Zimbabwe Watch: Bush Issues Sanctions Against Mugabe

President Bush holds his dog Barney as he waves to a crowd after stepping off Air Force One, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2005 in Waco, Texas. Bush is spending Thanksgiving weekend at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

The Los Angeles Times has Bush Issues Sanctions Against Mugabe

President Bush is targeting the U.S. accounts of leading government officials and others in Zimbabwe, saying those who work to support President Robert Mugabe must restore democracy or face sanctions.

The White House announced Wednesday that Bush had signed an executive order Tuesday blocking all property and financial holdings in the United States owned by 128 people and 33 farms and businesses in Zimbabwe. It also bars U.S. citizens from having financial dealings with them.

This action is not aimed at the people of Zimbabwe, but rather at those most responsible for their plight,” said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

Bush already had issued sanctions against Mugabe and 76 other officials under an executive order signed in March 2003. Tuesday’s order included 75 from that list and added 53 others, and it applied sanctions to their immediate family members. It also allows the secretary of state and treasury secretary to expand the list without a presidential order.

Kudos to the President.

But, he has to do MORE.

The President must pressure the European Union to join the United States in imposing strict and appropriate economic sanctions (including a trade embargo and prohibitions on investment) on Mugabe’s government like they did in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s against the apartheid government of South Africa.

Moreover, the President must meet with President Mbeki of South Africa and obtain a memo of understanding that land reform (land ownership resistribution without fair compensation under the rule of law) in Zimbabwe will not spread along the continent of Africa and South Africa in particular. Mbeki has been AWOL on the issue of the authoritarian rule of Mugabe. If he wishes to lead a democratic country he must reject the ruthless criminal dictatorship of Mugabe.

Bush said that since the first order, conditions in Zimbabwe had continued to deteriorate.

“The government continues to suppress opposition groups and civil society, undermine the independent media, ignore decisions by its courts, and refuse to enter into meaningful negotiations with other political actors,” Bush wrote in a leader to congressional leaders. “Zimbabwe’s parliamentary elections in March 2005 were not free or fair. Recent demolitions of low income housing and informal markets have caused 700,000 people to lose their homes, jobs, or both. Additional measures are required to promote democratic change.”

The United States has refused to recognize Mugabe as winner of last March’s presidential election, which was seen widely as rigged.

Mugabe led Zimbabwe to independence from Britain in 1980 and had its name changed from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe, harking back to a great city in the country built by an advanced ancient culture. Mugabe has become increasingly authoritarian, spearheading media controls and takeovers of white-owned farms.

Stay tuned…….

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe speaks during a hunger conference October 2005. US ambassador to Zimbabwe Chris Dell risks being expelled for what the southern African country termed his ‘undiplomatic behaviour and meddling with Zimbabwe’s affairs’, the state-run Herald reported.