Posted on 02/28/2007 10:46:08 AM PST by blam
Embattled Zimbabwe hungry and broke, says central bank head
The Associated Press
Published: February 28, 2007
HARARE, Zimbabwe: Dozens of people were arrested Wednesday as pro-democracy activists defied a police ban on demonstrations and took to the streets to protest growing economic hardship and repression in Zimbabwe.
The National Constitutional Assembly said many of those arrested were assaulted. It vowed to continue with the demonstrations.
"We believe that demonstrating for a new constitution is a genuine cause that cannot be blocked by a corrupt police force whose mandate is merely that of protecting a failed regime," the movement said in a statement.
The demonstration coincided with a bleak new warning by the head of the Zimbabwe state central bank that the nation is broke and using foreign currency needed for fuel and spare parts on food.
Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono told a panel of lawmakers that many black farmers, including politicians, who resettled on former white-owned farms, were failing to produce food. Zimbabwe was once the region's breadbasket.
"There are some people who have become professional land occupiers, vandalizing equipment and moving from one farm to another," Gono told a parliamentary committee on Home Affairs, according to the daily Herald, a government mouthpiece.
He said his priority was to allocate hard currency for imports of corn, the staple, to avert a looming food crisis. Currency was diverted from almost every government department to buy food, he conceded.
Under President Robert Mugabe's land reform program, at least 5,000 white-owned farms have been seized with virtually no compensation since 2000. Many are derelict.
Mugabe was on state visit to longtime ally Namibia, where hundreds of people took to the streets with signs that read "Go Mugabe Go" and "Go Home Dictator."
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
Zim Ping.
I can hardly wait for the new commercials with bleeding heart liberals asking for us to give them $12 a month so they can feed, house, educate, provide medical care and get them a ride on a the next Space Shuttle.
"...What is the cause of mass poverty? To answer the question, "What about the poor under capitalism?" one must first answer, "Why are there poor people in the first place?" The source of all poverty is the lack of wealth, which must be produced. The source of production (and thus wealth) is man's mind, which politically has only one requirement: freedom. Politically, this is the single cause of mass poverty: the lack of freedom. Observe the poorest countries are those where capitalism is lacking..." (cite: http://www.capitalism.org/faq/poverty.htm)
Rhodesia was a prosperous country before being turned over to self rule
My God, when did this happen? Shouldn't the UN be told so they can do something about it...and so they can come running to the US for the money to do it?
[Uproarious laughter as I sit down to a nice lunch I paid for.)
The Third World: Where they are incapable of running their own affairs, but won't let America do it.
I can't believe somebody has not killed Mugabe by now.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Mugabe should sell carbon credits to Hollywood elites and Algore.
"I can hardly wait for the new commercials with bleeding heart liberals asking for us to give them $12 a month so they can feed, house, educate, provide medical care and get them a ride on a the next Space Shuttle."
***
I used to have no problem donating to people in many of these countries. But then when the tsunami hit, the UN said that we in the U.S. don't give enough. So the heck with all of them. I'll do my charitable giving closer to home.
Mugabe Says He Will Free All His People from the Burden of Toil
Aiming to build upon government confiscation of hundreds of white-owned farms that has helped propel Zimbabwe to a 1,600 percent inflation rate, while simultaneously boosting unemployment to 80 percent of the workforce, President Robert Mugabe now plans to nationalize the country’s diamond resources. Zimbabwe has two diamond mines: Murowa, which is owned by Rio Tinto and Riozim, and the privately-owned River Ranch.
Mugabe emphasized that seizing the mines is merely the “next step” in his plan to totally “Africanize” Zimbabwe’s economy. “Zimbabwe is a black man’s country,” Mugabe said. “Its resources must be owned by the black man. I am that man.” Under Mugabe’s Africanization plan, title to all properties will be placed in his name and held in trust for the benefit of the Zimbabwean people.
Progress toward a socialist utopia was “on track,” according to Mugabe. “We are as close as any country has been to achieving Marx’s vision of the withering away of the state,” Mugabe bragged. “Cuba may be the darling of the media, but it is we who have enabled 80% of our workers to join the leisure class, not they. And we are, I believe, very close to relieving all of our people from the burdens of toil.”
In an effort to rebut concerns that upcoming elections will be rigged, Mugabe gave his personal pledge that the vote, scheduled for June, would be free and fair. Mugabe insisted that it was inconceivable that the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), could win a majority of the 120 seats being contested. “Jimmy Carter will be overseeing the elections,” Mugabe said. “If Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, can win, under such circumstances, then we will know for sure that we have been visited upon by the devil.”
Ailing Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro, labeled Mugabe’s claims “idle boasts.” Castro insisted that his people had so much leisure time that hundreds of thousands have taken up sailing. “Many have built their own boats,” Castro pointed out. “Unfortunately, too many of them have been kidnapped by American pirates before we could rescue them.”
read more...
http://www.azconservative.org/Semmens1.htm
He can't - he destroyed the farmers who would create those credits.
Is this satire ? Sad, if not.
That's some really laughable stuff! Is that satire or real?
It's all whitey's fault, doncha know.
Maybe Oprah will crack open her change purse and help them out some. (more like, she'll use it as seed money which she'll get back and open another charity and raise guilty white liberal money)
Now there's a plan! Make Hollywierdo's pay for the carbon credits they need for their excessive 'living large' carbon footprint. Every time Oprah and that triple chined idiot cranked up they 747's, they'd have to pay a few million to Magabe. HAHAHA!
I bet Holliwierdo's would start howling if that idea became popular.
To top it off, many of the other countries whose governments promised large amounts of money ended up actually giving far less, or nothing. I don't hear any UN complaints about them.
Socialism in action. In a few years we'll be hearing this story about Venezuela.
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