“TO separate the Zimbabwean people from ZANU PF, we are going to have to make their economy scream, and I hope you, Senators, have the stomach for what you have to do.”
This is a direct quote from former US Secretary of State Chester Crocker, as he outlined the essence of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA), the cornerstone of the illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.
Mr Crocker’s quote is a reminder to the gullible recipients of American propaganda about the reason for illegal sanctions ravaging our economy.
They are not only targeted at individuals, but are also meant to cripple the economy of the country.
US sanctions are not selective.
Their purpose is very clear – to make Zimbabweans face economic hardships that will precipitate a revolt against the ZANU PF Government.
Of course, we have already pointed out the West’s abhorrence of governments formed by former liberation movements in the mineral rich Southern Africa.
With Zimbabwe, things came to a head with the introduction of the Land Reform and Resettlement Programme of 2000.
It became quite clear that the ZANU PF concept of independence meant sovereignty over their God-given natural resources that included both land and minerals.
This was anathema to the gluttonous West, which had hoped for a pliant government which would bend to their whims.
After all, in 1978, under Bishop Abel Muzorewa’s Zimbabwe-Rhodesia Government, the country looked quite willing to be a virtual vassal state of the West.
The results of the 1980 general elections put paid to hopes of such an eventuality.
That is why, from 2000, the US has been relentless in its drive to reduce Zimbabwe to an international pariah state through falsehoods meant to justify illegal sanctions.
Yet the US was unashamed to go separate ways with the United Nations when it imposed legal sanctions on an outright rebel like Ian Smith.
Without blinking, it did not hesitate to defy a UN unanimous sanctions order by importing Rhodesian chrome from an intransigent rebel.
Their reasoning is mind-boggling.
However, every time they renew their illegal sanctions on the democratically elected Zimbabwean Government each March, they cite absence of ‘reforms’ as the reason. Yet several reforms in line with Zimbabwe’s needs have been carried out, much to the appreciation of neutrals.
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Dr Sibusiso Moyo expressed his dismay when the US recently renewed the illegal sanctions.
He wondered why the US had failed to acknowledge remarkable progress made in political, economic and legislative reforms so far.
Surprisingly, calls for punitive measures by the US and its allies usually rise to a crescendo after general elections when ZANU PF would have crushed pretenders-to-the-throne.
Most notable is the MDC, whose DNA looks similar to that of the defunct Bishop Muzorewa’s ANC. Perhaps, the US has the forlorn dream that this Bishop Abel Muzorewa’s ANC incarnate might give them a chance to get Zimbabwe under their control if it gets into power.
We know what that means.
But President Mnangagwa has repeatedly emphasised that if it is a question of land, the Land Reform Programme is irreversible.
Having said all this, we want to remind the US that a rigid predetermined attitude to international affairs is not the answer to peaceful co-existence.
The US must consider the Zimbabwean Government’s re-engagement effort with an open mind — without any prejudices.
Otherwise it might find out that the bogey image they have created, of ZANU PF, is not only anachronistic, but also misleading.