"Teacher, Anti-colonialist, Friend of Cuba"

HAVANA - Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe, was to arrive in Cuba later Monday for a five-day official visit, the government announced.

Mugabe, increasingly the subject of international criticism and sanctions following his disputed re-election in March, was to hold official talks Tuesday with President Fidel Castro. He also was to tour numerous educational and scientific centers during his stay.

The visit was announced Monday morning in the Communist Party daily Granma, in a story entitled: "Mugabe: Teacher, Anti-colonialist, Friend of Cuba"

Mugabe last visited Cuba in April 2000, when he headed his country's delegation at the summit of the Group of 77 developing nations held in Havana.

Mugabe, 78, has ruled Zimbabwe since it gained independence from Britain in 1980. As his popularity has waned, he has imposed curbs on journalists and opposition parties, and many of his critics have been attacked or threatened with prosecution.

After March elections that independent observers said were riddled with irregularities, the 15-nation European Union imposed an embargo against Mugabe's government. The United States also has imposed sanctions.

Zimbabwe's government has targeted about 95 percent of farms owned by the country's white minority for seizure, saying it wants to redistribute them among landless blacks. The often violent program of seizures has been condemned by Western governments and has contributed to widespread food shortages.

Africa: The Marxist Continent*** This week, they formed the African Union that is basically a model of the European Union. There was a certain irony to it all. The African Union was officially formed and opened here in Durban, South Africa. The celebrations took place in a rugby stadium - which is a white-dominated sport! It goes to show, all the finest things in Africa came from the whites! (Though they would never dare admit it).

What they won't be telling you is that this is the blueprint to ensure that Africa is under total Marxist control - and any African nations that are not yet Marxist will yet go that way. I warned in my book (Government by Deception - which can be purchased from www.Etherzone.com), that this is the "Marxist Brotherhood" in action. They will see to it that they keep all their buddies in power. That is why, although there are 54 countries in Africa, you will almost never hear anyone criticise Robert Mugabe. Why? Because he is among friends, and they are all going to keep each other firmly entrenched in power. You wait and see.***

______________________________________________________________

Senegalese Loner Works to Build Africa, His Way***"Mr. Mugabe did not respect the rules," Mr. Wade said. "The opposition could not wage its campaign. There were many deaths. Electoral laws were changed days before the election. We can't call that an election."…………….. "I've never seen a country develop itself through aid or credit," said Mr. Wade, who was trained as an economist in Senegal and at the Sorbonne. "Countries that have developed - in Europe, America, Japan, Asian countries like Taiwan, Korea and Singapore - have all believed in free markets. There is no mystery there. Africa took the wrong road after independence."…………… But on other issues, Mr. Wade has not shied from being the lone uncompromising man. During a conference on racism last year in Durban, South Africa, Mr. Wade opposed most African leaders in their calls for reparations for slavery. Africa, he said, must look forward.***

July 2001 - Gadaffi bids to be leader of Africa*** THE new African Union (AU), launched at a summit of the Organisation of African Unity in Lusaka last week, is to have its own parliament. Indeed, the parliament building has already been built - in Tripoli. For the idea of the AU is being driven by Colonel Muammar Gadaffi, the Libyan president. Now that his long-standing ambitions for an Arab Union have come to nothing, he is hoping to play a central role in a union of African states instead. The organisation promises to respect democracy and good governance more than the OAU ever did. The snag is that its new parliament will sit in a country that allows no opposition, no free elections, free speech or free press.

In March, Gadaffi announced plans for single a African identity and a union under which the boundaries between states would be scrapped, national armies merged and a single passport introduced. Amazingly, this vision seems to have been largely accepted by African leaders. It has also been decided that, besides the parliament, there will be a pan-African court of justice, a central bank and a common currency. Clearly with the aim of flattering Thabo Mbeki, the South African president, Gadaffi has proposed that the first AU summit should be held in Pretoria next year and should elect a president - presumably Mbeki. ***

11-07-01 - It looks like Gadaafi already has his foot in the door--[Excerpt] Harare: Zimbabwe- Libya's President Muammar Gadaafi has bought up 20 houses in Zimbabwe which seem likely to be used as safe-houses for death squads supplied by the Libyan dictator as part of his plan to assist the man he sees as his embattled comrade in arms, President Robert Mugabe. In addition Gadaafi has bought Gracelands, the gigantic Harare mansion belonging to Grace Mugabe, the President's young wife. The house is now to become the Libyan Embassy, making it by far the biggest embassy building in Zimbabwe, dwarfing the British and American missions.

In effect Gadaafi seems to be making a bid to save Mugabe which, if successful, would create a virtual Libyan client state at the far end of Africa. Already there is evidence of direct Libyan involvement in the violence which racked Zimbabwean farms in the last ten days.

Relations between Mugabe and Gadaafi have been warm for some time but it is only in the last year, as Zimbabwe's shortage of foreign exchange has caused repeated fuel cut-offs that Mugabe has several times flown to Tripoli to plead with Gadaafi for deliveries on credit. Gadaafi, who has despaired of his efforts to play a leadership role in the Arab world, has begun to use his financial muscle to make interventions right across black Africa where he has made Zimbabwe a special case, advancing Mugabe a loan of $100 million. [End Excerpt]

April 2002 - -- Libya threatens to cut fuel supplies over debt*** Mugabe has been increasingly isolated by the world in the wake of his controversial victory in last month's presidential election amid reports that Zimbabwe is virtually mortgaged to Libya in exchange for oil and money. The Libyans are said to have been allocated farms by the government. No official comment could be obtained from the Libyan ambassador, Mahmoud Azabi, who was said by his office to be out of the country. Reports in the State-controlled Herald yesterday said Libya was now providing 70 percent of Zimbabwe fuel imports. A 12-month US$330 million (Z$18,15 billion) oil deal signed by Mugabe and Gaddafi last year for Libya to supply Zimbabwe with oil expires in two months' time and Mugabe was reportedly anxious to secure an extension to avert another crisis in the tense period after the presidential poll.

"The bottom line is that Libya has been unable to get the products promised by Mugabe when the deal was sealed," another source said. "That is why Mugabe had to go and plead with Gaddafi." The deal, under which Gaddafi supplied oil in exchange for land, agricultural produce and stakes in key enterprises in the tourism sector, helped Mugabe reduce the magnitude of the crippling fuel crisis which started in October 1999. With the exception of Gaddafi, the rest of the world's suppliers had stopped oil supplies to Zimbabwe due to non-payment. ***

May 2002 - Libya pulls Zimbabwe's fuel plug***Libyan demands that the Mugabe regime hand over valuable farms as part of the deal have yet to be met, prompting fears from fuel-hungry consumers that the north African country will soon grow impatient with Zimbabwe. It is understood that groups of Libyan businessmen have been to Zimbabwe and visited vast commercial farms around the country. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi also toured some big commercial farms and identified some for his country's expropriation last year.

However, the mechanics of delivering this land to the Libyans seem to have been delayed, prompting cries of impatience from the Libyans. Zimbabwe is now so heavily reliant on the Libyans that the country will cease to function if Gaddafi puts brakes on oil supplies. Mugabe has paid a dozen visits to Libya in the past year to maintain Gaddafi's patronage. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai says Zimbabwe has virtually become a "colony of Libya". Libya's cut supplies have only been resumed after interventions at the highest level.***

_____________________________________________________________

Now look at who's the latest beneficiary of Gaadafi's largess --Source: Central Bank of Venezuela -Caracas proposed an emergency fiscal adjustment package May 30 that was designed to cut government spending and raise revenues. So far, this package has been a dismal failure. Proposed tax hikes are languishing, and multilateral agencies have refused to lend, forcing Chavez to seek a $5 billion bridge loan from Libya, sources say. Attempts to refinance Venezuela's debt have been equally unsuccessful, primarily because domestic and foreign investors are wary of the risk. Caracas was able to raise only around $4 million, or 10 percent of its goal, in a late-June auction of two-month treasury bills.***

EU hoping for developing world summit to agree on free trade talks - Castro and Mugabe take a pass*** NADI, Fiji - The European Union wants a group of poor nations to agree to a common position on negotiating free trade deals with Brussels, an EU official said Monday. But observers said the unwieldy nature of the 78-nation grouping of African, Caribbean and Pacific island nations makes any unified position from the summit unlikely. The third African Caribbean Pacific summit was to start Tuesday at a palm-fringed resort in Fiji's palm-fringed city of Nadi, as the member states prepare to negotiate free trade agreements with the EU in September. According to the African Caribbean Pacific or ACP secretariat, about 63 national leaders are attending, including South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Two of its most controversial leaders - Cuba's Fidel Castro and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe - will not be there. The European Union is telling the ACP - which accounts for more than 650 million people and includes 40 of the world's poorest countries - that if they want to keep getting European aid, they will have to start removing their trade barriers to Europe's exports. Under an agreement signed between the group's members and the EU in 2000 at Cotonou in the African state of Benin, the European Union is also linking trade and aid to ACP states which impose safeguards to prevent corruption.***

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.