A country in southern Africa which borders South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique. Independent from the United Kingdom since 1980; before that it was Southern Rhodesia. The border point at which it meets Botswana, Namibia, and Zambia is in disagreement.

A zimbabwe is a native fort or walled compound. The greatest of these in the Mwanamutapa or Monomotapa Empire is called Great Zimbabwe, in the magnificent ruins of which was found the soapstone bird that features on the Zimbabwean flag. The name was adopted by independence movements fighting against the secessionist white-minority regime of Ian Smith.

The Gokomere people, a Bantu-speaking group of farmers, inhabited the Great Zimbabwe site from about 500, displacing earlier Khoisan people. From about 1000 the great fortress took shape, reaching its peak by the fifteenth century. In this period it was the pre-eminent state in southern Africa.

These were the ancestors of the Mashona (or Shona) people, who make up about 80% of modern Zimbabwe's population. Later they formed the Rozwi state, which continued until the nineteenth century. British occupation began in the 1890s, under the leadership of Cecil Rhodes, for whom the area was renamed Rhodesia. In fact, the strict Shona name is Zimbabhwe.

The minority Matabele people in the south arrived there in historically recent times (1834), being related to groups such as the Zulus in South Africa.

Between 1953 and 1963 Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), and Nyasaland (now Malawi) formed the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. This was wound up and the other two became independent under black majority rule in 1964, but Southern Rhodesia, now styling itself Rhodesia, refused to comply.

UDI, as the unilateral period of independence, unrecognized by any other country, is known, lasted from 1965 to 1979, retaining the Queen as head of state until 1970 at which point Rhodesia became a republic. In 1979 they finally caved in to international sanctions and guerrilla war, and a multiracial government was formed under Bishop Abel Muzorewa, the country being renamed Zimbabwe-Rhodesia.

But this was still unacceptable to the world community and native liberation groups, and later in 1979 under the Lancaster House agreement, its legal status as the British colony of Southern Rhodesia was restored, in preparation for free elections and independence in 1980, led by Robert Mugabe.

Internet code: .zw.

Flag: horizontal stripes of green - yellow - red - black - red - yellow - green. In the hoist is a white triangle edged in black; in that is a red five-pointed star, with superimposed over it in yellow the famous soapstone Zimbabwe bird, the national emblem. The proportions are 1:2.

As of 20th March 2002 Zimbabwe is a political powderkeg.

An election has just taken place. It was won by Robert Mugabe. He has been in power now for over 20 years, a reign in which he has 'staged' elections at regular intervals. Mugabe is essentially a dictator, but there is still a large base of support for him among the Zimbabwean people, especially in the rural areas.

Zimbabwe's opposition leader is a man named Morgan Tsvangirai. Purportedly he stands for democracy, liberty, equality, fraternity, happy endings, etc but that's the case with most African opposition leaders. They often turn out to be worse than the despots they replace.

Today Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth, but the implications of that action are still uncertain. What is certain is that the outcome of the political struggle taking place right now will be pivotal. Western people and leaders tend to lump African countries together in their minds. If another African nation falls apart it will be rather disastrous for the continent as a whole. International investment and aid will further dry up and Africa will truly become the lost continent.

If not lost, Africa is already the forgotten continent politically. And that makes sense from a Marxist point of view because it is quite an insignificant factor in the global economy. What may be of interest, especially to Americans, is the amount of war and death happening in Africa at any one time. I don't think that casualties in Kuwait topped 5000(0). The deaths (mostly by hand-made weapon) resulting from the recent and underreported Rwandan genocide number in the millions. The international community hasn't had much to stay about it because there's not much to be gained for them. This is the case with most African disasters.

I guess it's unsurprising that the Rest of the World acts in this way. African nations are equally savage towards one another. But it's still a sad thing to stop and acknowledge the situation. *sigh*

Pass the popcorn.

Zimbabwe – The Current Propaganda Assault

There is in Britain currently a huge propaganda assault on its citizenry about the apparently insignificant African country Zimbabwe. I assume the same is occurring throughout "the west".

It is pertinent to consider why this might be.

I submit that a monstrous act of deliberate mass killing is taking place instigated by our political masters, and that the purpose of the propaganda is to hide this.

The Sanctions against Zimbabwe are Economic in Nature

If the sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe were not simply targeted on ZANU PF as is claimed (they could hardly admit they were economic) but are economic, then this would explain the over 1,000,000% inflation, the lack of fuel for tractors, the mass starvation. This is very easy to see. So easy that the vertical farm animals must be exposed to a barrage of propaganda to prevent them from drawing such an obvious conclusion. A conclusion that leads, with perfect logic, to their masters being mass murderers.

ZIDERA

The Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, 2001; (ZIDERA) was imposed by the US. It prevents Zimbabwe from access to credit and finance facilities. It allows the US to control Zimbabwe's access to such agencies as the IMF, the World Bank, and the African Development Bank to veto any applications by Zimbabwe for finance, credit facilities, loan rescheduling, and international debt cancellation.

If that is not an economic sanction then the phrase has no meaning.

At a time of such dire economic trauma Zimbabwe will naturally wish to reschedule its loan repayments and to be granted debt cancellations. Its ability to do so is severely compromised.

Difficulties with the World Bank and IMF have meant that Zimbabwe's international credit rating and investment status has gone down the tubes. There is no money to be had for Zimbabwe.

The US and EU have frozen the assets of companies and individuals they say are linked to ZANU PF. These entities used to provide much income for the country and paid the wages of many Zimbabweans.

The IMF recently demanded the payment of $175 million, an odd thing to do to a starving country. Zimbabwe recently paid 150 million British pounds back in debt to the IMF, money it can clearly not afford and something which must result in death.

The main imposers of the economic sanctions are the US, followed by the UK, the EU, and Australia.

But Why Is It Being Done?

Regime change must be brought about and a compliant place man put in charge, "Get rid of Mugabe" the Zimbaweans are being told, "and we'll stop forcing you to decide which of your children is the next to die." For Mugabe has given the land to a larger number rather than a fewer number (our masters would be in favour of this, were it for real). It is the greatest of all crimes in the eyes of the US. And he has made it law for all firms to be at least 50% locally owned (making it difficult for giant US corporations to asset strip the country in the normal way). Either measure is intolerable. It is The Threat of a Good Example, it must be seen to fail, for if it does not other countries, with much more going for them, will say: "If that ridiculous little place can do it then, surely, so can we." And a crack would appear in the American empire; a domino fall.

References (all economic data is from these sources):
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/sanctions32.13170.html
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/sanctions36.13187.html

The Threat of a Good Example:

When the US was planning to overthrow Guatemalan democracy in 1954, a State Department official pointed out that "Guatemala has become an increasing threat to the stability of Honduras and El Salvador. Its agrarian reform is a powerful propaganda weapon: its broad social program of aiding the workers and peasants in a victorious struggle against the upper classes and large foreign enterprises has a strong appeal to the populations of Central American neighbors where similar conditions prevail."