Mugabe madness update

As a few people pointed out to me after the March election, getting Mugabe to go quietly was a pipe dream... ergo and admittedly: i was far too optimist, far too soon. The madness has continued, with CARE recently having their operations suspended amidst accusations that distributing food and other services to 500.000 needy Zimbabweans was "an alleged political activity." In some respects, this is the other side of the failure recently dealt in Rome with respect to the food crisis: it's important to rethink the whole biofuels plan, but lack of equitable food distribution is also crucial and the situations in Zimbabwe and Somalia probably exemplify this right now better than most other places (tho it's obviously a far-reaching aspect of the global starvation crisis). Under different circumstances, one would assume that starving people out is not an effective strategy for winning a run-off vote, but Mugabe is among that vile breed of dictators who believe that dead or incapacitated voters are the best assurance of electoral victory... and if they refuse to die, then just stuff the ballot boxes again.

i'd like to say this is just a desperate old man struggling with the notion of retirement, but that would be far too forgiving. The international community is ranting at him to ease up on the entire range of outrageous restrictions he continues to impose - arresting foreign diplomats recently got a lot of worldwide media attention, and for good reason, but it's hard not to think that the persecution of diplomat personnel pales in comparison to what most of the country's poor are experiencing. Tsavangiri was arrested again, though the Guardian reports that Mbeki was able to apply enough pressure to secure his release. The election is set for 27 June, so this kind of anti-MDC/opposition activity is likely going to worsen. The sickest aspect of the crackdown on food aid is that CARE apparently understands Mugabe is using the food as "baits for votes." The BBC is reporting that Human Rights Watch has completely written off free elections as impossible in the current climate of massive intimidation. HRW also claims Mugabe's Zanu-PF has set up torture camps. Absolute madness, literally.