10,000 'died of hunger' in Zimbabwe

[45th Med]

Andrew Meldrum in Pretoria
Sunday January 11, 2004
The Observer

Catholic archbishop warns of famine as journalists are held over report that Mugabe was taking a winter break

Amid claims that up to 10,000 Zimbabweans have died from malnutrition in the past year, President Robert Mugabe has been accused of raiding his country's dwindling coffers to fund an extended holiday in Asia.

The charges against Mugabe came as police yesterday arrested three senior journalists from the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper for reporting his winter break.

10,000 'died of hunger' in Zim

[Zynx]

1. Mugabe should be killed.

Getting rid of any dictator is worth something. This is a one bullet regime change. If we could have gotten rid of Saddam with one bullet, I would have supported it, but I knew we couldn't. Here we can and we should.

[david_vincent]

3. Agreed

Mugabe should be taken out. Simple job. Problem is that then there would be all kinds of screaming about how he was killed by the racist West because he's African. But it's clear to any rational person that given the chance, almost all Zimbabweans would pull the trigger.

[Yupster]

5. The worst part is the whole world

watched as this one man destroyed his country. Many even defended him, and still do.

It will take generations to undo the harm he's done.

[AP]

7. Colonialism and post-colonialism have destroyed Zimbabwe.

At least land reform in Zimbabwe will cut in half, or maybe even a third the time it will take Zimbabwe to get to be a functioning, middle-class wealth creating country.

The only reason the west hates Mugabe now is because of land reform. We're all hypocrites for complaining about Mugabe now.

[NickB79]

9. But wasn't Mugabe's land reform the cause of the starvation?

I agree that the people there need land reform, but from what I've read, it was not true reform that Mugabe enacted. Instead, he gave land to his supporters regardless of their experience or will to cultivate and raise crops on it. Much land in Zimbabwe today is lying fallow and uncultivated. Zimbabwe used to be self-sustaining in agricultural goods; it even used to be a net exporter of grains and other foods to other African nations. I recall quite a few people predicting that the "reforms" Mugabe put into place would result in starvation. They were branded racists and accused of implying that black farmers were incapable of running the farms as well as white farmers.

Real land reform, where the land is given to people dedicated to working it instead of given to people based on their political leanings, would help Zimbabwe immensely. Mugabe's pseudo-reforms, however, have helped starve 10,000 people.

[AP]

11. I don't know the exact numbers, but I think there are something like

40,000 new title holders for land in Zimbabwe. So, Mugabe must have lots of supporters.

The land was being used for tobacco, primarily, and for things like artichokes for exports to European supermarkets, and for rhino preservation habitats. Now it's being used for maize farming and for subsistence farming.

Naturally there is going to be a transition period when the land isn't productive. But soon it's going to be used to be making Zimbabweans wealthy and fed, rather than making European bank accounts fat (which is why Bush and the media is so hard on Zimbabwe right now).

If 10,000 are starving, that sounds like a success, since there was a terrible drought last year, and since they were predicting 4 million.

[NickB79]

12. I honestly hope you're right and I'm wrong

nt

[Judi Lynn]

14. It would be great if people did a whole lot more reading, wouldn't it?

Big shortcoming when people make extreme comments about complex situations they actually don't understand.

[AP]

15. You said it.

[Logansquare]

17. Yes, Robert Mugabe told me there are 40,000 new land owners

so it MUST be true. And Stalin had nothing to do with the famine in the Ukraine.

Human Rights Watch, and a number of highly reputable organizations have documented the land grab by Mugabe cronies, and the punishment of political opponents by denying them access to food.

[TexasMexican]

13. yeah I suppose...

if you have a few rich people, a fewer more middle class, and lots of poor, that when you starve to death large ammounts of those poor then the middle class naturally become a larger percentage of the population.

[Dirk39]

8. 10,000 'died of hunger' in Zimbabwe

conclusion: Mugabe should be killed.

Millions of people die every single year, as victims of the IMF and the Worldbank. Every single year. Whether the Worlbank nor the IMF is elected in any way. Both of them are dominated by the USA and their corporations and banks.
I wait for your conclusions now, and if you're as determind about U.S. corparations and banks, and european banks and corporations, too - as you are about Mugabe. I'm with you. Although I don't support the death penalty. Not for Mugabe, not for Clinton, not for Wesley Clark and not for Bush I and not for Bush II. Although if you ask me for Mrs. Albright I might change my opionion, 'cause for her 500.000 dead Iraquis were o.k. No I don't change my opinion about death penalty. Leave me alone with Mugabe.
Hello from Germany,
Dirk

[MrSoundAndVision]

2. Well

I don't know about the one bullet strategy, but I do believe that if the American media cared about those brown Zimbabweans, then the administration would care about them. So Dennis Kucinich for President!

[0007]

4. ....and any one but junior!

[AP]

6. When the final step in land reform occured, critics said 4 million would..

...die.

[NickB79]

10. And they very well still may

"The World Food Programme (WFP) cut its maize meal rations for 2.6 million Zimbabweans by half at the end of last year because of insufficient donations. Oil and pulses have been cut out altogether.

As many as six million people could need food aid in the first three months of this year, according to the independent Famine Early Warning Systems. The WFP has also warned that the food situation in urban areas is getting critical. It is facing a $111 million shortfall from a $197m international appeal it sent out in June."

There were insufficient funds to maintain enough rations for 2.6 million last year; what will happen this year when 6 million need rations to survive? They are far from being out of danger. We just may see them hit that 4 million mark.

[GRClarkesq]

16. Zimbabwe used to be large food exporter

However much land reform was needed it was not handled well.