And if that means imprisoning his opponent and banning all election activity by the opposition party, that is how it has to be. Oh, and he is requiring all food distribution to go through government programs -- where he can have government employees sing his praises to the poor and deny assistance to opposition supporters.

With only three weeks to go before ZimbabweÂ’s presidential runoff, the police briefly detained the oppositionÂ’s standard-bearer, Morgan Tsvangirai, on Friday for the second time this week and directed his party to cancel political rallies, effectively preventing him from addressing voters.

At the same time, the Zimbabwean governmentÂ’s requirement that all nongovernmental organizations suspend their aid operations, which grew out of the authoritiesÂ’ allegations that some were supporting the opposition, was condemned Friday by officials in the United States and Europe, as well as the United Nations.

Relief agencies said the order, issued this week, would deprive millions of desperately poor Zimbabweans of food aid and other basic assistance. Unicef, for example, depends on 25 nongovernmental organizations to provide education, health care and food to 185,000 orphans in Zimbabwe.

“It’s a horrible situation,” said James Elder, Unicef’s spokesman in Zimbabwe. “The children and their families continue to find stoic means of surviving, but this is a profoundly disturbing blow to them. We can’t reach these children today.”

I don't know which disturbs me more -- this attempt to starve those who might vote for the opposition, or the campaign of outright murder that has gone on since the first round of the election that Mugabe's thugs tampered with to give him a second shot at winning.

Posted by: Greg at 12:34 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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