimbabwe have come before the Security Council where China, South Africa and Russia voted to criticize the Southern African nation.
The government of Zimbabwe has been under tremendous pressure since the year 2000 in the aftermath of the seizure of farmland controlled by the European-origin settlers. The white farmers controlled most of the arable land as a by-product of the continued legacy of British colonialism, which ruled the country from the 1890s until the time of national independence in 1980.
The formal independence of Zimbabwe was won through a protracted armed struggle that lasted between the mid-1960s until the convening of the Lancaster House Summit held in late 1979. The Lancaster House Agreement created the conditions for the transition of state power from the settler-colonialists regime of Ian Smith to the liberation movements of ZANU-PF and the now dissolved Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU-PF), which eventually merged with ZANU-PF in 1987.
Imperialist slander campaign
Sanctions carried out against Zimbabwe by the British, American and EU states, coupled with an internationally coordinated campaign of slander and vilification of the ruling party and the government, has isolated the country and severely crippled its economy. Zimbabwe has become more dependent on food aid and has not been able to acquire significant credit from international financial institutions.
The country has not collapsed because of the political and economic support given to it by China and South Africa. The Western nations have pressured the Republic of South Africa to refuse to allow goods to be transported to Zimbabwe through its territory and also to cut off power supplies emanating from South Africa into Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country with no direct access to the Indian Ocean. Mozambique to the east has also served as a route for goods coming into Zimbabwe. During the 1980s and early 1990s, when the apartheid-backed Movement of National Resistance in Mozambique was terrorizing the country, Zimbabwe deployed 10,000 of its own troops to guard the Beira Corridor from attacks by the armed opposition. This act of solidarity prevented the further weakening of the economies of both Mozambique and Zimbabwe during this period.
The effectiveness of any tightening of existing sanctions against Zimbabwe will depend upon the response of the governments of both South Africa and Mozambique. The ZANU-PF ruling party has stated on several occasions during the recent run-off elections campaign that it will not turn over power to the Western-backed MDC-T. Certainly the United Nations Security Council’s actions will embolden the Western imperialist nations and its allies inside Zimbabwe.
However, the ultimate political outcome of this crisis surrounding Zimbabwe will depend upon the course taken by the governments within the South African Development Community, particularly Mozambique and South Africa, along with the alignment of forces within Zimbabwe itself.
It is obvious that the ruling ZANU-PF still maintains substantial support inside the country. How the ruling party responds to the escalation of international pressure will set the stage for the next phase of the struggle to ensure the continued independence and sovereignty of the nation of Zimbabwe.
For additional background on Zimbabwe, see “Zimbabwe set for run-off presidential election” by Azikiwe in the June 26 issue of WW (workers.org) or see panafricannews.blogspot.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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ZANU-PF denies human rights violations
By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire
Published Jun 26, 2008 6:40 AM
Reports emanating from Western press agencies and Zimbabwe opposition forces claim that acts of violence and political repression have led to the withdrawal of the Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai from the June 27 run-off elections. As a result of these accusations, which include acts of arson and murder, there have been fresh calls for intensifying the existing economic sanctions against this southern African nation. On June 23 it was also reported that the leader of the MDC-T, Morgan Tsvangirai, had taken temporary “refuge” in the Dutch embassy in Zimbabwe.
Nonetheless, the President of Zimbabwe and leader of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriot Front Party (ZANU-PF), Robert Mugabe, has denied that the state and its security apparatus, as well as its organizational cadre, have engaged in acts of retribution against the Western-backed opposition MDC-T.
According to an article published in the state newspaper, The Herald, on June 24, Pres. Mugabe accused the Western imperialist nations of further attempts to overthrow the ruling party. The veteran leader was “adressing more than 15,000 people at Gaza Stadium in Chipinge yesterday, when he said: ‘Britain and her allies are telling a lot of lies about Zimbabwe, saying a lot of people are dying. These are all lies because they want to build a situation to justify their intervention in Zimbabwe.’”
President Mugabe “urged Zimbabweans to safeguard the country’s sovereignty by voting for him in Friday’s presidential run-off since MDC-T was a creation of the West.” The Herald article continues: “[A]ddressing thousands of Zanu-PF supporters at Masvosva Business Center in Makoni West later during the day, Comrade Mugabe said people should ensure an emphatic victory for the ruling party in memory of those who perished during the liberation struggle.
“He said many sons and daughters from Manicaland died during the struggle and people in the province should not allow the country to be recolonized.”
In another article published in the Zimbabwe Herald on June 24, it states that: “Two days after announcing his intention to withdraw from the June 27 presidential run-off, MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai is yet to write to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to make his position official. It was only later that day that Tsvangirai’s withdrawal letter reached the ZEC.
“ZEC yesterday said it was ready for Friday’s presidential run-off and the three House of Assembly by-elections with deployment of polling officers having started while election material is being moved to the districts.”
UN Security Council statement
On June 23, after five hours of debate, the United Nations Security Council issued a statement in response to the political situation in Zimbabwe. The statement read in part that the atmosphere inside the country “made it impossible for a free and fair election to take place.” The statement was passed with a unanimous vote.
However, an alternative statement that called for placing opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in power by recognizing him as the de facto leader of the country was rejected. This statement was drafted by the United States, Britain and France, and would have provided a political weapon to justify further support for the Western-backed MDC-T in its quest for regime change in Zimbabwe.
The current strategy of the Western nations is to work toward the total denial of international legitimacy and recognition of the ZANU-PF government in Zimbabwe. The passage of this United Nations resolution represents the first time that the internal affairs of Zimbabwe have come before the Security Council where China, South Africa and Russia voted to criticize the Southern African nation.
The government of Zimbabwe has been under tremendous pressure since the year 2000 in the aftermath of the seizure of farmland controlled by the European-origin settlers. The white farmers controlled most of the arable land as a by-product of the continued legacy of British colonialism, which ruled the country from the 1890s until the time of national independence in 1980.
The formal independence of Zimbabwe was won through a protracted armed struggle that lasted between the mid-1960s until the convening of the Lancaster House Summit held in late 1979. The Lancaster House Agreement created the conditions for the transition of state power from the settler-colonialists regime of Ian Smith to the liberation movements of ZANU-PF and the now dissolved Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU-PF), which eventually merged with ZANU-PF in 1987.
Imperialist slander campaign
Sanctions carried out against Zimbabwe by the British, American and EU states, coupled with an internationally coordinated campaign of slander and vilification of the ruling party and the government, has isolated the country and severely crippled its economy. Zimbabwe has become more dependent on food aid and has not been able to acquire significant credit from international financial institutions.
The country has not collapsed because of the political and economic support given to it by China and South Africa. The Western nations have pressured the Republic of South Africa to refuse to allow goods to be transported to Zimbabwe through its territory and also to cut off power supplies emanating from South Africa into Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country with no direct access to the Indian Ocean. Mozambique to the east has also served as a route for goods coming into Zimbabwe. During the 1980s and early 1990s, when the apartheid-backed Movement of National Resistance in Mozambique was terrorizing the country, Zimbabwe deployed 10,000 of its own troops to guard the Beira Corridor from attacks by the armed opposition. This act of solidarity prevented the further weakening of the economies of both Mozambique and Zimbabwe during this period.
The effectiveness of any tightening of existing sanctions against Zimbabwe will depend upon the response of the governments of both South Africa and Mozambique. The ZANU-PF ruling party has stated on several occasions during the recent run-off elections campaign that it will not turn over power to the Western-backed MDC-T. Certainly the United Nations Security Council’s actions will embolden the Western imperialist nations and its allies inside Zimbabwe.
However, the ultimate political outcome of this crisis surrounding Zimbabwe will depend upon the course taken by the governments within the South African Development Community, particularly Mozambique and South Africa, along with the alignment of forces within Zimbabwe itself.
It is obvious that the ruling ZANU-PF still maintains substantial support inside the country. How the ruling party responds to the escalation of international pressure will set the stage for the next phase of the struggle to ensure the continued independence and sovereignty of the nation of Zimbabwe.
For additional background on Zimbabwe, see “Zimbabwe set for run-off presidential election” by Azikiwe in the June 26 issue of WW (workers.org) or see panafricannews.blogspot.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Comments
Hide the following 16 comments
wow
28.06.2008 13:41
Die.
L&S
say hello to the 'workers world party'
28.06.2008 13:52
In short their message is 'Zimbabwe is opposed to the US, so shut up about what else the regime their gets up to'.
If people like WWP didn't exist the Right would have to invent them.
L&S
You fucking idiots
28.06.2008 14:00
(A)
So let's ignore the imperialists...hmm.....gurgle....Al Jazeera / Al JaZanu
28.06.2008 14:21
universal right to secret ballot & be pursued for an identifiable paw
Or perhaps accreditation does not really build credibility
- the nickname Al JaZanu has stuck enough for it to appear in internet comments.
Who are the people who claim or have claimed or were going to be claimed to bring non-imperialist news from Al Jazeera / Al JaZanu?
Farai Sevenzo accepted the offer of a job as Al Jazeera correspondent for Zimbabwe. He was acceptable to Zim even though had previously worked for the BBC world service after all he was born in Harare.
Cyrus Nhara had won an award for photojournalism and recording the forced evictions in Zimbabwe od 2005. Those evictions were called "Operation Murambatsvina (= No Tolerance to Filth)" We didn't need imperialists to estimate how many hundreds of thousands of people saw their shanty towns destroyed and moved along to "nowhere". It was a simple compare and contrast exercise of satellite before and after pictures. But this what Cyrus Nhara wrote "The risks of being caught filming during the police operation were high. There were armed police on trucks and on foot clearing people from their homes as bulldozers demolished property. We worked alone while all of this was going on. As well as the security forces there would often be government spies from the central intelligence organisation and their helpers looking for outsiders…we'd only have a few minutes in each location before having to move on for our safety." The UN Fact Finding report on the Murambatsvina Operation told imperialists and non-imperialist states alike that bulldozing had left 700, 000 people homeless and stranded. Even though he was offered the job on August 16 2005 to run the cameras of Al Jazeera - he stayed working freelance and as a stringer for Reuters.
_______________________________________
no has credited the photo of the bloody inked thumb which proves a secret ballot.
gurgle ribbid
Attack black solidarity
28.06.2008 14:32
More stuff from black people that will get you mad:
NGOs aiding MDC violence
Zimupdates (13/05/08)
When every organization should be advocating for peace in light of the political violence which ensued in the aftermath of the 29 March 2008 harmonized election, some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are aiding Movement for Democratic (MDC) youths in perpetrating violence by providing them with resources on these midnight orgies of violence.
On 8 May 2008, Pump Aid Zimbabwe, an NGO which operates in Mutasa area in the Manicaland province provided two vehicles to ferry about thirty (30) MDC activists led by Francis Sauramba, an MDC Tsvangirai activist based in Mutasa Central constituency to go and attack Zanu PF youths in ward 20.
The Zanu PF youths managed to flee into the nearby mountains but were hunted down and six (6) of the youths were severely assaulted. These marauding activists went on to burn three houses belonging to Petros Mutasa, Zanu PF losing council candidate for ward 20, Rosewinter Mazhakata, a war veteran and Nyazungu, a Zanu PF supporter.
Simon
scum, pure and simple
28.06.2008 15:21
Mugabe are white racists. WWP are especially anti-racist cos they have articles by black people.
Theres so much wrong with you and your politics there isn't time enough ever deal with it properly.
You make me sick.
L&S
White left cowards
28.06.2008 16:02
So, I am waiting for you to attack the Pan-Africanist movement as racist. I am waiting for you to attack black self-determination as racist. I articulate the majority in these movements. They would say people like you are racist (at least on Zimbabwe.)
So, why don't you attack them? Or is it you are just a coward?
L&S
It all looks good for Tesco
29.06.2008 01:17
The events unfolding in Zimbabwe have all the hall marks of British intelligence, destabilisation of the economy vilification of Mugabe - listen to the vast amount of propaganda put out by the BBC - In one recent report a BBC journalist is driven secretly into Zimbabwe - he meets a man wearing a Mugabe T-Shirt he's drunk and is aggressive and abusive and wants to know where the intrepid beeb man is going - and there it is proof if proof were needed Mugabe is a bad man, Morgan Tsvangirai him good man.
Yep making Zimbabwe safe for the corporate globalists, can't have any of those redistributive type economies can we we all gotta be "market led".
Anyway nice to hear something from the other side for a change instead of the usual bollocks from the likes of of the BBC.
2%Human
right on simon and 2%, and for the anti-zimbabweans on this thread, read this
29.06.2008 03:58
'According to an article published in the state newspaper, The Herald, on June 24, Pres. Mugabe accused the Western imperialist nations of further attempts to overthrow the ruling party. The veteran leader was “adressing more than 15,000 people at Gaza Stadium in Chipinge yesterday, when he said: ‘Britain and her allies are telling a lot of lies about Zimbabwe, saying a lot of people are dying. These are all lies because they want to build a situation to justify their intervention in Zimbabwe.’” '
This is exactly what has been happening
To the person who said : 'you'd probably praise Hitler if he had said he was 'anti-imperialist'. '
Hitler had the backing of Bush's grandfather. Nazis AFTER the war were recruited by the CIA:
'Washington D.C., February 4, 2005 - Today the National Security Archive posted the CIA's secret documentary history of the U.S government's relationship with General Reinhard Gehlen, the German army's intelligence chief for the Eastern Front during World War II. At the end of the war, Gehlen established a close relationship with the U.S. and successfully maintained his intelligence network (it ultimately became the West German BND) even though he employed numerous former Nazis and known war criminals. The use of Gehlen's group, according to the CIA history, Forging an Intelligence Partnership: CIA and the Origins of the BND, 1945-49, was a "double edged sword" that "boosted the Warsaw Pact's propaganda efforts" and "suffered devastating penetrations by the KGB." [See Volume 1: Introduction, p. xxix]
etc
FOOD AID and NGOS:
back in 2002 we find:
'This followed disclosures by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe that there had been political problems with the distribution of food in the country.
Some non-governmental organisations had been using aid to influence political events in the country.
...
The British Government through its High Commissioner in Zimbabwe, Mr Brian Donnelly, has been using food handouts to influence results of elections.
The latest incident was at the recently ended parliamentary by-election in Insiza where the British diplomat was caught red handed while trying to influence distribution of maize meal to people so that they could vote for the opposition MDC.
The World Food Programme (WFP) suspended delivery of food aid to Insiza where the ruling Zanu-PF party defeated the MDC in a parliamentary by-election. WFP spokesman in Zimbabwe Mr Luis Clemmens claimed his organisation had taken the move because of alleged violence and thefts of food aid, allegations police have denied.
Observers have however, wondered why a humanitarian organisation like the WFP should let people starve because of its political differences with the Government.
Its concern should be to feed starving people in the country.
Besides sponsoring and financing the MDC and other non-governmental organisations like the Amani Trust to oust President Mugabe, Britain, the United States and the European Union have not hidden their dislike for the Zimbabwean leader for embarking on the equitable land redistribution exercise.
etc
The western neocolonials wont rest until Zimbabwe has been returned to neocolonial control.
brian
Simon, Brian, 2% - you're talking bollocks
29.06.2008 08:08
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has urged the international community to intervene in Zimbabwe - by force if necessary.
The former Cape Town archbishop said he would support the deployment of a UN force to restore peace in the country.
He said African Union leaders should refuse to recognise Robert Mugabe as the legitimate president of Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, President Mugabe declared he was heading for a "sweeping victory", in remarks made at a relative's funeral late on Saturday.
"The returns show that we are winning convincingly, that we have won in all the 26 constituencies in Harare, an MDC stronghold where we won in only one constituency in March. That is the trend," he said in footage broadcast on state television.
It is thought Mr Mugabe will be sworn in for another term on Sunday, although final results from the one-candidate election have been delayed.
The opposition boycotted the vote amid claims of violence and intimidation.
'Powerful signal'
Mr Mugabe was said to have won by a wide margin, but international observers have reported many spoilt ballots, which in some areas could outnumber votes cast.
Earlier, officials said the count was complete, but later reports said results from rural areas were still trickling in.
In an interview for the BBC's Andrew Marr programme, Archbishop Tutu said the African Union could have a clear role in persuading Mr Mugabe to negotiate.
"If you were to have a unanimous voice, saying quite clearly to Mr Mugabe... you are illegitimate and we will not recognise your administration in any shape or form - I think that would be a very, very powerful signal and would really strengthen the hand of the international community."
"I think that a very good argument can be made for having an international force to restore peace," he added.
African Union (AU) foreign ministers have gathered in the Egyptian town of Sharm el-Sheikh, before a full meeting of heads of state on Monday which Mr Mugabe is expected to attend.
Earlier the Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula said sanctions against Zimbabwe are unlikely to work, and that Mr Mugabe and the opposition should instead be encouraged to talk.
Push for negotiations
Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), announced he was pulling out of the election on Sunday.
But his name remained on ballot papers after Zimbabwe's electoral authorities refused to accept his decision.
HAVE YOUR SAY If the UN doesn't intervene this time we are truly damned Rejoice, Bulawayo
In interviews published in British newspapers on Sunday, Mr Tsvangirai said he would push for negotiations with Mr Mugabe on a new constitution and fresh elections.
"We have the power to control parliament, and that is recognised even by Mugabe's Zanu-PF... We must force a transitional agreement for a set time-frame and work towards a new constitution for Zimbabwe," he told the Mail on Sunday.
"I am confident we can achieve that if international pressure keeps up," he added.
In a separate interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Tsvangirai said it was possible that Mr Mugabe could remain as a ceremonial head of state.
"I don't think it's inconceivable for such an arrangement to include him, depending, of course, on the details of what is being proposed and what are the arrangements," he said.
Mr Mugabe came second to Mr Tsvangirai in the first round of the presidential vote in March.
Since then, the MDC says some 86 of its supporters have been killed and 200,000 forced from their homes by militias loyal to Zanu-PF.
The government blames the MDC for the violence.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2008/06/29 07:32:50 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Desmond Tutu
Neither Washington nor Harare
29.06.2008 23:45
" for the anti-zimbabweans on this thread" - Bullshit. I am not "anti-zimbabwean", I am for Zimbabweans' right to self-determination and against the oppressive, dictatorial policies of the Zimbabwean ruling class. There's a difference.
"According to an article published in the state newspaper, The Herald..." well, that must be reliable, mustn't it? After all, it is impossible to imagine a state ever lying. Grow up.
"To the person who said : 'you'd probably praise Hitler if he had said he was 'anti-imperialist'. '
Hitler had the backing of Bush's grandfather. Nazis AFTER the war were recruited by the CIA"
I know. That's why you're not praising him. The CIA are bastards, Mugabe's intelligence and security services are also bastards. Why is this such a difficult concept to accept?
Pro-zimbabwean
Nasty attacks by the white Left
30.06.2008 12:36
Which countries exactly in Africa receive "anti-imperialist" cover for the exploitation of the vast majority of the African working class by "their" rulers? Or is it only Zimbabwe? (Pro-Zimbabwean is no doubt a white man.)
The majority Pan-Africanist position is pro-Zanu-PF and opposed to liberal (black or otherwise), neo-colonialist and white Left attacks on the Zimbabwean government.
April 2007, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) met and heard that the Anglo-American Establishment were actively seeking to remove from power all those governments in the region that were made up of the national liberation movements.
The Global African Congress came out of the UN anti-racism conference in Barbados in 2000. The Barbados meeting backed Mugabe’s land reform programme. SACD backed Mugabe land reform efforts in 2002. Many black organisations in the US back Zanu-PF.
These organisations want an end to white political and economic subjugation of black nations and peoples. They want an end to the inculcation of ideas of inferiority in the minds of black people by whites.
This thread shows that the response of some members of the white Left is to smear this project as racist and those that support them as supporting Hitler. This is the same tactics of the white capitalists they claim to oppose
Yet, they are not honest about this. Instead, they vilify those individuals that speak up for his. This is a nasty, cowardly trick because they know that attacking Pan-Africanism would lay them open to criticism.
Many black people decide to submit to white supremacy because they fear attacks on them. Others actively support it because they will receive rewards. Zimbabwe has faced an economic attack by the West that amounts to an act of war. Many black Zimbabweans are fed up of the economic conditions they face. Yet, the white Left use this to smear Mugabe’s black self-determination project as one of Hilterite dictartorship.
The white Left then cynically use the class issue to attack black self-determination. This is another trick. Black people of whatever class experience racism – even dictators in Africa. This ‘African working-class’ stuff is merely an excuse by the white Left to determine black development. Do you notice white men telling white women that their issue is a class issue? Do you think they would tell white people with disabilities that their issue is a class one? Or white gay people? They would not stand for it.
Black Zimbabweans who oppose Mugabe are support a political party that is MORE pro-capitalist than the Zanu-PF. In their distorted logic, the white Left take this to mean that black people want socialism or communism and then attack Mugabe as capitalist. This is Alice in Wonderland stuff.
What is going on among the white Left is a tendency to regard themselves as superior to blacks.
Simon
I don't think that was bollocks
01.07.2008 02:04
It really is a classic. First set up your Hegelian dialectic (Machiavelli called it divide and conquer)... Form the opposition, except it looked like it would take for ever, the opposition was so divided it kept splitting and failing. So start punishing the Zimbabwean people for not wanting the opposition by f*!cking the economy and blaming it on that bad guy - things get worse as those damned Zimbabweans still want ZANU-PF , keep turning the screws. people think "the opposition" will get them out of the fix. Eventually it works MDC win, now if they do ever get into power it'll be huge cheap loans - to get the country on its feet, except it probably won't, There always needs to be instability and division, until the whole country is in so much debt the IMF come in and impose the ideology of the market and all that entails- and there you have it another bunch of humans in working for some Global Corporations for nothing - being taxed on that nothing to pay back the loans.
Works every time (well almost)
2%Human
Land redistribution
01.07.2008 20:15
Is that the same land redistribution act that Mugabe took eight years to implement from 1992 when the law was applicable? I've heard(from Jon Stewart) that George Bush is not the 'decider' but the 'procastonator'. It would seem Mugabe is also the 'procastonator' of Zimbabwe. The Zanu-PF political campaign showed Blair's face morph into Bush, Brown, Tvangari. They missed one out! They should have included Mugabe's face!
The indecision of Robert MugBETA has shown a 'failure of leadership'. Getting upset by a 'stupid' ITN reporter is not the way of an alpha man, let alone a President!
Mugabe has half the wisdom of a 48 year old, rather than the full wisdom of an 84 year old!
Jason
Jason
land reform
02.07.2008 12:35
According to the 12 December Movement, an African-American movement in the US, Zimbabwe has conducted one of the largest land redistribution programs the world has ever seen. It is, apparently, behind China and Cuba.
Land reform remains an issue all over African and particularly in South Africa.
One way Zanu-PF could have sought to resolve the land issue was to continue the armed struggle into the 1980s and ignore the Lancaster House agreement.
There is no basis to belive that if land reform in Zimbabwe was done earlier, things would be different. Your point about how long Mugabe did take to address the land question is, therefore, trivial.
Did you question land reform in Zimbabwe in the 1980s and 1990s? How concerned are you about land reform today in South Africa?
Simon
Hey Simon
02.07.2008 13:48
Simon,
I was not interested in land reform, I was too young to understand such things. South Africa, of course I'm land reform concerns me there. I know that South Africa has a worse 'Gini-coefficient' than Zimbabwe. But the fact that the rich-poor gap in Zimbabwe remains huge is not a trivial matter!
The truth is Robert MugaBETA is not going to last. Its the impermanence of all things, (See Derek Lin's www.Truetao.net).
Now chill out, I'm listening to the melodic sounds of Bachata, (Monchy y Allexandra)
Enjoy
Jason
Jason