The Farm Invasions

1. The Farm Invasions In 2000, Mugabe began allowing “war veterans” (in reality his political supporters) to “invade” white-owned farms and take parts or all of them as their own. Rarely were farmers compensated for the loss of their property during these farm invasions. Whites—especially the richer ones—began fleeing Zimbabwe in droves. Those who resisted (both white and black) were beaten and had their homes destroyed. Agricultural output plummeted.

2. Victims It should be remembered that most of the victims of these farm invasions were black Zimbabweans who worked on formerly white-owned farms and were kicked off the land by Mugabe’s so-called “War Veterans.” Before long. Black-owned farms were seized and occupied by ZANU-PF supporters as well. Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9h_QsCujl4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avesKYQ3fFA&feature=related

3. The Dictatorship Deepens 2002: With growing opposition to his one-party rule and economic crisis, Mugabe and his ZANU-PF Party became desperate to hold onto power. Elections were rigged, and censorship of the media began. Most countries put sanctions on Zimbabwe, cutting off most trade and nearly all economic aid and loans. This deepened the country’s crisis.

4. MDC In theory, Zimbabwe was still a democracy, and elections were held every five years. Opposition to Mugabe became centered around the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and its leader Morgan Tsvangirai.  The MDC seemed sure to win the 2008 elections…if Mugabe allowed it.

5. Economic Catastrophe Thanks to Mugabe’s incompetence, the collapse of agriculture due to the farm invasions, rising fuel costs, international sanctions, unemployment, and a growing population, the Zimbabwean economy collapsed. Hyperinflation, where paper money loses most or all of its value, reduced the country to near-starvation. Mugabe’s solution was to allow more farm invasions and crackdowns on political opponents.

6. “Urban Clean-Up” In 2007, Mugabe ordered the bulldozing of a slum in the capital Harare that had been a center of support for the opposition MDC. At the height of the economic catastrophe, 700,000 people were suddenly made homeless.

7. The 2008 Elections In the 2008 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections, all polls showed a clear victory for the opposition MDC. But they were not the ones counting the votes… After more than a month, the ZANU-PF government announced that Tsvangirai and the MDC had won…but did not receive 50% of the vote. (There were more than two candidates.) A second round between Mugabe and Tsvangirai was scheduled for a few months later.

8. In The Meantime Between the two rounds of elections, thugs from Mugabe’s ZANU-PF arrested, jailed, beat, tortured, killed, and burned down the houses of thousands of known MDC supporters and their families.

9. As It Stands In an effort to stop the violence, Tsvangirai agreed to share power with Mugabe. But the elderly Mugabe and ZANU-PF are still firmly in control. International sanctions are still in effect, nothing has been fixed, and only donations of food from other countries have prevented mass famine. What was once the great hope of black/white cooperation and the most “European” of Sub-Saharan African countries is now one of its most hopeless, poorest, and violent.

10. The Future ? Technically, Tsvangirai is the political leader of the country as Prime Minister, but Mugabe is still the President, his thugs remain unpunished and in positions of power, and new crackdowns on opposition could come at any time. All bets are off for what will happen when Mugabe (who is now 88 years old) retires or dies.