Guys sorry for interrupting your political discourse. There are so many hot topics to discuss on this beautiful weekend day as far as US politics is concerned but my conscience would not allow me to ignore what is going on half a world away in a country known as Zimbabwe on the African continent. It seems to me that the world is allowing Robert Mugabe to get away with strangling the life out of his people in broad daylight. It's like watching your neighbor beat the heck out of his wife and turning a blind eye to it on the grounds that it's none of your business and that they'll sort out their problems somehow by themselves. You hear the screams and the cries for help but you turn up the volume on your television set and close your windows. You have too many other things concerning your life right now to be minding your neighbor's business, you tell yourself. You don't even have the decency to call the police, you see your neighbors as nothing but low-lives and couldn't care less if they killed each other.
That analogy might be a little melodramatic but I think it somewhat describes the crisis in Zimbabwe today and how the world is treating it. Zimbabwe does not have oil, it may not be of much geo-political importance to the West, some might say it's just another failed African state but does that make it's problems less important or its people less human? The thing about Zimbabwe is that it can't easily be lumped with the other troubled countries in sub-Saharan Africa like Somalia or the Sudan. Somalia for example have been plagued by destitution, violence and political instability for decades on end. Zimbabwe on the other hand had been a rare African success story, a bedrock of stability in the region boasting the continent's most educated population and most productive agricultural sector. How then has such a country deteriorated to the state that it is in today, it's like watching a decent hard working citizen turn into a murderous psychopath overnight. I say point the finger no further than that wicked self-serving despot, Robert Mugabe.
I wrote in detail in an earlier diary about the dire situation that currently exists in Zimbabwe but to give you a taste of just how bad things are inflation is running well over 200,000% and prices are doubling every day so simple things like a cup of coffee, a roll of tissue or a loaf of bread costs hundreds of millions of dollars and fuck me I'm not joking. Elections were held two weeks ago and Mugabe and his ruling ZANU-PF party seems to have lost their grip on power but living true to his despotic reputation the nefarious Mugabe is simply refusing to step. The Zimbabwe Election Commission, which has come under extreme pressure from the Mugabe regime, has not announced the Presidential poll results even though the election is now two weeks gone and it's widely believed that the opposition won a clear victory. Reports are that he is now using everything at his disposal to hold on to power. He has banned opposition rallies in recent days, raided their offices and deployed the military who remains loyal to him to intimidate and use brutal force against opposition activists.
Mugabe is such a selfish motherfucker that he will massacre to stay in office. He doesn't give a shit about the sufferings of his people or how much he has destroyed Zimbabwe. It's all about him and his pride and nothing will get in the way of that not even the need of the people he is supposed to represent. He sees himself in some messianic role somewhat similar to the way Bush sees himself but much more toxic. He thinks because he fought against white supremacy and colonial domination in his country he is some larger than life figure who can do nothing wrong or some eternal victim who is constantly fighting for black pride. It's just ashame that his African counterparts have bought this senseless line of reasoning and continue to support him as he singlehandedly destroys his own country. There is no greater culprit in this than the South African president Thabo Mbeki who seems to have great influence over Zimbabwe but has systematically refused to apply any form of pressure whatsoever on the Mugabe regime. He has been appointed by his African colleagues to lead mediation efforts in Zimbabwe between the ruling regime and the opposition but his policy of "quiet diplomacy" which I believe is code for "I'll let them sort out their own problem" has been viewed by many as grossly ineffective.
Considering what the South Africans went through with Apartheid and the suffering it brought upon their people, I thought that their Government would have had more sympathy on the sufferings of the Zimbabwean people whether it was was brought on by a white colonial power or its own black Government. Thabo Mbeki may think he is in some sort of solidarity with Mugabe who is viewed by some Africans as a revolutionary hero against white rule but what he really is doing is being a partner in crime. If he truly loved the Zimbabwean people or respect the accomplishments that South Africa has made post-apartheid, he would tell Mugabe that he has to go. I am an African American and I am very mad about what is going on in Zimbabwe. It's stuff like this that makes me ashamed of being black or associated with Africans at times but then again I look over my shoulder and realize that whites are still trying to recover from the shame that Hitler brought upon their race so I guess despotic lunatics exists on both sides.
I think the United States should take a very hard line against the Mugabe regime, not only should we increase sanctions on this despot, I think we should start applying pressure on other African countries like South Africa that are aiding and abetting the Mugabe regime. I think we should consider boycotting the World Cup in south Africa in 2010 if Mugabe is allowed to stay in power and South Africa continues to do nothing about it. The world must not stand by and allow Mugabe to strangle what's left out of the Zimbabwean people. We can send in troops, apply sanctions or take him out secretly (if you know what I mean) but we have to do something because to do nothing is a crime. These poor Zimbabweans deserve a break, they are humans too.