open Democracy News Analysis - Is the end near for Mugabe?, - Comments

eric_5 on "Is the end near for Mugabe?"

eric_5 — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 17:00:38 +0000

a warning to European lefties that failure of some African States cannot always be attributed to 'heart of darkness' colonialists.Robert_15 There's quite a lot about Mugabe in the British media. None of it, that I've noticed, is favourable, whatever part of the political spectrum it supposedly comes from. The most recent comment from the British Foreign Secretary is : Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, said: 'I am horrified by events over the last few days in Zimbabwe, and hold the Government of Zimbabwe fully responsible for the barbaric treatment meted out by the police to members of the opposition both during and after their arrest on 11 March. News that Morgan Tsvangirai may be in intensive care because of the injuries he sustained in police custody is particularly distressing. 'We want the United Nations Human Rights Council to look into the situation in Zimbabwe urgently, and will be pushing for this in coming days. 'The Zimbabwean Government's continued brutal treatment of the opposition and recent actions show its total disregard for international law and the will of the international community. There is an EU travel ban and asset freeze in place on 125 people in Zimbabwe. We must look urgently at ramping up the pressure on these individuals.'

owly on "Is the end near for Mugabe?"

owly — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 16:24:31 +0000

The lack of comment on Zimbabwe by large sections of the left-leaning media and by our own Government can only be explained by political posturing - the 'left' hailed Mugabe's arrival in power - and by racism. I doubt for one moment that these pages would have been quite so silent had Mugabe been white and a general. Think Pinochet and you get the point. It makes you sick.

Is the end near for Mugabe?,

Robert_15 — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 15:21:19 +0000

On 24-Sep-2006 I wrote this: "Things in Zimbabwe are deteriorating by the day, inflation has reached 1000%. Suppose now that people who are starving get together with people who are losing their farms and start a protest that degenerates into a riot. Suppose then that Mugabe orders his war veterans to start shooting and we have the beginning of a genocide. Then what? The UN will do nothing as usual. Will the EU intervene or watch the slaughter from the sidelines? Time will tell". Since then, every day that goes by things get worse in Zimbabwe. Estanislao Oziewicz, in an article recently published by the [url=http://tinyurl.com/3ah5vm] Globe and Mail[/url] wrote this: "Zimbabwe's rate of inflation, already the world's highest, could pass 4,000 per cent by year's end. Commercial agriculture has collapsed. There is massive unemployment. Hundreds of thousands are going hungry, and even civil servants are living below the poverty line. Dissent is ruthlessly crushed, opposition protesters are beaten up. Yet, Robert Mugabe, the country's dictatorial president since 1980, has been able to withstand external opprobrium, even targeted sanctions, and so far has outmanoeuvred the loftiest international organizations. His demise has been predicted before. But this week, with the chorus of global condemnation over the beating of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, forecasts of the end of the octogenarian's reign grew in strength. Only days ago, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group(ICG), devoted to preventing conflict worldwide, published an analysis saying that the long political deadlock in Zimbabwe is breaking, but regional and continued Western pressure are needed to ensure a peaceful restoration of democracy. ICG president Gareth Evans, former Australian foreign minister, said the situation in Zimbabwe is reminiscent of the final days of Joseph Mobutu Sese Seko's rule in Congo. 'Zimbabwe has the potential to fall into chaos and bring large chunks of the region down with it unless both domestic and international parties act now,' he said". Zimbabwe is just another example of how badly things can go in former European Colonies after independence, and a warning to European lefties that failure of some African States cannot always be attributed to 'heart of darkness' colonialists.