Posted on 02/20/2006 8:24:16 AM PST by dead
ZIMBABWE President Robert Mugabe has branded African leaders cowards for not standing up to Western powers over Zimbabwe, and said outsiders must not interfere as there was no crisis requiring intervention.
Critics accuse Mugabe, who turns 82 tomorrow, of plunging the southern African state which he has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980 into a severe political and economic crisis in the past six years with a raft of controversial policies.
In a 90-minute interview with Zimbabwe state television to mark his birthday, Mugabe portrayed himself as a brave and principled African nationalist and his opponents as either imperialists or political stooges.
He said his government would print money to help it ride over its economic problems – including food, fuel and foreign currency shortages and the world's highest inflation rate, which he blames on Western sanctions and intermittent droughts.
Mugabe, who last week suggested he was ready to repair strained relations with Britain which he regularly accuses of seeking to recolonise Zimbabwe, again said his country's main problems were largely caused by London.
"Our erstwhile former colonisers still wants to govern us by remote control," he said repeating charges denied by Britain that it is sponsoring Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Asked whether he felt lonely in his fight against Western critics and whether countries and organisations which have tried to intervene in Zimbabwe's crisis were justified, Mugabe said:
"I don't feel lonely. There are others who think as I do, whose ideals I share. But what one notices is lack of courage ... a kind of surrender to European authority, I suppose it's because of poverty."
Mugabe said although African states had declared Zimbabwe's disputed elections in the past five years legitimate, they had generally shied away from taking on Western powers, including Britain and the US who maintain the polls were rigged.
"None of them will stand up and say to them 'go to hell'.
"We shrink in asserting our rights. We need much more courage in the African Union," he said.
The veteran African leader said Zimbabwe had a democratic system but his Western opponents wanted a "puppet" opposition MDC in power.
In what appeared like an direct message to African countries, including South Africa, which has been quietly trying to broker a political settlement between the MDC and his Zanu PF party, Mugabe said there was no room for any foreign intervention in Zimbabwe's affairs.
"As for outsiders they should keep away," he said.
"We have entertained them because we did not want to offend, some of them are our friends but really there have nothing to intervene here about, nothing at all. We have a democratic environment, a democratic constitution," Mugabe said, raising the tempo of his voice.
Mugabe said Zimbabwe's economic crisis required unorthodox solutions, including printing money despite galloping inflation, which the International Monetary Fund says at 613 per cent is the highest in the world.
"Those who say printing money will cause inflation are suggesting that you just fold your hands and say 'aah, let the situation continue and let the people starve'.
"The Good Lord up there has given you a brain and the brain must function, not in a stereotyped manner but in a flexible manner ... so I will print money today so that people can survive." - Reuters
Hey....I am way behind on my bills..can I print more money?
What tragedy in Africa.
why not? the gov't prints money, the people are the gov't (or supposed to be anyway), therefore, the people can print money..
hey, it sounds good...
He said his government would print money to help it ride over its economic problems – including food, fuel and foreign currency shortages and the world's highest inflation rate, which he blames on Western sanctions and intermittent droughts.Err, "we've got inflation, so let's print more money!" — what's that, the Jimmy Carter school of economics?
The Jimmuh Carter solution. Didn't work then either. But then we had Ronald Reagan to correct the problem after we booted Jimmuh back to Georgia.
Hmm, wonder if that 613% inflation rate has anything to do with printing too much money in the past...
Apparently, Mugabe was ok until the late 90s, when he lost it. I think he's just gone senile, but the cost of this old man's quirks is ridiculously high for the people of Zimbabwe.
Not only is he a brutal, Communist murdering tyrant, he is also an economic cretin. Before Mugabe Rhodesia was very prosperous
We (the US and UK, not the ridiculous UN) better be ready to step into the void when the whole government disintegrates completely.
If we're not, al Qaeda certainly is.
Read an article yesterday that said it is expected to top 800% next month.
Great idea if the money is edible. Remember, the shopping cart is for the cash, the wallet is for the food you can buy with it.
Mugabe should let the North Koreans do it.
Oh yeah, print more money ... that'll bring their 613% inflation rate back down to earth pronto, lol.
Communists would be hilarious, getting everything backwards as they invariably do, that is, if they weren't always so murderously lethal when enacting their crackpot social schemes and eccentric economic nostrums.
Mugabe, at 82, says he has bones ‘of someone 30’
By Staff Reporter
Last updated: 02/20/2006 08:26:19
VETERAN Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who will turn 82 Tuesday, said he has the bones “of someone of 30.”
Mugabe, whose health is often subject to speculation, revealed in a late-night interview on state television Sunday that he undergoes medical check-ups twice a year.
He was recently told by his doctor that “my bones were not exactly of a boy of 26, but he said certainly someone of 30,” Mugabe said.
Mugabe has been in power since 1980. In the past few years, there have been rumours that his health is deteriorating. Last month, he was seen visiting a clinic in neighbouring South Africa, again sparking an avalanche of speculation, but it turned out he was merely visiting a sick relative there.
Mugabe said during Sunday’s interview that his birthday wish was for another 82 years of life.
“I wish myself longer life. He’s only 82 and to live another 82, ... won’t you wish me that?” Mugabe said jokingly.
He added that he wanted to “thank the people (of Zimbabwe) for creating an environment in which I've been able to live that long.”
Mugabe’s birthday is now one of the biggest events on Zimbabwe’s calendar. Official celebrations are to be held this weekend in the eastern city of Mutare. - Sapa-dpa.
What does Robert Mugabe do when he wants to appear ridiculous or absurd? The only thing that can save the people of Zimbabwe is a timely heart attack, or some other "natural cause" to relieve them of their suffering.
"My bones were not exactly of a boy of 26, but he said certainly someone of 30,” Mugabe said."
It's not his bones that are at question, here. It's the vile, echoing Communist torture chamber in his cranium that is at question.
"Those who say printing money will cause inflation are suggesting that you just fold your hands and say 'aah, let the situation continue and let the people starve'.
I'm with Mugabe on this one. Our own highly educated and elite Federal Reserve will tell you that inflation is caused by full employment and other forms of economic overheating.
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.