A problem with despots like Mugabe is they so threaten even their closest advisors they are only told what they want to hear, not the truth. And of course, true to form, they blame outside forces for their self-imposed problems. Like the USSR, sooner or later they are ruling over a vast wasteland worth nothing and unable to supply them with the necessary income to survive.
Mugabe is the new Mengistu who created the Ethiopian famine were all remember from TV 'save the kids' appeals. Mengistu spent $100 million to celebrate his 10th anniversary in power during that famine. He escaped a coup by going to Zimbabwe and today has residency in South Africa