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Patson Chipiro, a democracy activist, wasn’t home when Robert Mugabe’s thugs showed up looking for him. So they grabbed his wife, Dadirai, and tormented her by chopping off one of her hands and both of her feet. Finally, they threw her into a hut, locked the door and burned it to the ground. That has been the pattern lately: with opposition figures in hiding, Mr. Mugabe’s goons kill loved ones to send a message of intimidation. Even the wife of the mayor-elect of Harare, the capital, was kidnapped and beaten to death. When the white supremacist regime of Ian Smith...

The crisis in Zimbabwe is "infecting the whole of southern Africa, UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said after visiting refugees. On a visit to Johannesburg, S Africa, he said victims of political repression were fleeing there in their thousands. He said it was now "imperative" that there was a new government in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe was declared the winner of a one-candidate run-off election, amid reports of the violent intimidation of his opponents. After meeting some of the 2,000 refugees who have taken refuge in the Central Methodist Church in downtown Johannesburg, Mr. Miliband said: "This is now...

Former President Bill Clinton called for Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe to step down immediately or form a power-sharing arrangement with his chief opponent. The former presidentcalled Mugabe "a puppet of the military establishment" and singled out a Washington Post story that exposed coercion, intimidation, beatings and profession killings by the ruling-party s militias. The crisis in Zimbabwe was the main focus of a public one-on-one interview tonight with Jane Wales, a former Clinton advisor and current Aspen Institute vice president of philanthropy and society, at the annual Aspen Ideas Festival.

Picture exclusive: The tyrant and his bride...a 'liberal' Mugabe at his wedding in 1961 Last updated at 00:26am on 06.07.08  In white gloves and smart suit, with a carnation in his buttonhole, this smiling bridegroom is the man who has brought Zimbabwe to its knees.When Robert Mugabe married his first wife Sally in 1961, he was a 37-year-old liberal nationalist who wanted to make his country - then Southern Rhodesia - a model multiracial democracy.The man who took this never before published photograph, retired airline manager Kevin Nolan, was a guest at the ceremony.     Love and politics:...

Dear Family and Friends, It is now clear that the will of the Zimbabwean people as expressed in the March 29th elections has been ignored and, as a result we find ourselves in the deepest crisis. Hundreds of people: men, women and children have started arriving at foreign embassies in Harare, begging for temporary refuge and humanitarian assistance. First it was the South African embassy, then the American embassy: crowds of people who are cold, tired, homeless, hungry and frightened and who have nowhere else to go and no one to turn to. They don't shout, scream, protest and demand,...

The Dirty Half-Dozen: The generals who are even more ruthless and bloodthirsty than Mugabe By Andrew Malone Last updated at 12:35 AM on 05th July 2008 His Excellency was perspiring, even though there was frost on the ground. In the palatial gardens of State House, the oak-panelled home of former British colonial rulers, Robert Mugabe's face glistened with sweat as he was declared President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. He pulled at his cuffs and glanced over his shoulder. After 28 years of bloody rule - and two hours before the election results were announced 'live' on state-controlled TV -...

Harare—John Robertson, a Zimbabwean economist, went to the dentist yesterday with a painful tooth that needed urgent work, but before he could get it done, he had to arrange payment. His choices were these: Either he could pay in Zim dollars, in which case he'd need a bag of them, because the bill for his dentistry was $1.3 trillion, plus the limit for cash withdrawals from his bank account was only $25 billion daily. Or he could pay by check on his Zimbabwean bank account, in which case, since it takes a week to clear the check and the Zim...

HARARE - A pall of fear a campaign of post-election retributive violence that has claimed nine lives since Friday has descended over Zimbabwe. President Robert Mugabe is frantically trying to shrug off massive international condemnation over his fraudulent re-election to entrench himself for a further five years. In the aftermath of Friday’s widely-condemned one candidate runoff election, Mugabe’s supporters have intensified a witch-hunt of perceived opposition activists and supporters. Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, told a news conference at his Strathaven residence Wednesday that groups of soldiers and Zanu-PF youth militia had been carrying out a...

A newly emboldened Robert Mugabe plans to drum up false charges of rape and robbery against MPs opposed to his Zanu (PF) party, to enable him to regain control of the parliament. The president's party lost its majority for the first time since independence in March, when the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won most seats in the lower house and drew level with Zanu (PF) in the senate. Now, after employing a terrifying campaign of violence to hold on to his presidential power, Mugabe believes he can overturn the MDC majority with underhand methods including false imprisonment, kidnap and...

A defiant President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe on Tuesday fended off an effort by African leaders to sanction him for his country's recent election violence, telling them that their claims to power were no more legitimate than his. President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal said Mugabe chastised another head of state during a closed-door session Tuesday night for having "worse elections than I did." A two-day summit of the 53-nation African Union that was dominated by talk of Zimbabwe's political crisis ended with leaders issuing no public rebuke. Instead, African leaders encouraged Mugabe to enter into dialogue and form a power-sharing...

The African Union (AU) has called on Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai to negotiate a government of national unity (GNU), with the aid of a special envoy, much to the ire of the Zanu-PF leader, who stormed out of the Red Sea summit before it came to a close. The resolution came just hours after both men said a GNU was not an option. Speaking on behalf of Mugabe earlier in the day, spokesperson George Charamba said Zimbabwe must not attempt to emulate Kenya in dealing with its problems. "The Zimbabwean way, not the Kenyan way. Not at all," he...

Robert Mugabe has kept his embattled regime in Zimbabwe afloat on a sea of paper money. Now, he'll have to try to do it without the paper. The Munich-based company that has supplied Zimbabwe with the special blank sheets to print its increasingly worthless dollar caved in to pressure on Tuesday from the German government for it to stop doing business with the African ruler. Mr. Mugabe's regime relies on a steady supply of the paper -- fortified with watermarks and other antiforgery features -- to print the bank notes that allow it to pay the soldiers and other loyalists...

HARARE, July 1 (Reuters) - Armed groups attacked and seriously wounded at least three white farmers in Zimbabwe after last Friday's run-off presidential election, a farmers' union said on Tuesday. Zimbabwe's Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) said the farmers were abducted, assaulted and thrown off a moving vehicle in Chegutu district, 100 km (62 miles) west of Harare. "Serious injuries have been inflicted on all three, all of whom have sustained serious head injuries," it said in a statement.

IRAN today said it "respects" the outcome of Zimbabwe's one-man presidential election which saw veteran incumbent Robert Mugabe stay in power but was denounced as a farce by the West. "We respect the will of the Zimbabwean people expressed in the second round of the presidential elections, whatever it is," foreign ministry Mohammad Ali Hosseini said. "We hope that these results are in the interest of the independence and the development of Zimbabwe," he added, according to the ISNA student news agency. Mr Mugabe was sworn in for a sixth term after being declared the winner of Friday's election runoff...

Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwean thug-o-crat and faux President was sworn in for a sixth term after a reign of terror launched against all who opposed his bid for re-election. Mugabe, who has taken an economically sound nation which had a strong manufacturing base, mining industry (it is rich in natural resouces) thriving agricultural as well as tourism industies, and turned it into one of the world’s biggest economic basket cases.

London (agencies) Agents of Robert Mugabe’s regime are harassing and intimidating Zimbabwean dissidents in Britain in an attempt to silence his political rivals and disrupt vital fundraising for Morgan Tsvangirai’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Mugabe’s feared security force, the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), is waging a highly-organised campaign to terrify the 4,000 MDC members living in the UK. It involves surveillance, threats against family members in Zimbabwe, menacing late-night phone calls and bogus messages saying that fundraising activities are cancelled or disrupted. The existence of the campaign was confirmed last night by British security sources, who said the targeting...

UNITED NATIONS, June 30 (Reuters) - A U.S.-drafted U.N. sanctions resolution calls for the U.N. Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Zimbabwe and freeze the assets of specific Zimbabwean individuals and companies. The draft, obtained by Reuters on Monday, says the council would not recognize Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's June 27 re-election and would freeze the assets of and ban travel for anyone who helped the government "undermine democratic processes" or supported politically-motivated violence.

Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe 'a hero', say African leaders By David Blair, Diplomatic Editor Last Updated: 8:47PM BST 30/06/2008 African leaders gathering for a summit have greeted President Robert Mugabe as a "hero", dashing hopes that Zimbabwe's regime would come under immediate international pressure. President Omar Bongo of Gabon, who has held power for 41 years and won a series of widely criticised elections, gave his public backing for Mr Mugabe as leaders met in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. "He was elected, he took an oath, and he is here with us, so he is President and we cannot...

With pomp, ceremony and a massive dose of defiance, His Excellency Commander Robert Gabriel Mugabe was yesterday sworn in as Zimbabwe's president. Inside the oak-panelled rooms of State House, as fighter jets roared overhead, he declared himself winner of an election in which he was the only candidate. Even before he took the oath, he had set in motion bloody recriminations against those who worked against him. Secret documents outlining the strategy against the opposition Movement for Democratic Change have been seen by the Mail. They reveal that, in the runup to the polls, Mugabe had plotted to 'eliminate MDC...

.." Odinga also responded to media reports that Mugabe said that the Prime Minister of Kenya [is] persona non grata in Zimbabwe..."

Hugo Chavez faces political crisis as allies desert him By David Blair in Caracas Last Updated: 9:24PM BST 29/06/2008 President Hugo Chavez, the "socialist revolutionary" leading a global campaign against America's "empire", is facing a political crisis in Venezuela where crucial elections are approaching and old allies have turned against him. Mr Chavez has given Caracas's slum-dwellers free health care for the first time Mr Chavez, a devoted admirer of Fidel Castro, has forged an anti-American front with leaders ranging from President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. At home, however, Mr Chavez is in trouble....

HARARE (AFP) — Robert Mugabe was sworn in Sunday for a sixth term of office as Zimbabwe president after being declared winner of a one-man election widely denounced throughout the world as an illegitimate farce. "I will well and truly serve this country in the office of president, so help me God," 84-year-old Mugabe said at a ceremony at his State House residence, presided over by Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku.

Zimbabwe's once proud white farming community is facing extinction, as President Robert Mugabe steps up his campaign of violence and intimidation on all fronts. Virtually all of the remaining 280 white farmers have been invaded by government supporters since Mr Mugabe lost the first round of the presidential election in March.

A baby boy had both legs broken by supporters of President Robert Mugabe to punish his father for being an opposition councillor in Zimbabwe. Blessing Mabhena, aged 11 months, was seized from a bed and flung down with force as his mother, Agnes, hid from the thugs, convinced that they were about to murder her. She heard one of them say, “Let’s kill the baby”, before Blessing was hurled on to a bare concrete floor. Blessing, who may never be able to walk properly, was one of the youngest victims of atrocities against the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change...

A few years ago, when the tyrant of Zimbabwe was moving from being wicked to being downright evil, I wrote that we should invade Harare, depose him, and supervise free elections. Invited to appear on a BBC programme to defend this stance, I was assailed by an "Africa expert" who told me that diplomatic pressure on Mugabe was bound to work, that the idea of sending the Parachute Regiment in to sort the monster out was offensively colonialist, and that I was wrong. Miliband: getting the message at last White liberals like him are as much to blame for the...

Another Jimmy Carter Foreign Policy Success, Revisited. The foreign policy gifts of Jimmy Carter - which gave us the secular, pluralist, pro-Western Iran we know today - just keep on giving. Recently, thanks to the postings at Theo Spark’s Last of the Few, I've been following the disaster in Zimbabwe and the man who made it so – it’s de-facto dictator, Robert "let-them-eat-nothing" Mugabe. Mugabe is running "unopposed" for another term as president - as he's now forced the one viable opposition candidate out of the race. (The election is today.) In most democracies, candidates win elections by earning people’s...

Two stories in this edition spotlight the paradox of President Thabo Mbeki's handling of the Zimbabwean crisis, as the president of a neighbouring African state and the region's appointed mediator. On the one hand there is the hard-hitting analysis Mbeki sent President Robert Mugabe in 2001, lambasting Mugabe's economic mismanagement and assaults on democracy. Presciently, the South African leader warns of Zimbabwe's growing isolation, of the danger posed by the violent "war veterans" who have swamped the ruling party and of the potential fallout for the region of a deepening crisis. He calls on Mugabe to cooperate with the emerging...

Voters hope ink-stained finger will keep them alive CHRIS MCGREAL | HARARE, ZIMBABWE - Jun 28 2008 07:30 The young man who gave his name only as Wilson wanted just one thing from Friday's presidential election in Zimbabwe: the indelible red ink on his little finger to show he had voted. "They said they would come to see if we voted," he said after casting his ballot in a tent in a Harare suburb. "They know if we went to vote we would have to vote for the president. They were watching." Who are "they"? "The ones who made us...

The farcical presidential election run-off in Zimbabwe has come and gone. Predictably Zanu-PF used all sorts of intimidation tactics to force people to the polls so Robert Mugabe -- the only candidate after last Sunday's withdrawal by Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai -- will win by a wide margin. Reports from the country gave accounts of people being frog marched to the polls and instructed to write down the serial numbers of their ballot papers to prove they voted -- and the party functionaries checked who they voted for. But this was all expected in the culmination of...

June 28, 2008 Is Mugabe the real problem in Zimbabwe? We are deluding ourselves if we think that getting rid of one mad, old tyrant will stop the barbarism Matthew Parris In politics as in our personal lives, just six words comprise one of the commonest falsehoods around. Those six words are: “It can't go on like this.” But it can. I've come to the melancholy conclusion that in Zimbabwe it must. This weekend there will be voices in our Prime Minister's ear suggesting how in one bound he might cast off his dithering reputation. To help to broker the...

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's election run-off campaign premised on providing goods and services at cheaper prices has failed as inflation continues to gallop ahead. The Movement for Democratic Change presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai officially pulled out of today's election this week to effectively hand Mugabe a "victory". The problem is that after his "win" Mugabe will face the same problems that his government has failed to solve for the past eight years. Latest figures from the Central Statistical Offices (CSO) show that annual inflation rose by 7 336 000 percentage points to 9 030 000% by June 20 and is set...

Robert Mugabe vowed to go ahead with the presidential run-off today in the face of accusations that the vote would bestow upon him a 90 per cent mandate as meaningless as that which Saddam Hussein once enjoyed. Addressing his last rally before polls open for the surreal one-horse race, Mr Mugabe told supporters that he would be magnanimous in victory and willing to talk with the opposition. “Should we emerge victorious, which I believe we will, sure we won’t be arrogant, we will . . . say ‘Let’s sit down and talk’, and talk we shall,” he told the crowd...

The former South African president, who has himself been criticised for his failure to condemn the Mugabe regime, made his comments to an audience of world leaders and celebrities at a private fundraising dinner. Among the guests in Hyde Park were Gordon Brown and Bill Clinton, who also spoke, as well as Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, and many of the stars who act as ambassadors for Mr Mandela's charities. The statesman, who is in Britain for a week-long visit in advance of his 90th birthday next month, mentioned Zimbabwe only briefly, calling on his audience to reach out...

On Tuesday’s CBS "Evening News" anchor Katie Couric reported on Zimbabwe’s opposition leader dropping out of an election against the nation’s socialist dictator, Robert Mugabe, and lamented how: "The fear and danger that now pervades the streets of Zimbabwe under President Robert Mugabe is a tragic departure from the hope and promise that began with his landslide victory nearly 30 years ago." File footage of an unidentified reporter covering Mugabe’s 1980 election followed: "A self-described Marxist has won the right to form the first government of the new state of Zimbabwe." Couric continued to describe Mugabe’s promising rise to power:...

ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe has been stripped of his honorary British knighthood as a "mark of revulsion" following recent pre-election violence, the Foreign Office in London said today. Queen Elizabeth II has approved the annulment of the honour - bestowed on Mugabe by the former colonial power 14 years ago - on the recommendation of Foreign Secretary David Miliband. "This action has been taken as a mark of revulsion at the abuse of human rights and abject disregard for the democratic process in Zimbabwe over which President Mugabe has presided," "We can no longer justify an individual who is responsible...

Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu labeled Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe "Frankenstein" and called for other countries to intervene before the country descended into bloodshed. Archbishop Desmond Tutu Desmond Tutu has labelled Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe a "Frankenstein for his people" International military action against Mugabe's regime, however, is unlikely, said Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith. And Friday's runoff election in the country will go on "no matter what," said the U.S. ambassador in Zimbabwe. Tutu -- speaking from Capetown, South Africa -- told Australian television that Mugabe has disappointed many who held him in high regard for his role in...

Presidential candidate Barack Obama says the United States should lead a campaign to postpone Zimbabwe’s planned runoff election for president and sponsor a fair one. Obama, the Democrats’ probable nominee, says U.S. and regional leaders should join to spread word that President Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwean government “is illegitimate and lacks any credibility.” The candidate says the runoff election scheduled Friday should be put off until it can be conducted “under a strong international monitoring presence and, to the extent possible, meaningful civil protection.” If that is impossible, Obama said Tuesday, “regional leaders backed by the international community should pursue an...

Zimbabwe: Robert Mugabe isolated as allies turn their backs By Louis Weston and Peta Thornycroft in Harare Last Updated: 7:48PM BST 24/06/2008 Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has sunk deeper into isolation as African leaders turned against him and called for South African President Thabo Mbeki, his most important protector, to do the same. The leaders of Zambia, Tanzania, Botswana and Angola have all turned their backs on President Mugabe The Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade and Jacob Zuma, leader of South Africa's ruling ANC, called for the presidential election on Friday to be postponed following the withdrawal of Mr Mugabe's rival,...

Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai says he is pulling out of Friday's presidential run-off, handing victory to President Robert Mugabe. Mr. Tsvangrai said there was no point running when elections would not be free and fair and and "the outcome is determined by... Mugabe himself." He called on the global community to step in to protect Zimbabweans. The decision came after opposition supporters heading to a rally in the capital Harare came under attack. The MDC says at least 70 supporters have been killed in recent months. At a press conference Sunday, mr Tsvangirai said: "It is for the world...

Mugabe's rival Tsvangirai pulls out of election By Nelson Banya 19 minutes ago Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of a run-off election against President Robert Mugabe on Sunday, saying a free and fair poll was impossible in the current climate of violence. Speaking only hours after his opposition Movement for Democratic Change reported its rally had been broken up by pro-Mugabe youth militia, Tsvangirai called on the United Nations and the African Union to intervene to stop "genocide" in the former British colony. "We in the MDC have resolved that we will no longer participate in this violent,...

Residents from the mining town of Kadoma awoke Friday morning to the sound of Zanu PF thugs demanding they pull down their satellite dishes or risk having their homes burnt down. Frightened residents hastily took down their satellite dishes after the Zanu PF mobs moved around the suburbs to enforce their demands. They accused foreign news stations, accessed via satellite, of misinforming Zimbabweans on the political situation in the country. A woman told us that all the men from nearby Venus Mine were forced to join the Zanu PF mobs in ‘a war against the residents of Kadoma.’ Two trucks...

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe overnight said that "only God" could remove him from office, as the opposition MDC considered pulling out of next week's run-off election amid escalating violence. "The MDC will never be allowed to rule this country - never ever," Mr Mugabe told local business people in Bulawayo - Zimbabwe's second largest city - referring to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. "Only God who appointed me will remove me, not the MDC, not the British." Mr Mugabe - in power since independence from Britain in 1980 - has frequently accused his presidential run-off opponent Morgan Tsvangirai of...

Erroneously first reported to be the mansion of bruta tyrant Robert Mugabe, it is, in fact, the home of his COUSIN! Mugabe's mansion is even MORE opulent -- but has not yet been photographed (or maybe was but the photog wound up as crocodile chum in the nearest river). http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zimbabwe/Harare/blog-219289.html As you stroll through this beautiful PALACE, be comforted that much of it -- as well as Robert's -- was paid for with YOUR "MONEY," sucked out of your pocket by the scum who run the UNITED NATIONS and the overeducated idiots who vote for and run the US FOREIGN...

HARARE (AFP) - The Zimbabwe opposition's number two was charged with subverting government on Thursday and faces a potential death penalty, as more violence was reported before next week's presidential run-off. Tendai Biti, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) secretary general, faces four charges including subverting the government, election rigging and "projecting the president as an evil man." MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who faces President Robert Mugabe in the June 27 run-off election, dismissed the charges as "frivolous." The charges stem from documents prosecutors say Biti authored discussing plans to rig the March 29 first-round parliamentary and presidential vote,...

Having recently replaced a predecessor who was a pro-Mugabe flunky, the new Anglican bishop of Harare is denouncing the geriatric dictator’s endless tyranny. “We, the Anglican Church of the Diocese of Harare (CPCA) are shocked and dismayed by the continuous Police interference with Sunday services and the increased brutality causing casualties,” Bishop Sebastian Bakare recently wrote. “Many of our Parishioners were assaulted and beaten, several of our parishioners of St Monica's Church in Chitungwiza were brutally assaulted and had to be admitted to hospital.” Late last year Bakare replaced pro Mugabe enthusiast Nolbert Kunonga as Bishop of Harare. With support...

As the post-election violence in Zimbabwe mirrored that of Kenya, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga had recently weighed in on the situation. The countries of Kenya and Zimbabwe may seem alike yet seem very different from one another at the same time. Back in December of 2007, Kenya was having presidential elections. It was the incumbent Mwai Kibaki of the Party of National Unity (PNU) against opposition candidate and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga. Odinga claimed to have won and had accused Kibaki of rigging the elections. As a result, a humanitarian crisis was created as Kenya was...

Five million face hunger in Zimbabwe, UN says Last Updated: 3:39PM BST 18/06/2008 The United Nations has warned that more than five million Zimbabweans could be threatened by hunger next year due to a steady drop in food production coupled with the world's highest rate of inflation. Robert Mugabe's seizure of land continues to take its toll The Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Food Program said in a joint report that an estimated two million people in Zimbabwe will not have enough to eat in the summer months. That figure is projected to rise to 3.8 million people...

Mugabe mob kidnaps wife and child of MDC mayor of Harare By Peta Thornycroft in Harare Last Updated: 11:44PM BST 17/06/2008 President Robert Mugabe's onslaught against his opponents widened to include their families when the wife and child of the mayor of Harare were abducted. Armed men raided the house of Emmanuel Chiroto, a senior member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and recently elected mayor. They burned down the house with petrol bombs and kidnapped his wife, Abigail, 27, and their four-year-old son, Ashley. The boy was released a few hours later, but Mrs Chiroto is still missing....

Harare/Johannesburg - President Robert Mugabe has indicated clearly for the first time that he will disregard the result of elections if his Zanu-PF party loses, according to reports in the state press on Monday. "We fought for this country and a lot of blood was shed," the state-controlled daily Herald quoted him as telling a rally on Sunday in Silobela, a village in the country's central midlands province. "We are not going to give up our country because of a mere X. How can a ballpoint pen fight with a gun?" Senior officials in Mugabe's administration, including top army officials,...

President Robert Mugabe, widely condemned for abuses in a country reeling from a growing humanitarian crisis, has been stripped of the honorary degree he received from UMass Amherst in 1986. The UMass board of trustees, acting on the recommendation of UMass President Jack Wilson and after lobbying from UMass students and Lowell state Rep. Kevin Murphy, yesterday voted unanimously to take that "extraordinary" step in light of mounting international criticism of Mugabe's human-rights record and allegations that his regime has been responsible for massive voter intimidation, fraud and violence associated with presidential elections in his country.