Zimbabwe

Date: December 18th, 2001 |

In an all-out effort to retain power in elections due in March, President Robert Mugabe declared a “real war” on his opponents, and given his recent history, he probably is not speaking figuratively. More than 30 people, most of them opposition supporters, were killed in violence provoked by Mugabe’s party in the last parliamentary election [read more]

Zimbabwe

Date: August 8th, 2001 |

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Armed squatters have occupied more than 500 farms for the past month, trying to wrest control of the land from white owners. President Robert Mugabe, whose popularity has dropped precipitously in recent years, most recently with voter rejection of his hand-crafted new constitution which would have given him power to seize and redistribute white-owned farms [read more]

Zimbabwe

Date: August 6th, 2001 |

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Violence has escalated in the “squatter” crisis, where supporters of President Robert Mugabe have taken over white-owned farms around the country. Teachers as well as farmers have been singled out for attacks, and the incidents have taken on the clear form of intimidation to try to prevent the ruling party falling from power in upcoming [read more]

Zimbabwe

Date: July 16th, 2001 |

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The Supreme Court has twice ruled that the taking of farms by squatters supported by the government is unconstitutional, antagonizing President Robert Mugabe and prompting his defense minister to vow to order the army to crush anti-government protesters in Harare. Mugabe has threatened to expel commercial farmers who continue to fight for their land in [read more]

Zimbabwe

Date: May 30th, 2001 |

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So-called veterans of the independence war, who in the past year have occupied numerous white-owned farms and conducted a campaign of intimidation throughout the country, threatened to attack foreign embassies and non-governmental organizations that they felt were supporting the opposition. The diplomatic community has taken the threats seriously, especially considering the deteriorating political climate in [read more]

Zimbabwe

Date: November 20th, 2001 |

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This country has been coming apart at the seams the past year, and with a presidential election planned for early next year the pressure is increasing. “Independence war veterans” ran rampant in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city, Nov. 16, torching opposition party offices and randomly beating shoppers and passersby, whites in particular. Eight German and [read more]

Zimbabwe

Date: August 6th, 2001 |

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Despite court rulings demanding that the government remove squatters from farms they’ve occupied the last several weeks, President Robert Mugabe has insisted he will not ask them to leave. Tensions are high in Harare and around the country as the crisis continues. A farmer was killed Apr. 18, three days after another farmer was killed [read more]

Zimbabwe

Date: July 31st, 2001 |

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Parliamentary elections that polls predict will be won by the opposition are set for June 24-25. The run-up to the election has been fraught with intimidation and violence sponsored by President Robert Mugabe and carried out by his supporters in a last-ditch effort to retain power. The aftermath could be bloody; travel here should be [read more]

Zimbabwe

Date: June 19th, 2001 |

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The country is in the middle of its worst financial crisis since independence in 1980. A 70 percent increase in the price of fuel has caused strikes on the outskirts of Harare and threats of violence if the government doesn’t rescind the move. Protesters are demanding that bus fares, which have also increased dramatically, be [read more]