Here’s [another] article about Robert Mugabe’s regime in Zimbabwe. Though already not known as a world-class humanitarian, his latest round of crackdowns is catching attention as extreme. His government maintains they are taking steps to ensure the safety of the public against a few “terrorists” who threaten the stability of the country. There are so many things wrong with that characterization that it’s hard to know where to start, but let’s take a crack at it, shall we?
For starters, appealing to the stability of Zimbabwe is absurd; the economy is locked into a downward spiral, inflation rates are something like 1,700%--leading most people to operate via barter and trade and circumvent the failed economy altogether—and life expectancy for a woman is about 35. Stability has left the building.
None of that means, of course, that such a country couldn’t be besieged with terrorists. But terrorists aren’t generally thought of as protestors who refuse violence and adhere to democratic principles. Leader of the Movement for Democratic Change: "We are going to do it by democratic means, by being beaten up and by being arrested – but we are going to do it."
So where is the rest of Africa on this one? Is no one paying attention? There seems to be a deeply rooted aversion on the continent to criticizing Mugabe, probably because he is thought of as the great liberator of Zimbabwe who lifted its people from colonial rule all those years ago. Gold Star. That was over thirty years ago, and it’s probably time to start revering a new liberator. The rest of Africa should stand up and help.
3 comments:
Scott...you have powers of divination
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6505391.stm
As Scott said, African countries are often reluctant to openly criticize Mugabe because he is respected as a hero that overcame colonial rule. The president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki has agreed to end the period of "quite diplomacy" and facilitate talks between the opposition and the government. However, Mbeki has disappointed critics of Mugabe because of his reluctance to discipline the government for the recent crackdown on protests. Zimbabwe's high inflation and unemployment as well as the government's actions taken against the opposition have created an environment that could be headed in the direction of civil war. This puts the entire region in danger of conflict, including South Africa, who would have to deal with a large number of refugees flooding the country. Self-interest alone would seem like a good reason for leaders in the region to take more robust action in dealing with the Mugabe government. Especially for South Africa at a time where Mugabe is attempting to postpone elections until 2010 (the year South Africa is holding the World Cup) to give himself more time in office.
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