FARK.com: (2308647) Latest thing threatening to devastate Zimbabwe's economy is a shortage of coal. Even though they sit on some of the largest and best-quality reserves of the stuff in the world

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		Latest thing threatening to devastate Zimbabwe's economy is a shortage of coal. Even though they sit on some of the largest and best-quality reserves of the stuff in the world (guardian.co.uk)		61
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albo		2006-09-23 06:09:04 PM

once the breadbasket of southern africa, zimbabwe can't feed itself any more and even rejects food because it may be GM. it's inflation rate is 1000 percent. now it can't get its own coal out of the ground.

the person who shoots robert mugabe deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

albo		2006-09-23 06:10:53 PM

sorry, just read the article. 1,200 percent inflation, not 1,000.

and beer prices are up!

Purple Hayes		2006-09-23 06:11:29 PM

Won't somebody please think of the Coal Miners' Daughters?

tin_man		2006-09-23 06:29:15 PM

At least they kicked all the white people out.

peacetaker		2006-09-23 07:08:53 PM

Even worse, my gf is there right now, totally willing to trade in her dollars for local currency, however the cheapest exchange rate she has found is 2 cents on the dollar. how do they expect to fix their inflation and reserves of foreign currency if they act like such idiots?

KaponoFor3		2006-09-23 07:09:37 PM

Muuuuuuuuuuuugabe!

Weaver95		2006-09-23 07:17:30 PM

Another 'win' for Communism!

2wolves		2006-09-23 07:55:01 PM

Weaver95

I don't think that word means what you think it means.

m0llusk		2006-09-23 08:09:44 PM

This isn't just about Mugabe, it is still about recovering from Colonialism. Trying to have Anglo Africans run everything is going to blow up like this every time. Market dominant minorities eventually generate an explosive backlash against them.

Lehk		2006-09-23 09:01:12 PM

generaltimmy		2006-09-23 09:04:54 PM

I agree with Weaver95 and m0llusk...but moreso w/Weave... We saw this with the Russians, who had an abundance of natural resources and they had no colonialism, just communisim.

seanmur		2006-09-23 09:04:57 PM

They got what they asked for, now they'll suffer. stupid farks

skinink		2006-09-23 09:05:11 PM

Why hasn't George W Bush bought 'democracy' to Zimbabwe yet ?

Sharkface217		2006-09-23 09:05:56 PM

Wasn't Zimbabwe good until Mugabe got into power?

I think we need to quote wikipedia on this one, guys.

seanmur		2006-09-23 09:06:05 PM

no colonialism? cept half of europe,asia

Descartes		2006-09-23 09:07:35 PM

Another 'win' for ~~communism~~ corrupt third world socialism!

/fixed it for ya

The Billdozer		2006-09-23 09:08:25 PM

m0llusk: This isn't just about Mugabe, it is still about recovering from Colonialism. Trying to have Anglo Africans run everything is going to blow up like this every time. Market dominant minorities eventually generate an explosive backlash against them.

Yeah... that's it.

How bout that Mugabe is a power-hungry, money-grubbing warmonger who needs a scapegoat to keep himself in power while his entire country explodes in front of him and he continues to not give a rip-roarin' fark?

Screw killing this bastard; what they need to do is give him a lobotomy, break and reset his bones in such a way that he resembels a large gorilla and then put him in a zoo where the people of Zimbabwe can tortue and humiliate him until the day he goes to Hell.

Maneck		2006-09-23 09:08:40 PM

I guess colonialism really does fark up your country. I mean... look at Australia, the United States and Canada. They've never recovered after the British took them over, raped the land for resources and abandoned them to the locals/lost it to the locals.

Yep, colonialism is most definitely the problem.

GoSpelunking		2006-09-23 09:08:58 PM

The cost of extracting even the richest fuel source can exceed the value of the fuel source.

Example: by the time we actually extract the petroleum from ANWAR, the lawyers involved will probably have been paid more than the petroleum will be worth, net. Maybe more than it will be worth, gross.

Costs do not necessarily go down in third world economic conditions; it can be nearly impossible to attract skilled labor and experienced corporations to places like Zimbabwe.

Sharkface217		2006-09-23 09:11:20 PM

From Wikipedia:

History of Africa, starting in 1980 with Mugabe

Majority rule

In elections in March 1980, Robert Mugabe's ZANU party won the election, with 53 out of 80 seats reserved for black voters, with Joshua Nkomo's ZAPU gaining 27, and Muzorewa's UANC only three. The Republic of Zimbabwe came into being on April 18, 1980, in a ceremony attended by Britain's Charles, Prince of Wales. A song was written and sung by Bob Marley to celebrate the independence of Zimbabwe also called 'Zimbabwe'. He was invited to perform a concert at the country's independence festivities, and this song, was, of course, included.

As well as changing the name of the country, the new government changed numerous place names in 1982, starting with the capital, Salisbury, which was renamed Harare. The main street in the capital, Jameson Avenue, was renamed in honour of Samora Machel, President of Mozambique.
[edit]

Constitution and Parliamentary System

The new Constitution provided for a non-executive President as Head of State with a Prime Minister as Head of Government. The first President was Rev. Canaan Banana with Robert Mugabe as Prime Minister. In 1987, the Constitution was amended to provide for an Executive President and the office of Prime Minister was abolished. The constitutional changes came into effect on 1 January 1988 with Robert Mugabe as President.

The Parliament was bicameral, with the House of Assembly being directly elected and the Senate consisting of indirectly elected and nominated members, including tribal chiefs. Under the Constitution, there were two separate voters rolls, one for the black African majority, who had 80 % of the seats in Parliament and the other for whites and other ethnic minorities, such as Coloureds (people of mixed race) and Asians, who held 20 %.

This gave whites disproportionate representation, and in 1986 the Constitution was amended to scrap this system, replacing the white seats in with seats filled by nominated members. Many white MPs joined ZANU, which then reappointed them. In 1990, the Senate was abolished, and the House of Assembly's membership was increased to include members nominated by the President.
[edit]

After Independence

Following independence, there was increasingly bitter rivalry between ZAPU and ZANU, with guerrilla activity starting again, in Matabeleland (south-western Zimbabwe). Nkomo (ZAPU) left for exile in Britain, and did not return until Mugabe guaranteed his safety. On February 17, 1982 Nkomo, accused of plotting a coup, was dismissed. Armed resistance in his stronghold of Matabeleland, in the west, was met with bloody government repression. At least 20,000 died in the ensuing massacres, known in Zimbabwe as the Gukurahundi.

A peace accord was negotiated and on December 30, 1987 Mugabe became head of state after reforming the constitution to usher in a presidential regime. On December 19, 1989 ZAPU merged with ZANU under the name ZANU-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).

Although most whites had left Zimbabwe after independence, mainly for neighbouring South Africa, those who remained continued to wield disproportionate control of some sectors of the economy, especially agriculture. In the late-1990s whites accounted for less than 1% of the population but owned 70% of arable land.

On December 9, 1997 a national strike paralyzed the country. Mugabe was panicked by demonstrations by Zanla ex-combatants (war veterans), who had been the heart of the liberation struggle 20 years earlier. He agreed to pay them large gratuities and pensions, which proved to be a wholly unproductive and unbudgeted financial commitment.

Mugabe also raised the issue of land ownership by white farmers. In a populist move, he began land redistribution, which brought the government into headlong conflict with the International Monetary Fund. Amid a severe drought in the region, the police and military were instructed not to stop the invasion of white-owned farms by the war veterans and youth militia. This has led to a mass migration of White Rhodesians out of Zimbabawe leading to a great loss of intellectual talent.

In February 2000, Mugabe tried to change the constitution by holding a constitutional referendum, in a move that would have allowed the president to serve two more terms (another 10 years) and the power to dissolve Parliament. The defeat of the referendum weakened the ruling party.

Mugabe won a parliamentary majority for ZANU-PF. He was also able to appoint 30 of the Members of Parliament. The presidential elections in March 2002 were critical to the Southern African region. An important concern was that if the elections were not free and fair, this would have a destabilizing effect on the region, causing more economic turmoil in countries like South Africa and Botswana. Mugabe won a controversial victory against Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change. It is alleged that violence was used in anti-Mugabe strongholds to prevent citizens from voting.
[edit]

2006 Security problems

The Department of Immigration will soon employ its own security guards to man various entry and exit points for the safety of travellers, chief immigration officer Mr Elasto Mugwadi has said August 30, 2006. The move is meant to tighten security for travellers and complement the efforts being made by other security agencies. The security guards, Mr Mugwadi said in a recent interview, would be responsible for checking the validity of travellers' documents. The development follows the increasing incidence of mugging, swindling and abuse of travellers by thieves, conmen and touts across the Limpopo Bridge. "This arrangement will deter activities of touts and conmen harassing and extorting money from our visitors," Mr Mugwadi said, adding that the department was in the midst of recruiting and structuring. "We have already started the exercise and we want to ensure everyone is safe at all ports of entry around the country," he said. The presence of the police and the army has failed to significantly curb illegal activities around the country's ports of entry, especially at Beitbridge. "So far the department has received an allocation of $60 million for the computerisation programme at Beitbridge. From there we are going to other border posts. "We want to be computerised at all border posts and ports of entry by the year 2008," said Mr Mugwadi.[1]
[edit]

International Criticism

Amnesty International has made numerous allegations of Mugabe committing human rights abuses against his political opponents, minority groups such as homosexuals, and white landowning families and their farm workers.

The European Union imposed travel sanctions on Mugabe and his inner circle of ZANU-PF elite, while the United States imposed economic sanctions which froze his assets and made any business dealings with him illegal.

In 2002 Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth of Nations. This suspension was extended at the 2003 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). Soon afterwards, Zimbabwe left the Commonwealth.

Mugabe, from Wikipedia:

Government of Zimbabwe

See also: Lancaster House Agreement

Persuasion from B.J. Vorster, himself under pressure from Henry Kissinger, forced Smith to accept in principle that white minority rule could not continue indefinitely. On March 3, 1978 Bishop Abel Muzorewa, Ndabaningi Sithole and other moderate leaders signed an agreement at Governor's Lodge in Salisbury, which paved the way for an interim power-sharing government, in preparation for elections. The elections were won by the United African National Council under Bishop Abel Muzorewa, but international recognition did not follow and sanctions were not lifted. The two 'Patriotic Front' groups under Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo refused to participate and continued the war.

The incoming government did accept an invitation to talks at Lancaster House in September 1979. A ceasefire was negotiated for the talks, which were attended by Smith, Mugabe, Nkomo, Edson Zvobgo and others. Eventually the parties to the talks agreed on a new constitution for a new Republic of Zimbabwe with elections in February 1980. Mugabe had to concede to accepting 20 seats reserved for whites in the new Parliament and to the inability of the new government to alter the constitution for ten years. His return to Zimbabwe in December 1979 was greeted with enormous supportive crowds.
[edit]

Prime Minister

After a campaign marked by intimidation from all sides, mistrust from security forces and reports of full ballot boxes found on the road, the Shona majority was decisive in electing Mugabe to head the first government as prime minister on March 4, 1980. ZANU won 57 out of 80 Common Roll seats in the new parliament, with the 20 white seats all going to the Rhodesian Front.

Mugabe, whose political support came from his Shona-speaking homeland in the north, attempted to build Zimbabwe on a basis of an uneasy coalition with his Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) rivals, whose support came from the Ndebele-speaking south, and with the white minority. Mugabe sought to incorporate ZAPU into his Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) led government and ZAPU's military wing into the army; and ZAPU's leader, Joshua Nkomo, was given a series of cabinet positions in Mugabe's government. However, Mugabe was torn between this objective and pressures to meet the expectations of his own ZANU followers for a faster pace of social change.

An abortive ZAPU rebellion and discontent in Matabeleland spelled the end to this uneasy coalition. In 1983 Mugabe dismissed Nkomo from his cabinet, which triggered bitter fighting between ZAPU supporters in the Ndebele-speaking region of the country and the ruling ZANU. Between 1982 and 1985, the military brutally crushed armed resistance from Ndebele groups in the provinces of Matabeleland and the Midlands, leaving Mugabe's rule secure (see "Gukurahundi"). Mugabe has been accused of committing mass murder during this period of his rule[1], with the UK Government turning a blind eye. A peace accord was negotiated in 1987, resulting in ZAPU's merger (1988) into the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). Mugabe brought Nkomo into the government once again as a vice-president.
[edit]

President

In 1987, the position of Prime Minister was abolished, and Mugabe assumed the new office of executive President of Zimbabwe gaining additional powers in the process. He was re-elected in 1990 and 1996, and, amid claims of widespread vote-rigging and intimidation, in 2002. Today, he operates with dictatorial powers, and has stated that he intends to govern until he is one hundred years old. He is the Chancellor of the flagship University of Zimbabwe and all the other state universities.
[edit]

Social programmes

Mugabe improved health and education for the black majority after elections agreed to after the Lancaster House Agreement in 1979.

In 1991, amid international pressure and short on hard currency, Zimbabwe embarked on a neoliberal austerity program, but the International Monetary Fund suspended aid, claiming that the reforms were "not on track".

At the same time he pursued a "moral campaign" against homosexuals (he often calls homosexuals as "lesser than pigs and dogs" and calls homosexuality a "white disease"), making what he deemed "unnatural sex acts" illegal with a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. This included the arrest of his predecessor as President of Zimbabwe, Canaan Banana, who was convicted of gay sex offences.

Mugabe was criticized for Zimbabwe's poorly justified participation in the Second Congo War in the Democratic Republic of the Congo at a time when the Zimbabwean economy was struggling. The Democratic Republic of the Congo had been invaded by Rwanda that sought to institute a change of government, and Uganda that claimed that its civilians, and regional stability, were under constant threat of attack by various Congo-based terrorist groups [2]. The war raised accusations of corruption, with officials alleged to be plundering the Congo's mineral reserves.[citation needed]

During Mugabe's rule, social policies enacted by the regime can be seen to have had a negative impact upon the populace. According to the latest statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), Zimbabweans have the shortest life expectancy worldwide, listed as 37 years for men, and 34 years for women. Also of note is that inflation has escalated to the point where it is now the highest rate in the world. The exact rate is unknown, however, As of late May 2006, Imara Asset Management Group has estimated year-on-year inflation is approaching 2,000%. One example of a large price rise occurred on April 24th 2006, when public hospital fees rose by more than 2,700% [3].
[edit]

Land reforms

Main article: Land reform in Zimbabwe

When Mugabe became prime minister, approximately 70% of the country's arable land was owned by approximately 4,000 descendants of white settlers. However, he reassured white landowners that they had nothing to fear from black majority rule. Mugabe accepted a "willing buyer, willing seller" plan as part of the Lancaster House Agreement of 1979, among other concessions to the White minority. As part of this agreement, land redistribution was locked up for a period of 10 years. In order not to hamper the South African ANC in its negotiations with the Apartheid regime, Land Reform remained an issue on the backburner until the ANC came to power in 1994. [4]

By 1997, the "willing buyer, willing seller" land reform program had broken down after the new British government led by Tony Blair unilaterally decided to stop funding it. With the Labour party gaining power and old imperial values being set aside, members of his government felt themselves under no obligation to continue paying White farmers compensation, or in minister Clare Short's words, "I should make it clear that we do not accept that Britain has a special responsibility to meet the costs of land purchase in Zimbabwe. We are a new Government from diverse backgrounds without links to former colonial interests. My own origins are Irish and as you know we were colonised not colonisers." [5]

During the early to mid-1990s, Zimbabwe refrained from a more aggressive land reform policy, to give the ANC in South Africa a breathing space in its negotiations for an end to White minority rule. Within that context, it is clear that the Zimbabwean government decided to move forward unilaterally with land reform outside of the "willing buyer, willing seller" framework.

As of September 2006, Mugabe's family owns three farms - Highfield Estate in Norton, 45km west of Harare, Iron Mask Estate in Mazowe, about 40km from Harare, and Foyle Farm in Mazowe, formerly owned by Ian Webster and adjacent to Iron Mask Farm, renamed to Gushungo Farm after Mugabe's own clan name. [6]
[edit]

2000 referendum

On February 11, 2000, a referendum was held on a new constitution. The proposed change would have limited future presidents to two terms, but as it was not retroactive, Mugabe could have stood for another two terms. It also would have made his government and military officials immune from prosecution for any illegal acts committed while in office. In addition, it allowed the government to confiscate white-owned land for redistribution to black farmers without compensation. It was defeated, after a low 20% turnout, by a strong urban vote, fuelled by an effective SMS campaign. Mugabe declared that he would "abide by the will of the people". The vote was a surprise to ZANU-PF, and an embarrassment before parliamentary elections due in mid-April. Almost immediately, self-styled "war veterans", led by Chenjerai 'Hitler' Hunzvi, began invading white-owned farms. On April 6, 2000, parliament pushed through an amendment, taken word for word from the draft constitution that was rejected by voters, allowing the seizure of white-owned farmlands without due reimbursement or payment.
[edit]

Elections

Mugabe faced Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in presidential elections in March 2002. Amid accusations of violence and claims that large numbers of citizens in anti-Mugabe strongholds were prevented from voting, Mugabe defeated Tsvangirai by 56% to 42%. Mugabe was helped by an unprecedented turnout of 90% in his rural stronghold of Mashonaland (55% of the population voted overall), although there are credible claims that the turnout may have been rigged. When election observers from South Africa claimed at a press conference that they had found no evidence of vote rigging, the assembled press burst out with laughter.

On July 3, 2004, a report [7] adopted by the African Union executive council, which comprises foreign ministers of the 53 member states, criticised the government for the arrests and torture of opposition members of parliament and human rights lawyers, the arrests of journalists, the stifling of freedom of expression and clampdowns on other civil liberties.

It was compiled by the AU's African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, which sent a mission to Zimbabwe from June 24 to 28th 2002, shortly after the presidential elections.

The report was apparently not submitted to the AU's 2003 summit because it had not been translated into French. It was adopted at the next AU summit in 2005.

Mugabe's ZANU-PF party won the 2005 Zimbabwe parliamentary elections with an increased majority. The elections were said to "reflect the free will of the people of Zimbabwe" by the South African observers, despite accusations of widespread fraud from the MDC.
[edit]

International opposition to Mugabe
Although President Mugabe encounters considerable opposition from the West, he has some supporters in the developing world. One of them, Venezuela President Hugo Chávez, is shown during the 60th anniversary celebrations of the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome 2005. At the event, both Mugabe and Chávez criticised the United States and other countries.
Enlarge
Although President Mugabe encounters considerable opposition from the West, he has some supporters in the developing world. One of them, Venezuela President Hugo Chávez, is shown during the 60th anniversary celebrations of the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome 2005. At the event, both Mugabe and Chávez criticised the United States and other countries.

In recent years, Mugabe has emerged as one of Africa's most controversial leaders. His critics accuse him of being a 'corrupt dictator', and an 'extremely poor role model' for the continent. Nevertheless, Mugabe retains considerable popularity throughout Africa. For example, in 2004 the monthly magazine New African had its readers vote for the "100 greatest Africans" last year, Mugabe won a third-place finish, topped only by Nelson Mandela and Ghanaian independence hero Kwame Nkrumah. In addition, in December 2005, Kenneth Kaunda, Zambia's former long-time leader, voiced support for Mugabe, stating that the Zimbabwean president "would pull through because he enjoyed the support of ordinary Zimbabweans who were punished for claiming back their land." [1] Mugabe's supporters tend to dismiss much of the criticism as being racially motivated, and characterize it as being little more than the bitter remarks of those who have been disadvantaged by his policies.

Since Mugabe began to redistribute white-owned landholdings, he has faced harsh attacks, externally from mostly Western countries including the former colonial power of the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia, and internally from trade-unions and urban Zimbabweans, who overwhelmingly support the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. In addition, some African figures have condemned Mugabe, such as Archbishop Pius Ncube, the South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu (who called Mugabe a "caricature of an African dictator"), and writer Wole Soyinka (who called Mugabe's regime "a disgrace to the continent" [8]), while Botswana President Festus Mogae distanced himself from the SADC statement opposing the Commonwealth suspension. Mugabe has been condemned by Western non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International, charging that he has committed human rights abuses against minority Ndebeles, the opposition MDC, white landowners, and homosexuals. Mugabe and a list of members of his government are now banned from entering the European Union.

On March 9 2003, U.S. President George W. Bush approved measures for economic sanctions to be leveled against Mugabe and numerous other high-ranking Zimbabwe politicians, freezing their assets and barring Americans from engaging in any transactions or dealings with them. Justifying the move, Bush's spokesman stated the President and Congress believe that "the situation in Zimbabwe endangers the southern African region and threatens to undermine efforts to foster good governance and respect for the rule of law throughout the continent". The bill was known as the "Zimbabwe Democracy Act" and was deemed "racist" by Mugabe.

On December 8, 2003, in protest against a further 18 months of suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations (thereby cutting foreign aid to Zimbabwe), Mugabe withdrew his country from the Commonwealth. According to reports, Robert Mugabe informed the leaders of Jamaica, Nigeria and South Africa of his decision when they telephoned him to discuss the situation. Zimbabwe's government said the President did not accept the Commonwealth's position, and was leaving the group.

Many African nations, led by South Africa, want Zimbabwe to be brought back into the fold to encourage dialogue between Mugabe and domestic foes, while members of what many Africans charge is the "white Commonwealth" - the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand - led the hard-line stance on the suspension of Zimbabwe.

Pius Ncube, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, leads a consortium of Christian faiths opposed to Mugabe. Ncube has won human rights awards for opposing the alleged torture and starvation used as a political weapon by the Mugabe government. In 2005, Ncube has called for a "popular mass uprising" in the style of the Orange Revolution or Tulip Revolution to remove Mugabe from power.

On April 8, 2005, Mugabe defied a European Union travel ban that does not apply to Vatican City by attending the Funeral of Pope John Paul II. He was granted a transit visa by the Italian authorities, as they are obliged to under the Concordat.

Twice, Peter Tatchell of the gay rights group OutRage! has tried to place Mugabe under citizen's arrest for human rights abuses during the leader's visits to the United Kingdom.

In reaction to human rights violations in Zimbabwe, students at universities from which Mugabe has honorary doctorates have sought to get the degrees revoked. So far, student bodies at Michigan State University (ASMSU) and the University of Edinburgh (EUSA) have each unanimously passed resolutions calling for this. The issue is now being considered by the respective universities.

In June 2005, Mugabe and his government attracted unprecedented international criticism, including greater church condemnation than ever before, when over two hundred thousand people from urban areas were left homeless due to their homes being bulldozed as part of Operation Murambatsvina.

georgeyporgey		2006-09-23 09:11:22 PM

This has to be Bush's fault!

Yaos		2006-09-23 09:13:26 PM

It is Bush's fault, he gave money to the CIA to force out the democraticlly voted president.

LeBain		2006-09-23 09:19:48 PM

Mugabe has destroyed Zimbabwe while the world, especially the Europeans, have just sat by and watched it happen.

Lord Summerisle		2006-09-23 09:23:19 PM

They've made their bed, they can lie in it.

DodgerOfZion		2006-09-23 09:26:11 PM

Unavailable for comment.

/has some of the biggest coal reserves in the world.
//yet it's one of the poorest counties in the US

Tainted1		2006-09-23 09:34:14 PM

Wow, did I actually see a poster try do defend Mugabe. Unless he's was trolling this just show just how insane the far left can be when they try to excuse away the wretched failure of Mugabes government.

machoprogrammer		2006-09-23 09:43:59 PM

Anyone who defends Mugabe is a douchebag.

Mr. Sniffles		2006-09-23 09:46:22 PM

things happen in cycles.

one day africa will rise and finally establish itself as major power player in the world economy like it was back in the days of the egyptian and greek empires.

but for now, fark all the people who mess it up for them

OscarTamerz		2006-09-23 10:14:22 PM

Since they changed the name from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe I move another name change is in order and I propose Detroitistan as the new name. All in favor....

Democracy only works if you have a certain minmal level of competence in the voters. Government of any type only works if you have a minimal competence in the populace otherwise it just reverts to folks herding goats and killing each other like in Somalia.

landmantx		2006-09-23 10:19:00 PM

"one day africa will rise and finally establish itself as major power player in the world economy like it was back in the days of the egyptian and greek empires."

Somehow I do not see this happening.

xlsport		2006-09-23 10:25:10 PM

Good, burning fossil fuels is evil!

whatshisname		2006-09-23 10:26:14 PM

The only thing there is a shortage of in Zimbabwe is leaders who are not insane embezzlers.

I_rish		2006-09-23 10:29:14 PM

They also just lost thier internet.
Yes really.
Google it.

/Born in Rhodesia

Eochada		2006-09-23 10:32:29 PM

m0llusk

This isn't just about ~~Mugabe~~ Hitler, it is still about recovering from ~~Colonialism~~ the Versailles Treaty. Trying to have ~~Anglo Africans~~ Jews run everything is going to blow up like this every time. Market dominant minorities eventually generate an explosive backlash against them.

Too easy, especially with Mugabe fancying himself a black Hitler.

Pxtl		2006-09-23 10:53:59 PM

Hmm. Reading over that "history of Africa" thing somebody posted... it sounds like Zimbabwe got exactly the president they wanted in Mugabe. Someone who would let them do what they wanted and persecute the white folks... and if he decided to make it worthwhile to himself, that was his business. Obviously, this all comes to a head with time - but you have to wonder how many people of Zimbabwe loved him to death?

jake_lex		2006-09-23 10:57:49 PM

Hey, Venezuela, read up on Mugabe, cause Chavez is headed straight down this same road. You, also, elected a piss-pot dictator posing as a populist socialist, who's also willing to use his lower-class constituency as a battering ram to take on his critics.

Gavino		2006-09-23 11:07:27 PM

jake_lex [TotalFark] - elected a piss-pot dictator posing as a populist socialist, who's also willing to use his lower-class constituency as a battering ram to take on his critics.

You see my problem with your argument is this. Where you have said 'lower-class constituency' you could have said 'massive popular support' or any of a hundred other things that don't imply the lower-class should have no say.

Unless you are speaking against democracy itself, in which case more power to you, though we would disagree.

wingnutx		2006-09-23 11:13:13 PM

Where you have said 'lower-class constituency' you could have said 'massive popular support' or any of a hundred other things that don't imply the lower-class should have no say.

He's given those on the lowest rungs carte blanche to use whatever violence they want, outside of the rule of law. They silence critics with clubs and guns.

Democracy and popular support have nothing to do with it.

m0llusk		2006-09-23 11:16:08 PM

Sort of too easy Eochada, but there was no Versailles Treaty in Africa ever, and while Jews were sort of a market dominating minority in parts of Europe at some times they have never exerted anything like the explicit and enduring dominance of Anglo Africans of Rhodesia and surrounding areas.

Zimbabwe was doing well and the black majority took power. With that situation it was only a matter of time before the people who held most of the productive land would have to start giving it up in competition. This could have been managed better, but the pressure to take land from white farmers and give it to blacks was huge from the start.

It seems on the surface to make a lot of sense to talk about the economy and so on, but in my experience when Americans encounter Anglo Africans who are the personal owners of safari-sized tracts of the most productive land surrounded by poor blacks they immediately come to the conclusion that the land owners have to share more or will get lynched. The sharing thing did not work out, and the bigtime landowners got pushed away. Similar things have happened to monopolists in US history.

The populist in South Africa is another Mugabe and if he can he will wreck things and people will blame him, but it is the background of extreme social tension that creates and empowers people like Mugabe. Travel around South Africa and the black majority will tell you the future there up front: things get much better for them much faster or the ongoing situation with everything being controlled by colonial inheritance will be reversed by force the same way.

bmr68		2006-09-23 11:16:09 PM

Where to begin?

www.bnp.org.uk

RoadRage78		2006-09-23 11:44:15 PM

STBZ

Relyks		2006-09-23 11:47:29 PM

Getting married in Harare in less than 3 months--think it will still be around by then?

theorellior		2006-09-24 12:04:09 AM

As a person of left-leaning philosophies, let me join in the chorus of "fark Mugabe". Zimbabwe could have been another African success story, now it's becoming an object lesson in how a modern economy dismantles itself. A friend of my uncle's had just come from there and she said the only positive thing to be said about the whole situation is the incredible resiliency the common Zimbabweans have shown in the face of this collapse.

ChadManMn		2006-09-24 12:15:16 AM

And Fidel Castro rotates in his awaiting grave.

rush22		2006-09-24 12:27:56 AM

Yaos

It is Bush's fault, he gave money to the CIA to force out the democraticlly voted president.

That actually happens, Yaos. Admittedly. Read more books please.

coitophonic		2006-09-24 12:50:44 AM

"Lager beer prices rose by nearly 50 percent this week, the latest in almost monthly hikes this year that turned many impoverished Zimbabweans to traditional home brews. "

We must act now .. and swiftly

rush22		2006-09-24 12:53:18 AM

Here: Guatemala CIA coup

haikupoet		2006-09-24 01:12:41 AM

Mugabe is a scumbag. One of the pharmacy techs at one of the drugstores I go to is from Zimbabwe. He is in no rush to go back -- I think he's here for life. Nicest guy, too.

Rik01		2006-09-24 01:54:41 AM

The article reads like a train wreck.

I mean, they could do a skit on this on SNL.

It's almost hysterical. Everybody is so busily screwing everybody else that the nation is, quite literally, going down the tubes. Plus, naturally -- it being Africa and all -- the neighboring countries are screwing the krap out of them even more with 'assistance.'

There are times, apparently, when a fight for independence shouldn't happen until one has leaders ready to take over who happen to have something in the way of brains.BTW, every ex-communist nation on the globe could have told them that wildly grabbing up productive land from 'the rich' and kicking them out doesn't work very well.

It also doesn't work very well to kill off anyone with enough intelligence to lift their feet when they walk.

Even Castro, in his revolution, was smart enough to keep the industrial base in position, keep business contacts with nations he quietly despised and gut those petty officials he caught screwing everybody else until the new order could take root. It aint great what he's got, but it's fairly stabile.

It's also not real wise to scream racism at any major investment company staffed by folks of a different color. They tend to take their millions and deposit them with your next door neighbor, who doesn't scream racism and who happily turns around and capitalizes on your stupidity.

Zimbabwe. One of the stupidest nations in the world. (Kinda sad, actually. The very name, 30 years ago, promoted dreams of exotic adventures in the vast wild lands of Africa and proud, fierce tribal warriors.)

Where's Jessie Jackson? The 'Motherland' calls to him. He needs to go help his people.

Oh! Wait.

There's not enough money in it. The nation is pretty well broke.