zimbabwe and egypt

On the day of Egypt's municipal elections, the excellent Development blog Hii Dunia raises some interesting questions about the West's current preoccupation with Zimbabwe. In Egypt the increasingly authoritarian Hosni Mumarek has all but prevented any significant opposition from standing against him (the Muslim Brotherhood has reported that 800 members have been arrested and thousands more intimidated and harassed in an organised crackdown in recent weeks to prevent them registering as candidates). Yet the West, which only a few years ago was obsessed with intervention in the Middle East, stands back and watches, terrified to upset the status quo.

As Hii Dunia puts it:

"It is important that the maximum amount of sustained yet transparent pressure be put on those involved in the Zimbabwe election to ensure a fair result, but the world must work much harder in ensuring that this same pressure towards good governance be applied to all states, fully democratic, emerging democratic, developed, developing or otherwise as a vital platform from which the lives of their respective peoples can be made better."

That's not to say the two situations are matched in their respective severity - but if the international community is able to exert enough pressure on Mugabe to force him from an office he has no mandate to hold, it must use that as a springboard to developing a more consistent, ethical policy towards the larger world.

hugo on mugabe

Anyone here a fan of cuddly Hugo Chavez?

Here he is talking to Robert Mugabe, in 2004 [my emphasis]:

“I give you a replica of liberator Simon Bolivar's sword. For you, who, like Bolivar, took up arms to liberate your people. For you, who, like Bolivar, are and will always be a true freedom fighter … He continues, alongside his people, to confront the pretensions of new imperialists.”

God.

zimbabwe

The excellent Hii Dunia blog has been really useful to me in the last few days, providing as it does a comprehensive list of links and news sources pertaining to events in Zimbabwe. Click here for the full list, which includes both blogs and news aggregators - valuable stuff.

Right now, I'm just refreshing today's news blog on the Guardian, which is dedicated to following events as they happen.

The situation in Zimbabwe is on a knife-edge, and it's both thrilling and terrifying. Reading one of the blogs Hii Dunia mentions, I found the comment below, which was posted in response to an article assessing the Mugabe government's future. Can you even imagine what it must feel like to be a Zimbabwean at the moment?

I have been sitting in front of the news since Saturday night waiting, hoping and praying. All I could think of the last four days was the reason I’m in the Diaspora, the pain and wounds of oppression under Mr Mugabe’s Regime. This has been my motivation to hope and stay strong alongside my fellow countrymen. I you further research the Gukurahundi, I think you will find that it is quite a sensitive issue with the power of inciting unspeakable things. I really wish you’d have saved this article for a time when we can all read it and celebrate “offically” the end of a President who caused such disgusting atrocities. I apologise if I’m overreacting, it’s just that I’ve been sat here the last four days fearing the worst and I just feel like you’ve added to my worries with this article. I wish this would now end and Mr Mugabe is finished, I want to go back home to ZIMBABWE :[