Edward 4550 Million Dollar Bread
June 29th 2008 20:45
A land in Ruin
No, it’s not a joke. In Zimbabwe inflation has become so bad that even the simplest of commodities are priced in the hundreds of millions. As it stands the exchange rate runs at 15 billion Z-dollars to one American dollar. Many questions come to mind (like how does one carry around that much money?) but foremost is how did a relatively stable country fall to shambles in a matter of a decade? The answer, Robert Mugabe.
It is strange what slippery slope ruling a country can be. As Mugabe has shown, it is possible for a man to run the spectrum from righteous liberator to stubborn despot. He has ruled the country of Zimbabwe almost 3 decades now, and things weren't always as bad as they are today. In 1980 Mugabe was the first black president voted into office and he was touted as a liberator and that his presidency was the end of colonialism in Zimbabwe.
Liberator turned Tyrant
It was because of his reputation as an historic figure and national hero that he was able to rule the country for many years. In the late nineties however, in the face of civil unrest, Mugabe began spending wildly and without budget to quell the uprising. As the millennium loomed Zimbabwe had to default on many of its loans and lost financial credibility throughout the international community.
Now, in 2008, the people of Zimbabwe finally had a chance to remove him from office and instate a new leader. Unfortunately, Mugabe wouldn't go so easily. In face of political defeat, his party, the ZANU-PF, used violence to intimidate his opponent out of the race. Ironically his opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai, started out in the ZANU-PF party in 1980 when Mugabe took office. It wasn't until 1999, when Mugabe had run the country into the ground, that Tsvangirai split from the ZANU-PF and formed his own party, the MDC.
With his opponent removed and his people beaten into submission (its estimated 86 dead and hundreds of thousands of people wounded or displaced), Mugabe was sworn into office yesterday. It seems that even after his irresponsible and cruel policies have slowly laid waste to his country, he would stand on top of the smoldering rubble and shriek, MINE!
It bothers me that so many in the international community have condemned Mugabe and the violence he incites in Zimbabwe but have failed to act. It is especially disturbing to see more of the same from the U.N., all talk and no walk. If anything was going to be done it would have had to have happened before the election. Send in a small peace keeping force to safe guard Tsvangirai and the people during the elections, and ensure a peaceful transition to power.
Instead Mugabe was allowed to take office and Tsvangirai is hiding in the Dutch embassy fearing for his life. Isn't this the exact sort of thing the U.N. was established to safeguard against? Unfortunately the only thing the U.N. can get right these days is impotence.
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