On the ground in Zimbabwe
When I arrived in Bulawayo on 28 August 2003 I was surprised by the few cars on the road to the University. It is the major highway that leads to South Africa, yet as I walked along the road for over twenty minutes I saw very few private vehicles, a few trucks and buses, people walking along the side of the road, a few bicycles, but mostly silence. This was in sharp contrast to my visit July of 2002 when the same road was heavy with traffic. When I asked about this, I was told the constantly increasing cost of fuel and the limited availability resulted in many car owners parking their cars and resorting to walking or taking public transportation or when possible, staying at home.
For the past three months I have experienced the fuel crisis. Some days none of the garages (British English for Gas stations) have fuel. On days like that, if you really need fuel, private sellers, generally stationed close to Garages will sell you five to ten liters (2-3 gallons) from containers on their truck or out of the boot (British English for Trunk) of their car. Of course this comes at an extra cost. If you are in need of fuel late at night expect to pay even more. Most times, for at least a couple of days during the week, some Garage has fuel. Most of these times, the queue (British English for line) will be 2-3 blocks long, which means a 2-4 hour wait to get fuel. On several occasions, I have spotted a Fuel Tanker unloading in a Garage that previously had no fuel, therefore No Queue. My lucky day, I immediately queue and fill up my tank, provided I have the foresight to carry the large sum of cash to buy fuel. My car takes 40 liters, I usually fill up before I get to the  mark, but 30 liters of fuel typically cost $105,000 ZIM. At the official exchange rate this is about $120 US. At the unofficial rate this is about $20 US. These different rates are another problem. The cause of the fuel crisis and the cause of the disparity between government exchange rates and international exchange rates are the same â a shortage in foreign exchange.
A countryâs ability to maintain the foreign exchange needed is determined by the size of its economy, the control it has over its resources that generate foreign exchange and the cooperation that country get from the multinational institutions that dominate the control of the flow of finance capital. Unlike China with over 1.5 billion people, Zimbabwe has a population of less than 15 million. Unlike Libya, where large oil production can easily sustain the countryâs small population, Zimbabwe is not an oil producer. Unlike Cuba, where the state controls the resources and can direct the profit to meeting the needs of the people, Zimbabweâs major export resources such as tobacco, gold and other mineral resources are either directly or indirectly controlled by private interests. This has made the blockade of Zimbabwe a more effective weapon of mass disruption that when used against Cuba and Libya. The blockade of foreign exchange to Zimbabwe was initiated with the British and US instigation that led to the IMF/World Bank sanctions on Zimbabwe. In the US in 2001, President Bush signed into law the so-called âZimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Actâ which placed financial and economic sanctions on Zimbabwe. These sanction are to remain in place until parliamentary and presidential elections that meet the approval of the US are held and âthe rule of law has been restored in Zimbabwe, including respect for ownership and title to property held prior to 1 January 2000â. This directly links the opposition to Zimbabwe to the policies of land reform. This was followed by Zimbabweâs suspension from the British Commonwealth, when UK, US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada disagreed with the election process in 2002.
The central issue is land reform. The MDC opposition party openly opposed the land reform policies of the ZANU-PF government. Despite massive support from the UK, US, Australia and Europe, the MDC was soundly defeated in an election deemed legitimate by most African observers. The land belongs to the masses of the people and should be returned to the indigenous people. Opposition to the Zimbabweâs government policy of seizing excess lands of the former colonizers is at the core of the UK-USA-Australia-European disagreement with Zimbabwe.
The attacks on Zimbabwe by the western media demonstrate the ties between the large media corporations and large landowners in Zimbabwe. They share an interest in maintaining the current international pattern of land and resource ownership. The very large landowners like the Oppenheimer family in Southern Africa also own and control the diamond and gold mines in Southern Africa and are major shareholders in all major publicly and privately owned corporations in Southern Africa. These attacks by the press machinery of capitalism are distortions of the reality of the problems facing Zimbabwe. The main problem facing the people of Zimbabwe is not the expulsion of white farmers, lack of freedom of press, the absence of voting rights or massive starvation.
The main problem, experienced by the people throughout Zimbabwe, is the disruption of the economy due to the blockade of foreign exchange that has led to massive hyperinflation. The government when announcing the annual budget for 2004, estimated that inflation would reach 700% by next year.
This intense campaign to destabilize Zimbabwe is motivated by fear.
The British and Boers in South Africa fear the spread of land reform. That is why every week the South African Sunday Times front page is devoted to slanderous accusations directed at Mugabe and the ZANU-PF.
The successful British colonies: US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia fear being called to task for their stealing of land and resources and attempted extermination of people. They fear the spread of the call for reparations to the original owners of the land.
International Imperialist powers and multinational finance and industrial corporations fear, Zimbabwe will not stop at farm land reform, but insist on taking back the mines (gold, diamonds, etc) and then the Factories (Nationalization of the scale of Cuba)
International Finance fears, a spread in the refusal to comply with IMF strategy of strangulation and privatization will lead to a denouncement of the imperialism imposed debt and a refusal to repay.
The Way Forward:
In the long run Pan-Africanism is the solution. A strong united Africa developing under a socialist program where the people are placed before the profits of multinational finance and industrial corporations is needed to prevent the destabilization caused by economic and financial blockades from the west. Throughout the world Africans and justice loving non-Africans must rally behind and with the people of Zimbabwe in support of land reform. The return of land to the people of Zimbabwe must be recognized as a form of reparations. This bold move led by ZANU-PF in Zimbabwe should be linked to the broader call for reparations to Africans worldwide and all historically oppressed peoples. The unique nature of this reparations act in Zimbabwe is that ZANU-PF is not pleading with the governments and courts of colonial and imperialist countries. Instead, Zimbabwe is taking the land and returning it to the rightful owners.
Leaders of African governments and organizations must be called on to support the just struggle of Zimbabwe. Members of organizations and citizens of countries must select and support leaders that stand with Zimbabwe on this critical process of land reform.
The so-called left - socialist thinkers, activists and parties - must link the call for land reform to the inevitable control of the earthâs resources by the oppressed masses that will bring on socialism worldwide and lead to true communism (a world where people contribute based on ability and receive based on needs).
The racism of US, Europe and British Commonwealth, and the double standard imposed on Zimbabwe must be exposed. The treacherous use of withholding of Foreign exchange must be exposed and denounced. It is a cruel weapon of mass disruption that causes hyperinflation, shortage of goods, wage insecurity, labor strikes and brain drain.
Africans in Zimbabwe must heighten their African patriotism, and make the needed sacrifices during this period of hard times imposed by the blockade. They must realize that the root cause of their suffering is not the government, but the instigators of this blockade. Cuba serves as an example through its educational and medical assistance. A Cuban-Zimbabwe educational program has educated most of the lecturers and professors in Science, Engineering and Mathematics here at the National University of Science and Technology. Doctors from Cuba, work in the state hospitals for much less than local doctors and make enormous personal sacrifices.
The leadership of Zimbabwe must lead by example and show the sacrifices they are making during this special period. The biggest task of the government and ZANU-PF is to intensify the political education around the true need for land reform and make a concerted effort to link this strategy to the inevitable achievement of âOne Unified Socialist Africa: Pan-Africanismâ
Future articles will provide details on the governmentâs plans based on the 2004 budget; the press situation in Zimbabwe; the role and history of the British Commonwealth in Africa; the impact of the blockade; linking land reform, reparations and Pan-Africanism and give more details to short and long range solutions.
