‘Hands off Zimbabwe’

The same day that a unity government took office in Zimbabwe, Feb. 13, opponents of Western colonialism protested before the British and U.S. missions to the United Nations in New York City demanding an end to the economic sanctions imposed on this southern African country and the right to self-determination. The December 12th Movement and Friends of Zimbabwe called this action. Speakers at a rally outside the U.S. Mission included D12’s Omowale Clay and Sara Flounders from the International Action Center.

Imperialist sanctions have crippled Zimbabwe’s economy for almost a decade, ever since the African masses instituted a radical land reform policy of taking back their lands illegally stolen by white farmers. These earlier land thefts date back to the days of British colonialism, starting in the late 19th century. Once Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe backed this grassroots land reform program, the imperialists demonized him with a vengeance.

Mugabe, a leader of the ZANU-PF party coordinating Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle, was prime minister from 1980 to 1987, and president since then. Now the ZANU-PF is sharing political power with two opposition parties that are backed by the U.S. and Britain.

One of these parties, the Movement for Democratic Change, nominated their treasurer general, wealthy white farmer Roy Bennett, whose vast land holdings had been seized by Zimbabwe’s people, for deputy agriculture minister. When Bennett arrived in Harare Feb. 13, he was arrested and charged for his role in an earlier plot to overthrow President Mugabe. The continuing international sanctions against Zimbabwe and the role of people like Bennett in the opposition to Mugabe indicate once again that Zimbabwe’s quest for sovereignty and true independence is far from being over.