-- Zimbabwe: current issues. CRS Issue Brief. August 22, 2000.

Copson, Raymond W. U.S. Congressional Research Service. http://www.cnie.org/nle/inter-53.html

"Summary: Zimbabwe, a country of 12 million people in southern Africa, continues to ace a serious political, economic, and social crisis. However, many observers believe that prospects for democracy have substantially improved following June 24-25 elections in which an opposition party won 57 seats in the 150-member parliament.

Since February 2000, approximately 1,000 white-owned farms have been occupied by veterans of the independence struggle and others, and on June 2, the government announced plans for immediate seizure of 804 farms without compensation for the land. The farms were reportedly to be broken up quickly and the land given to as many as 100,000 poor Africans. By August 2000, the government had slated more than 3,000 farms for takeover and was planning to move 500,000 families onto the land by October.

The need for greater equity in land distribution in Zimbabwe has long been recognized by aid donors and even the white farmers' organization. Donors have offered support for the orderly purchase of land and the creation of commercially viable small farms. Analysts are concerned that the current, seemingly chaotic process will turn much of Zimbabwe's rich agricultural endowment into a patchwork of subsistence farms.

The Zimbabwe crisis has been accompanied by considerable violence, and at least 30 people, including five white farmers, had been killed by the time the June elections were held. Supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), both black and white, were the main targets.

There has been much speculation that President Robert Mugabe pushed ahead with land seizures in order to enhance the popularity of his ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party among war veterans and rural Africans before the vote. MDC president, labor-leader Morgan Tsvangirai, led a vigorous campaign, despite the violence his party faced.

The MDC poses a serious challenge to ZANU-PF in part because of Zimbabwe's serious economic problems. Unemployment reportedly exceeds 50%, while at least 70% of Zimbabwe's people live in poverty. The current crisis has led to a sharp drop in tourism, and foreign exchange earnings from tobacco and other agricultural exports have fallen. Zimbabwe has undertaken a costly military deployment in Congo, contributing to the International Monetary Fund's decision to suspend balance of payments support. World Bank lending is also suspended, in part because Zimbabwe is in arrears on its repayments of past loans. The adult HIV infection rate in Zimbabwe, estimated at over 25%, is among the world's highest.

The next presidential election is slated for 2002, and President Mugabe, now 76, has not yet announced whether he will seek another 5 year term. He has been in office since 1980.

U.S. policy-makers once saw Zimbabwe as a source of political and economic

stability in southern Africa, but with failure of Zimbabwe's economic reform program and mounting unrest in the 1990s, U.S. assistance levels fell sharply. Aid now focuses on programs to strengthen democracy, raise living standards among the poor, and fight the AIDS epidemic. The Administration criticized the pre-election violence and intimidation in Zimbabwe but was cautiously optimistic after the vote about improved prospects for democracy."

Sources: 

Marguerite-Marie LE ROY IRC Directoremail: leroym@pd.state.gov / leroym@amb-usa.fr

phone: 01-43-12-46-92 fax: 01-42-61-95-91http://www.amb-usa.fr/irc/home.htm

Zimbabwe

ZIMBABWE Depuis l’assassinat, courant avril 2000, de deux fermiers blancs par des “vétérans” de la guerre d’indépendance, la “bataille de la terre” s’étend au Zimbabwe. Plus de mille exploitations agricoles sont occupées... (avril 2000)