Support for Mugabe and 'Zimbabwe'? Fuck no!

[Tim Cornelis]

I found this group on revleft, Solidarity with Zimbabwe, who describe the group as:

We support Robert Mugabe and the ZANU-PF's recapturing of land by and for the African people that was stolen from them by the European Colonialists.

We may have some criticisms of Mugabe and ZANU-PF.

We oppose the Movement for "democratic" change and condemn them as working in the interests of Imperialism.

Chimurenga!

And I can't help but wondering, are they serious, or is it like a mock group like Marxism-Leninism-Jonesism?

Are they completely mad? Are we now supporting any vicious dictator because of anti-colonial rhetoric?

Zimbabwe has an unemployment rate of more than 80 percent (more than 90% a few years ago), before 2010 hyperinflation was destroying the economy, and why?

Because Zimbabwe participated in the Congo war to reap financial benefits, i.e. imperialism!

there are signs that Harare is pouring money into the war with the hope of reaping longer-term financial rewards from its relationship with DR Congo.

Diamonds are mined in rebel-held territory (image caption)

Some observers have suggested that the main beneficiaries will be a group of people associated with the army and the government rather than the national economy.

In September, Zimbabwe announced joint business ventures with DR Congo including diamond and gold dealing, to add to the war chest of both countries.

"Instead of our army in the DRC burdening the treasury for more resources, which are not available, it embarks on viable projects for the sake of generating the necessary revenue," Defence Minister Moven Mahachi said.

The official Herald newspaper said two companies based in Zimbabwe and DR Congo would be granted licences to buy and sell diamonds and gold, and would set up offices manned by military officers.

In October, Zimbabwe's state-run Agricultural and Rural Development Authority was awarded more than 500,000 hectares of farming land in DR Congo.

The chairman of the authority, Dr Joseph Made, said the land would be used for maize, soya beans and livestock, and would create "enormous business opportunities for Zimbabwean companies."

John Makumbe, a political scientist at the University of Zimbabwe and fierce critic of the government said: " Zimbabwe seems intent on raiding the DRC and making it an economic colony."

Mr Makumbe, who heads the local branch of the anti-corruption organisation, Transparency International, believes that any economic gains are unlikely to trickle down to the Zimbabwean people.

"It won't be Zimbabwe as a nation that benefits. Instead a number of individuals in the political elite will enrich themselves."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/611898.stm

Zimbabwe has a higher income inequality than the United States and Qatar.

Mugabe is also a rampant homophobe who used the magnificent logic: "pigs and dogs are not homosexual, so why should humans". Yes, we should all take the example of dogs and pigs.

Yet these lunatics support him because he is somehow "anti-imperialist". It seems the most vocal anti-imperialist have no clue of what it entails.

We support Robert Mugabe and the ZANU-PF's recapturing of land by and for the African people that was stolen from them by the European Colonialists.

Roughly 80% of the land owned by whites was bought after Mugabe took office, with government approved certificates. While obviously private property is not justified, the claim that the white farmers all stole the land they owned does not stand up to scrutiny. Moreover, no ethnicity has a claim to property based on their ethnicity, which is fundamentally racist. Land redistribution should be done on the basis of class, not race.

What exactly does Mugabe do that warrants our approval?

It is truly beyond me how some who claim to be revolutionary socialists and anti-imperialists are in bed with bourgeois dictators and imperialists like Gadaffi (participated in Liberian civil war for natural resources) and Mugabe.

Lastly, the movement for democratic change is more "socialist" than Mugabe has ever been. It is a member of the "socialist" international of social-democratic parties. Contrary to Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangiray supports gay rights.

On October 25, 2011, Zimbabwe's Justice Minister and ZANU-PF member Patrick Chinamasa rejected calls by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to enshrine gay rights in a new constitution. Homosexual acts are currently illegal in Zimbabwe, as in most African countries where many people view gay rights as un-Christian and un-African.

(wikipedia)

Zimbabwe was the most advanced country in Africa, even more so than South Africa, with a modern military, good economy, but this started to fade a decade after Mugabe's rule and completely collapsed around 2000 when Mugabe lost it. Zimbabwe could have been so much more, but Mugabe fucked it up, and he fucked it up bad.

While Morgan Tsvangirai is certainly no revolutionary socialist, he is better than Mugabe in any conceivable way.

[bcbm]

i don't think some moonbats on a website 'supporting' mugabe is worth writing more than two sentences about. i am glad they are open about it though, if only so i know to ignore them.

[Woodsman]

don't forget his statements showing sympathy for Hitler, something along the lines of wanting to be the Hitler for his people.

[Left Leanings]

Mugabe is a money-grabbing, self-serving despot. He deserves no support at all.