[Cincinatus' Wife]

Zimbabwe -- Mugabe begs for aid from Castro***Cuba is promising to send more doctors to Zimbabwe, where the health service is disintegrating and where most of its own doctors have fled abroad. Zimbabwe's diplomats are said not to have been paid for three months and food supplies are so short that Ethiopia has offered to send grain. But Mr Mugabe is running out of friends to help him. Some senior figures from the Chinese Communist Party were in Harare last month and agreed to buy 25,000 tonnes of tobacco, although drought and chaos on Zimbabwe's best farms may put this deal in jeopardy. The Chinese also agreed to provide interest-free loans, tractors and other equipment to war veterans who have taken over white-owned farms.***

"Teacher, Anti-colonialist, Friend of Cuba" - Mugabe arrives in Havana - Good LINKS to Gadaafi's grip on Zimbabwe.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

MUGABE IN BID TO GET FUEL FROM VENEZUELA - VISITS WITH CASTRO ***PRESIDENT Mugabe, who left the country on Sunday, is expected to meet Venezuelan officials to avert a possible fuel shortage amid reports that pressure is mounting on Libya to cut fuel supplies to Zimbabwe. John Corrie, the honorary president of the 92-nation Africa-Caribbean-Pacific - European Union (EU) Joint Parliamentary Assembly, yesterday said the EU parliament would approach Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan president, through developed countries which buy fuel from Libya.

"We know that Gaddafi is the only person who is in support of Mugabe's land reform programme which is completely destroying your country," said Corrie from Scotland. "And he is the only person who has agreed to accept your currency for fuel. But that will create a huge deficit for your future generations - that is mortgaging the country." The State media said Mugabe left for a week-long state visit to Cuba but sources within the government said he might make a surprise visit to Venezuela, a member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).

Venezuelan Energy and Mines Minister, Alvaro Silva Calderon, was appointed the Opec secretary-general last month. "The fuel situation is getting worse and with the Libyans reportedly turning a cold shoulder after amassing land in Zimbabwe, there is a pressing need to take the begging bowl to other oil-producing countries like Venezuela to avert the crisis," said the source. "Why would the President honestly spend a week in Cuba when he has been there before?" he said. Last week, parts of the country were hit by fuel shortages triggered by hoarding amid reports that the commodity was in short supply.***