Robert Mugabe makes Venezuela's Chavez look like an amateur
By Francisco Toro
27 Feb. 04 - I didn't know that I could despise any political message more than I despise Chavez's, but today, I was proven wrong. Robert Mugabe's speech to the G15 summit was a document of such far reaching criminal cynicism it made JVR look like a grammar school kid, and Chavez himself like an amateur.
To rapturous applause, Mugabe lavished praise on Chavez, and made clear that ALL problems in Venezuela and Zimbabwe are exclusively the fault of the US and the UK, respectively. He hit an emotional high talking in heart-rending terms about how transnational capitalism robs the children of Zimbabwe of their food.
No, Mr. Mugabe, if Human Rights Watch is to be believed, you are the one who makes sure your children go to bed hungry at night, and quite literally.
The Human Rights Watch report is worth quoting at some length:
(New York, October 24, 2003) - Zimbabwean authorities discriminate against perceived political opponents by denying them access to food programs, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Some international relief agencies in Zimbabwe fail to ensure that access to food is based on need alone and is not biased by domestic or international political concerns.
The 51-page report, "Not Eligible: The Politicization of Food in Zimbabwe," documents how food is denied to suspected supporters of Zimbabwe's main opposition party and to residents of former commercial farms resettled under the country's "fast-track" land reform program. The report examines the widespread politicization of the government's subsidized grain program, managed by the Grain Marketing Board, as well as the far less extensive manipulation of international food aid."
The Chavez-Mugabe love-fest has been literally sickening, and the last -as though any were needed- demonstration of his contempt for basics of human decency.
Chavistas really need to consider who it is they're getting into bed with here.
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