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If I could wave a magic wand, I'd arm all the oppressed people across the world, so they'd have a chance at toppling their tyrannical governments.
Posted on 08/10/2002 2:37:39 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Farmers will "live to regret" their defiance of government orders to abandon their land, Zimbabwean officials warned Saturday.
Nearly 3,000 white farmers were ordered to leave their property by Friday as part of a plan to seize white-owned lands and turn them over to blacks. No serious measures have been taken yet against farmers who have defied the deadline.
But Co-Vice President Joseph Msika, head of Zimbabwe's land reform task force, told state television late Friday that farmers refusing to leave their land would "live to regret it."
"Those who are not going to work within the laws of Zimbabwe have nobody to blame but themselves. The law will take its course," he said.
Ignatius Chombo, the powerful local government minister, said: "All the excuses by the farmers show what an arrogant and racist bunch they are. It shows they want to derail the land redistribution program by any means ... they will not succeed," according to the state-run Herald newspaper Saturday.
Chombo said "appropriate measures" would be taken against farmers breaking the law.
Vice President Simon Muzenda warned that authorities would act firmly against farmers opposing the "irreversible" land program.
"You are told by government what we want done ... and you simply do that," he told state radio Saturday.
The evictions deadline came as half of Zimbabwe's 12.5 million people face a severe hunger crisis, according to the World Food Program. The WFP blames the crisis on drought combined with the agricultural chaos caused by the seizures of commercial farms, which are mainly owned by whites.
The government has targeted 95 percent of white-owned farms for seizure.
In Washington, the U.S. State Department on Saturday denounced Zimbabwe's attempt to evict the farmers and thousands of farm workers as "a reckless and reprehensible act."
"These actions by the government of Zimbabwe, in combination with its assault on its political opponents, have destroyed Zimbabwe's economy, undermined the nation's democratic institutions and accelerated the onset of severe food shortages," the statement said, urging the Zimbabwean government to reverse its stand.
In neighboring South Africa, there were calls for African countries to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe in response to the evictions.
"President Mugabe has become the 'tin-pot dictator' of the south. ... As Zimbabwe's regional and continental neighbors, we must act decisively to end the madness which continues to threaten the stability of our region and the welfare of so many southern Africans," New National Party leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk said.
No attempts were made across the country Friday or Saturday to force farmers off their land, said the Commercial Farmers Union, which represents 4,000 white farmers.
The union reported two incidents Friday in eastern Zimbabwe in which ruling party militants and blacks who had resettled on seized land tried to pressure white farmers to leave.
Police intervened and defused the confrontation, officials said.
The union said many farmers had packed up personal belongings and valuables for safekeeping ahead of the deadline, but up to three-fourths of those who faced immediate eviction vowed to stay until it became clear what the government was going to do.
Justice for Agriculture, a newly formed lobbying group that has called on farmers to challenge evictions in court, said about 800 farmers abandoned their land in recent weeks as the deadline approached.
Another 300 farmers had taken impromptu vacations at the start of symbolic annual weekend celebrations honoring the guerrilla war that ended white rule and led to independence in 1980, the group said.
The government says its land program is an effort to correct colonial era injustices. Critics say it is part of the increasingly authoritarian government's effort to maintain power amid more than two years of economic chaos and political violence mainly blamed on the ruling party.
Last year, the annual independence war celebrations triggered a wave of attacks and looting on white farms by black militants and guerrilla veterans.
In its 2002 report on Libya, Amnesty International (AI) said: "Dozens of political prisoners were released, but hundreds, including prisoners of conscience and possible prisoners of conscience, remained in jail, many without charge or trial. "There were further reports of torture and ill-treatment from previous years, where no impartial and thorough investigations had been conducted" and "repeated requests from AI to send trial observers received no response from the Libyan authorities", the report added.***
If Africans can not seize control of their country, from the thugs and racists - Africa will return to and remain in the dark ages... Western civilization should send food ONLY to those willing to take up arms and throw out or kill the bastards currently in charge.
Why has the U.N. not acted in defense of WHITE MEN'S rights and lives..... A pox on the U.N. also.
Semper Fi
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AfricaWatch: for AfricaWatch articles. Other Bump Lists at: Free Republic Bump List Register |
If I could wave a magic wand, I'd arm all the oppressed people across the world, so they'd have a chance at toppling their tyrannical governments.
Darn good question.
They can save their money. When the whites leave the land, it will become unproductive as a result of neglect. The new tenents will starve through sloth. For those who will flame me, I remind you of Congo.
Tell that to the Chinese people. Tell that to the people at Waco. You can bet your bottom dollar that some will make their stand at their farms. In the end, they will be insects splattering on the windshield. Most will run and forget. But the ones that tyrants should fear most are the ones who know when to run but never forget.
Sloth? Or lack of experience?
It's a little more complicated than that. The "white-owned" Rhodesian farms employed a huge number of Zimbabweans. Now Mugabe ruling a nation on the brink of starvation. What gives?
Is that possible ? I don't know . Doesn't the government in Zimbabwe have all the weapons by now (gun-control) ?Is it possible for the whites to fight when they're that badly outnumbered? No argument from me ,just questions
It's the redistribution of wealth. Old hands know and often love what they are doing. Newcomers don't know what they are getting into.
Yes, It is true With faith anything is possible.I still wish that poor folks had some ammo to help their faith.
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