South African president Thabo Mbeki worsened his country’s AIDS crisis by clinging to scientifically discredited denialist theories; now he’s worsening Zimbabwe’s political crisis by engaging in denialism again.
Robert Mugabe’s refusal to disclose the recent election results — and let’s call this by its proper name, electoral fraud — has been compounded by yet more state terrorism against the MDC opposition. All of this, including the trumped up arrests of election workers, opposition lawyers and foreign journalists, is fine with Mr. Mbeki.
We wonder why African populations continue to suffer so. Surely it’s got to do with globalization, inequality, a toxic mixture of Western dominance and apathy. But it’s also because of leaders like Thabo Mbeki, who could do so much good and instead opt to do concrete harm, blinded by the ideological battles of the past.
Mugabe’s putative anti-colonialism is a con game that a portion of the American fringe left, along with Mbeki, is helping to advance. The Brooklyn-based December 12 Movement, which nervily calls itself a “human rights organization,” continues to agitate against human rights in Zimbabwe, faithfully recycling propaganda on Mugabe’s behalf with the help of the pro-totalitarian Workers World Party. These forces have been at it for a while.
You can counter their sinister efforts by signing the AVAAZ.org petition here.
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