It would appear that the discredited regime in Zimbabwe, southern Africa, has deeper depths to plumb than previously thought. This weekend, an opposition rally in the capital, Harare, was broken up by police who exercised what on the face of it looks like excessive force.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was shown on television, severely beaten, with cuts to his head and requiring hospital treatment for internal bleeding and a skull fracture. More details here.
Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, celebrated his 83rd birthday at the end of February. He has been in office since his country gained independence from Great Britain in 1980, taking over from the apartheid regime of Ian Smith in the former Rhodesia. Mugabe swung to the opposite extreme to Ian Smith by booting out all white farmers in recent years. The result is that Zimbabwe, initially one of the more affluent nations in southern Africa, has now slumped to being amongst the poorest in the world. Its rate of inflation is close on 1,800% per annum.
Because Zimbabwe has no assets that command global strategic interest (such as oil), the world powers, such as America and Russia, cannot be bothered to do anything about Mugabe. He ranks amongst the likes of Saddam Hussein, Iraq's late leader until 2003, and Kim Yong Il, North Korea's despot, in showing a callous and total disregard for the wellbeing of his people. Mugabe will let his people starve, as long as he can stay in power. His rants against Great Britain are legendary, and the BBC has been banned from Zimbabwe.
Fortunately, the major strategic player in the region, South Africa, has finally decided to admonish its northern neighbour, advising the government in Harare to stick to the rule of law. I hope that others with influence in the region will also speak up. It would appear that last weekend's brutality will backfire against Mugabe's regime, in that it will serve to unite the opposition. It is to be hoped that a credible opposition will be able to field a candidate for the presidential elections in 2008.
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Oh, Guido, what a world we live in, when nations believe that oil etc. is more imprortant than people. Our leaders take us into Iraq...our young men are dying in their 100's. The Iraq people themselves have died in their 1.000 are they any better off ? I weep over Zimbabwe. I visted that beautiful country (my very first ever visit abroad) about 40 years ago just after Ian Smith had declared UDI. Even then the Britsh Goverment had begun to "wash their hands" We must cntinue to pray that these poor folks have a change of goverment soon and that South Africa can do something to change the regime.
ReplyDeleteWe should be ashamed of ourselves for not helping this poor country, and its people in its most desperate times, long ago . It beggars belief that this despot is still alive and ruling whilst so many of his countrymen are starving. I watched some of his people making a stand against him this evening on television. How brave is that when you are prepared to give up your own life for a democratic government. We should be pushing our government to intervene.
ReplyDeleteMugabe is one person I do not wish a long life to. I can't even write down what I feel should be done to him. Its too awful to even think that I could be made to feel that way about another human being. But I do!
Jeanie