Zimbabwe Update -- Will She Spill Blood?

Bobby Mugabe, the Mad Old Monster, has announced that he plans to retire in 2008 [at the age of 84] and has designated his successor -- his Vice President Joice Muburu. Will this be an improvement? Probably not. Muburu's nickname is "Teurai Ropa," which means "spill blood" and it commemorates the zeal with which she directed killings as a young woman during the revolutionary struggle.

What is more, there seems to be a succession struggle shaping up within the ZANU-PF party. And, of course, there is the opposition. ZWNEWS.com notes,

The whole dispute over succession is inextricably tied in with rivalries between Zimbabwe's various tribes and clans. And it has only deepened of late in the midst of Murambatsvina, or Operation Drive Out the Rubbish - Mugabe's infamous campaign to expel hundreds of thousands of urban poor from their homes.

So Mugabe's retirement might spark an all-out tribal war in this troubled country.

As bad as the present is, Zimbabwe's future could be even worse.

Sigh!

Read the details of the situation here.

UPDATE 1:

Ouch! The US has responded forcefully to Mugabe's atrocities. Reuters reports:

The United States plans to slap tough travel sanctions on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, members of his government and their extended families, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.

The move is aimed at further isolating Mugabe and is a sign of growing U.S. impatience with Zimbabwe, whose relations with the West are at an all-time low because of human rights abuses.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer said the U.S. Treasury was putting the final touches to an order that would bar Mugabe, his senior officials and their families from visiting the United States.

Travel visas for study purposes would also be affected.

I bet that's going to hurt and bring the old madman to his senses.

Faugh!

Read it here.

UPDATE 2

Meanwhile Mugabe has gone ahead with his plans to nationalize Zimbabwe's mining industry [although he denies that is his intent]. Read about it here.

UPDATE3

And there's this. The Telegraph reports:

President Robert Mugabe rejected South Africa's offer of emergency cash to bail out Zimbabwe's collapsing economy and "humiliated" his officials when they presented him with a draft rescue package, it emerged yesterday.

Mr Mugabe was "apoplectic" when he learned of the stringent conditions attached to a loan from South Africa.

So much for the idea that SA would be able to pressure Mugabe into abandoning his mad schemes.

Read it here.