For hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans, the worst has already come. Millions of people are desperately hungry because the country's once-thriving agricultural sector collapsed last year after President Robert Mugabe confiscated commercial farms, supposedly for the benefit of poor blacks. But his cynical "land reform" program has chiefly benefited idle party hacks and stalwarts, not landless peasants. As a result, much of Zimbabwe's most productive land is now occupied by loyalists of the ruling ZANU-PF party, military officers, or their wives and friends.
The United States - and the European Union - has imposed a visa ban on Zimbabwe's leaders and frozen their overseas assets. We have ended all officialassistance to the government of Zimbabwe. We have urged other governments to do the same. We will persist in speaking out strongly in defense of human rightsand the rule of law. And we will continue to assist directly, in many different ways, the brave men and women of Zimbabwe who are resisting tyranny.
But our efforts are unlikely to succeed quickly enough without greater engagement by Zimbabwe's neighbors. South Africa and other African countries areincreasingly concerned and active on Zimbabwe, but they can and should play a stronger and more sustained role that fully reflects the urgency of Zimbabwe's crisis.If leaders on the continent do not do more to convince President Mugabe to respect the rule of law and enter into a dialogue with the political opposition, he and hiscronies will drag Zimbabwe down until there is nothing left to ruin - and Zimbabwe's implosion will continue to threaten the stability and prosperity of the region.
There is a way out of the crisis. ZANU-PF and the opposition party can together legislate the constitutional changes to allow for a transition. With the presidentgone, with a transitional government in place and with a date fixed for new elections, Zimbabweans of all descriptions would, I believe, come together to begin theprocess of rebuilding their country. If this happened, the United States would be quick to pledge generous assistance to the restoration of Zimbabwe's political andeconomic institutions even before the election. Other donors, I am sure, would be close behind.***
"If he's coming to dictate to us as to how we should run our countries, then we will say: 'Go back, go home Yankee'," Mugabe told supporters at a rally in the southern province of Masvingo. His remarks were carried by state television.
Last month, the United States urged southern African states to put more pressure on Mugabe to allow political change, warning that unrest and economic chaos in Zimbabwe would carry on threatening stability in southern Africa if they did not act.
Bush will visit two of Zimbabwe's neighbors, South Africa and Botswana, during his July 7-12 trip.
Washington has taken a hard line against Mugabe since he won presidential elections last year that Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and several Western states denounced as fraudulent. Bush has said Mugabe, in power since Zimbabwe's independence from Britain in 1980, is not a legitimate leader. ***