For these last few months Zimbabwe which was formally known as Africa´s bread basket is turning into a basket case of intimidation, torture, and murder. For those who appose the so-called president Robert Mugabe they are met with blows and some are even killed by his loyal gang of punks (of what their commonly know as "war veterans"). This week the opposition suffered an enormous blow with the withdrawal of Morgan Tsvangirai, who is now seeking protection at the Dutch embassy. With the international outrage in full swing, world leaders have condemned Mugabe and say that the "results" for the elections can´t be considered legitimate. For these last few decades, Mugabe has risen to the top (or cheated his way to the top) and has been slowly draining the life of his citizens by using any means to crush them. He has stopped food conveys from delivery food to those who can´t even afford anything at all, since inflation has gone up these last few months. For a man who at first was the darling of the west when he took power from the apartheid government of Ian Smith, his makeover has been a slow and hellish train wreck. So, what can the U.S. do to stop this madness? Not much. Peter Godwin, British journalist and author of "When a Crocodile eats the Sun" his memoir of growing up in Zimbabwe, says in a recent interview at CNN that the two exports that the country lacks of is oil and terrorist (Iraq, need I say more?) Given that reason, the U.S. doesn´t have leverage in Zimbabwe or anything to get in return. But fortunately our neighbor, Canada has taken slow but concrete action against the Mugabe government by shunning senior government officials and suspending financial aid to the regime. Might not be much, but it´s certainly a start. The international community has to take a firm stand against this ruthless dictator soon, or we might end up with another disaster, similar to the Rwandan genocide of ´94. But there is no doubt that things can and will get a lot worse before they get better.
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