South Africa And The United States At Odds On Zimbabwe Issue

In regards to the situation in Zimbabwe, United States President George W. Bush and South African President Thabo Mbeki seem to have clashed.

Recently, United States President George W. Bush was blasted in a letter addressed from South African President Thabo Mbeki. In the letter, Mbeki criticized Bush for standing against President Robert Mugabe while not respecting the views of the people of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has been chaotic in the past few weeks in regards to the elections that have taken place. Movement for Democratic Change’s candidate Morgan Tsvangirai is said to have won the elections. However, Tsvangirai has not won enough votes to avoid a runoff election. The runoff election is scheduled for June. Mugabe has been blamed for the ailing economy of Zimbabwe. The current inflation rate of the country is at 1,000%, which is the highest in the entire world. However, Mugabe brushed off all criticism saying that there is a conspiracy by the Western nations to remove him from power. Recently, Mugabe’s Zanu-PF Party has lost influence in the Zimbabwean parliament. Before the elections took place, Mugabe vowed that Zimbabwe will not be a repeat of Kenya. Also, Mugabe threatened to kick out US envoy James McGee for “interference.” Jendayi Frazer, the US top diplomat for Africa accused Mugabe of attempting to steal the election. She added that Tsvangirai won the elections. However, the results had not been made public for several weeks. Mbeki has been criticized for his stance on Zimbabwe. Now, Mbeki is criticizing Bush for his stance on the issue.