1 / 24

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe. White Independence. The white minority government of Rhodesia declared its independence from UK in 1965. This was the 1 st time a colony had done this without consent of the crown since 1776 Prime Minister Ian Smith would lead the new nation

teryl
Download Presentation

Zimbabwe

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Zimbabwe

  2. White Independence • The white minority government of Rhodesia declared its independence from UK in 1965. This was the 1st time a colony had done this without consent of the crown since 1776 • Prime Minister Ian Smith would lead the new nation • The country resisted the demands of black Africans, British pressure, economic sanctions, and guerrilla attacks in his effort to uphold white supremacy

  3. Smith’s reign in decline • On March 1, 1970, Rhodesia formally proclaimed itself a republic, but it was only recognized by South Africa • Heightened guerrilla war (Robert Mugabe of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and a withdrawal of South African military aid in 1976 marked the beginning of the collapse of Smith's 11 years of resistance

  4. Not a smooth transition • In 1978, African leaders signed an agreement to transfer power to the black majority by Dec. 31, 1978. • The agreement left control of the country's police, security forces, civil service and judiciary in white hands. • It assured whites of about one-third of the seats in parliament. • Western governments did not grant recognition to the new regime of Zimbabwe Rhodesia

  5. Zimbabwe and their leader • The white minority finally consented to hold multiracial elections in 1980 as part of the Lancaster House Agreement, and Robert Mugabe won a landslide victory in the new nation of Zimbabwe.

  6. The horror begins • Mugabe eventually established a one-party socialist state and began oppressing resistance. • It has been estimated that at least 20,000 members of an opposition tribe were murdered and tens of thousands of others were tortured

  7. Crackdown on opposition • By 1990 Mugabe had instituted corrupt multiparty elections • Mugabe began a crackdown on universities students and unions who frequently protested him • In 1991, Mugabe deleted all references to Marxism-Leninism and scientific socialism from the constitution and took control of the universities.

  8. Zimbabwe begins to crumble • In 1996, Mugabe won another six-year term as president despite civil servants, nurses, and doctors going on strike over salary issues and 25% of the population of Zimbabwe becoming infected by HIV

  9. Mugabe attacks the whites • In 2000, veterans of Zimbabwe's war for independence began squatting on land owned by white farmers • 70% of Zimbabwe's arable land was owned by 4,000 whites. • In Aug. 2002, Mugabe ordered all white commercial farmers to leave their land without compensation

  10. Sanctions • Mugabe's support for the squatters and his repressive rule has led to US and EU sanctions against Zimbabwe

  11. Reelection and inflation • In 2002, Mugabe was reelected president for another six years in a blatantly rigged election whose results were enforced by the president's militia. • Asharp decline in agricultural exports, which was traditionally the country's leading export producing sector led to a severe shortage of hard currency coming in the nation. • By 2003, inflation hit 300%

  12. Economy continues to collapse • In 2004, the IMF estimated that the country had grown one-third poorer in the last five years.

  13. Attack on the poor • In mid-2005, Zimbabwe demolished its urban slums and shantytowns, leaving 700,000 people homeless in an operation called “Drive Out Trash”. • In 2006, the government launched “Operation Roundup,” which drove 10,000 homeless people out of the capital.

  14. The worst crisis in the world • Zimbabwe has experienced precipitous hyperinflation and economic ruin. • By the end of 2008, inflation skyrocketed to a 516 quintillion% • Unemployment reached 80% • Zimbabwe has the world's lowest life expectancy. (42)

  15. 2008 election • The opposition Movement for Democratic Change won a majority of the seats in Parliament • Four days after the vote, Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of Movement for Democratic Change, declared himself the winner by a slim margin in the presidential election • Mugabe refused to concede until the vote count was complete. • More than a month after the election, however, the vote was not yet complete. • Many observers speculated that Mugabe ordered the delay to either intimidate election officials or to rig the results in his favor. • Police raided the offices of the opposition and election monitors and detained dozens of people for questioning. • After the election, supporters of Mugabe began a brutal campaign of violence against the opposition that left more than 30 people dead and hundreds wounded. Tsvangirai fled the country, fearing assassination attempts.

  16. Mugabe continue to fight • Tsvangiraireturned to Zimbabwe in late May of 2008 • On May 2, election officials finally released the results of the vote, with Tsvangirai defeating President Robert Mugabe, 47.9% to 43.2% but a runoff election was necessary because neither candidate won more than 50%. • In the lead-up to the runoff election, police intensified their crackdown on Tsvangirai and members of his party. Indeed, at least 85 supporters of his party were killed in government-backed violence. • Officials banned rallies and repeatedly detained Tsvangirai for attempting to do so • Mugabe barred humanitarian groups from providing aid in the country—a drastic move that aid organizations estimated would deny about two million people much-needed assistance

  17. Mugabe wins • The runoff election did take place in late June, but it was neither free nor fair. • Nevertheless, Mugabe was elected to a sixth term, taking 85% of the vote. • World leaders condemned the election and the government-sponsored crackdown on the opposition. • China and Russia, however, blocked the U.S.-led effort in the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe. U.S. responded in July by expanding existing sanctions

  18. Agreement? • President Mugabe and Tsvangirai agreed to a power-sharing deal in September that called on the leaders to share executive authority. Under the deal, Tsvangirai will serve as prime minister and the opposition will control 13 ministries. The governing party will control 15 • Mugabe will continue as president. • residents facing hunger • empty store shelves • a nonexistent health system • rampant unemployment • inflation (Since curbed by going to the US dollar) • obvious political instability • a cholera epidemic broke out in August 2008 • BUT the nation has seen economic growth in 2009-2011

  19. 2012 • The 2012 elections were won by Mugabe in a landslide. • Others have critiqued the election as rigged yet again.

  20. CNN interview with Mugabe • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cCMjU5Nffs Mugabe 1976: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnGaSbA0aIk Mugabe at the UN • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_YPKzEW5Z0 • See articles for more info

More Related