01-17-2019, 11:47 PM
*** 18-Jan-19 World View -- Zimbabwe returns to violence of Mugabe era with police beatings and abductions
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Zimbabwe returns to violence of Mugabe era with police beatings and abductions
****
![[Image: g190117b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g190117b.jpg)
Angry protesters block highway in Zimbabwe (AFP)
Zimbabwe's government has reacted to public protests of high gasoline
and fuel prices by a massive police and military crackdown. At least
eight people have been killed in four days of sometimes violent
protests, and dozens are being treated for gunshot wounds. Hundreds
have been abducted in their homes and thrown into crowded jails, where
they are sometimes beaten and tortured.
It's possible that there are far more casualties, as the government
shut down the internet most of the week, to prevent news of the
violence from being reported.
Some reports indicate that the government security forces, which are
mostly members of Mugabe's Shona tribe, were particularly targeting
the city of Bulawayo. Bulawayo is a government opposition strongly,
largely with a population from Mugabe's hated Ndebele tribe, of which
Mnangagwa is also a member. Mugabe's violence always targeted the
Ndebele tribe, including the 1980s Operation Gukurahundi, which was a
massive act of genocide and ethnic cleansing targeting the Ndebele
tribe.
The protests began on Monday after Zimbabwe's president Emmerson
Mnangagwa announced a sharp rise in fuel and food prices. The
announcement triggered panic buying that left store shelves bare.
According to one lawyer representing 30 people, including children, in
the central prison in the capital city Harare, "Most said they had
been abducted from homes by masked men with AK47s who dragged them out
and beat them up. They are being held without charges or
representation, with no food or water ... The brutality of what is
going on is shocking."
The U.S. Embassy in Zimbabwe says it is “alarmed” by credible reports
that security forces are targeting and beating activists and labor
leaders.
The protests were led by Evan Mawarire, a Christian pastor and
prominent social activist, who called for a nationwide strike on
Monday after the price increases were announced. He was arrested in
his home early on Wednesday, charged with inciting violence. Mawarire
said, "I cannot tell you how heartbreaking it is. We thought we had a
new country and a new way of doing things. None of what I am being
accused of is what I have done at all."
Actually, that hope was completely delusional, as I wrote in several
reports in 2017 when Mugabe was being ousted. It was quite a
remarkable show. One week, 93 year old Robert Mugabe was universally
loved by everyon the country and would rule Zimbabwe forever, even
from his grave when he died, according to his 53 year old wife, Grace
Ntombizodwa Mugabe. ( "19-Nov-17 World View -- Ecstatic throngs in Harare Zimbabwe demand that Robert Mugabe step down"
)
One week later, Mugabe was universally hated, with tens of thousands
of people cheering ecstatically and marching, carrying banners that
read "Mugabe must go!" and "Leadership is not sexually transmitted"
-- the latter an allusion to the attempt by Grace Mugabe to succeed
her husband as president. Another sign read, "Mugabe must rest now!",
alluding to the fact that Mugabe falls asleep during meetings.
There was never any chance that replacing Mugabe with Mnangagwa would
suddenly change Zimbabwe. Mugabe was a vicious, violent racist who
spent decades destroying Zimbabwe's economy, and it will take a
similar amount of time to repair the damage.
Mnangagwa has been trying to convince foreigners to invest in Zimbabwe
again. After the continuing violence, possibly with the worst yet to
come, investors may not be interested. Mail & Guardian (South Africa) and Guardian (London) and AFP and Zimbabwe Mail
****
**** It's possible that Mnangagwa is changing Zimbabwe, making it worse
****
Zimbabwe was never going to be better under Emmerson Mnangagwa than it
was under Robert Mugabe because both of them cooperated in four
decades of horrific crimes that have destroyed Zimbabwe economically
and socially, turning it from a country that used to export food into
a country that can't even feed itself.
They're both in the Shona tribe, and they both are responsible for
Operation Gukurahundi, the genocidal war crime that brought in North
Korean soldiers to help exterminate tens of thousands of civilians in
the hated Ndebele tribe in the early 1980s.
They've both cooperated in turning Zimbabwe into a police state, where
anyone who speaks against the government was likely to be arrested,
tortured and killed. This is particularly true of the members of the
Ndebele tribe that managed to survive Operation Gukurahundi. This was
supposed to have changed with Mnangagwa, but the events of the last
week show that it hasn't.
They both worked together on Mugabe's "indigenization" program, which
threw out farm and business owners who knew how to run a farm or a
business, and replaced them with thugs and cronies from Mugabe's and
Mnangagwa's Shona tribe who didn't know how to run a farm or business.
Over three decades, Mugabe and Mnangagwa turned Rhodesia, which was a
wealthy country and the breadbasket of southern Africa, into today's
Zimbabwe, which is an economic basket case. At one point, the
inflation rate was in the millions of percent.
However, there are signs from this week's violence that the situation
under Mnangagwa is even worse than it was under Mugabe. Mnangagwa was
on a trip to Eurasia when the protests started, and is still out of
the country. In his absence, the security forces have conducted large
scale violence not seen in over ten years. One analyst says that what
is different this time is "the open militarization of the state."
Alex Magaisa, a Zimbabwean lawyer and professor at the University of
Kent, says, "People wanted to see Mugabe go, but they didn’t realize
that they were actually creating a bigger monster. The military is
now very much in control - and very powerful."
From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, this is the kind of
thing that always happens to a country following a generational crisis
civil war between two ethnic groups or tribes. The tribe in power
after the war, usually the winner, uses the fear of renewing the civil
war as a never-ending excuse to use tactics of abuse, violence,
jailings, rapes, beatings and executions, supposedly to prevent
another war. However, once the survivors of the civil war grow old
and are no longer in charge, and are replaced by people in younger
generations with no personal memory of the war, then a new
generational crisis civil war starts, and it all repeats. Foreign Policy
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe,
Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, Shona, Ndebele,
Bulawayo, Harare, Operation Gukurahundi, North Korea,
Evan Mawarire, Rhodesia, Alex Magaisa
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Zimbabwe returns to violence of Mugabe era with police beatings and abductions
- It's possible that Mnangagwa is changing Zimbabwe, making it worse
****
**** Zimbabwe returns to violence of Mugabe era with police beatings and abductions
****
Angry protesters block highway in Zimbabwe (AFP)
Zimbabwe's government has reacted to public protests of high gasoline
and fuel prices by a massive police and military crackdown. At least
eight people have been killed in four days of sometimes violent
protests, and dozens are being treated for gunshot wounds. Hundreds
have been abducted in their homes and thrown into crowded jails, where
they are sometimes beaten and tortured.
It's possible that there are far more casualties, as the government
shut down the internet most of the week, to prevent news of the
violence from being reported.
Some reports indicate that the government security forces, which are
mostly members of Mugabe's Shona tribe, were particularly targeting
the city of Bulawayo. Bulawayo is a government opposition strongly,
largely with a population from Mugabe's hated Ndebele tribe, of which
Mnangagwa is also a member. Mugabe's violence always targeted the
Ndebele tribe, including the 1980s Operation Gukurahundi, which was a
massive act of genocide and ethnic cleansing targeting the Ndebele
tribe.
The protests began on Monday after Zimbabwe's president Emmerson
Mnangagwa announced a sharp rise in fuel and food prices. The
announcement triggered panic buying that left store shelves bare.
According to one lawyer representing 30 people, including children, in
the central prison in the capital city Harare, "Most said they had
been abducted from homes by masked men with AK47s who dragged them out
and beat them up. They are being held without charges or
representation, with no food or water ... The brutality of what is
going on is shocking."
The U.S. Embassy in Zimbabwe says it is “alarmed” by credible reports
that security forces are targeting and beating activists and labor
leaders.
The protests were led by Evan Mawarire, a Christian pastor and
prominent social activist, who called for a nationwide strike on
Monday after the price increases were announced. He was arrested in
his home early on Wednesday, charged with inciting violence. Mawarire
said, "I cannot tell you how heartbreaking it is. We thought we had a
new country and a new way of doing things. None of what I am being
accused of is what I have done at all."
Actually, that hope was completely delusional, as I wrote in several
reports in 2017 when Mugabe was being ousted. It was quite a
remarkable show. One week, 93 year old Robert Mugabe was universally
loved by everyon the country and would rule Zimbabwe forever, even
from his grave when he died, according to his 53 year old wife, Grace
Ntombizodwa Mugabe. ( "19-Nov-17 World View -- Ecstatic throngs in Harare Zimbabwe demand that Robert Mugabe step down"
)
One week later, Mugabe was universally hated, with tens of thousands
of people cheering ecstatically and marching, carrying banners that
read "Mugabe must go!" and "Leadership is not sexually transmitted"
-- the latter an allusion to the attempt by Grace Mugabe to succeed
her husband as president. Another sign read, "Mugabe must rest now!",
alluding to the fact that Mugabe falls asleep during meetings.
There was never any chance that replacing Mugabe with Mnangagwa would
suddenly change Zimbabwe. Mugabe was a vicious, violent racist who
spent decades destroying Zimbabwe's economy, and it will take a
similar amount of time to repair the damage.
Mnangagwa has been trying to convince foreigners to invest in Zimbabwe
again. After the continuing violence, possibly with the worst yet to
come, investors may not be interested. Mail & Guardian (South Africa) and Guardian (London) and AFP and Zimbabwe Mail
****
**** It's possible that Mnangagwa is changing Zimbabwe, making it worse
****
Zimbabwe was never going to be better under Emmerson Mnangagwa than it
was under Robert Mugabe because both of them cooperated in four
decades of horrific crimes that have destroyed Zimbabwe economically
and socially, turning it from a country that used to export food into
a country that can't even feed itself.
They're both in the Shona tribe, and they both are responsible for
Operation Gukurahundi, the genocidal war crime that brought in North
Korean soldiers to help exterminate tens of thousands of civilians in
the hated Ndebele tribe in the early 1980s.
They've both cooperated in turning Zimbabwe into a police state, where
anyone who speaks against the government was likely to be arrested,
tortured and killed. This is particularly true of the members of the
Ndebele tribe that managed to survive Operation Gukurahundi. This was
supposed to have changed with Mnangagwa, but the events of the last
week show that it hasn't.
They both worked together on Mugabe's "indigenization" program, which
threw out farm and business owners who knew how to run a farm or a
business, and replaced them with thugs and cronies from Mugabe's and
Mnangagwa's Shona tribe who didn't know how to run a farm or business.
Over three decades, Mugabe and Mnangagwa turned Rhodesia, which was a
wealthy country and the breadbasket of southern Africa, into today's
Zimbabwe, which is an economic basket case. At one point, the
inflation rate was in the millions of percent.
However, there are signs from this week's violence that the situation
under Mnangagwa is even worse than it was under Mugabe. Mnangagwa was
on a trip to Eurasia when the protests started, and is still out of
the country. In his absence, the security forces have conducted large
scale violence not seen in over ten years. One analyst says that what
is different this time is "the open militarization of the state."
Alex Magaisa, a Zimbabwean lawyer and professor at the University of
Kent, says, "People wanted to see Mugabe go, but they didn’t realize
that they were actually creating a bigger monster. The military is
now very much in control - and very powerful."
From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, this is the kind of
thing that always happens to a country following a generational crisis
civil war between two ethnic groups or tribes. The tribe in power
after the war, usually the winner, uses the fear of renewing the civil
war as a never-ending excuse to use tactics of abuse, violence,
jailings, rapes, beatings and executions, supposedly to prevent
another war. However, once the survivors of the civil war grow old
and are no longer in charge, and are replaced by people in younger
generations with no personal memory of the war, then a new
generational crisis civil war starts, and it all repeats. Foreign Policy
Related Articles
- Zimbabwe president Mnangagwa blames Grace Mugabe for bomb blast at rally (28-Jun-2018)
- Thanksgiving euphoria in Zimbabwe as Emmerson Mnangagwa replaces Robert Mugabe (23-Nov-2017)
- Zimbabwe bans food imports as new 'bond note' currency crashes (21-Oct-2017)
- Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Puerto Rico - three amigos in Marxist economic destruction (01-Jul-2016)
- Christian pastor Evan Mawarire's '#ThisFlag' movement threatens Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe (23-Jul-2016)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe,
Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, Shona, Ndebele,
Bulawayo, Harare, Operation Gukurahundi, North Korea,
Evan Mawarire, Rhodesia, Alex Magaisa
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
