Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Zimbabwe MP David Coltart
Yesterday afternoon the Mercatus Center sponsored some brief remarks by Zimbabwe opposition MP David Coltart (wikipedia entry) who is in Washington trying to gain gain assistance for his beleaguered nation. Mr. Coltart is an interesting character, at least to American eyes: a white Zimbabwean, a former supporter of the Mugabe administration, an anti-apartheid rabble-rouser who was asked to leave South Africa in the early 80s while he was attending U. Cape Town. Nobody asked the question, but I can imagine its difficult being one of the faces of the opposition while being white. He is almost certainly dismissed by many as just the second coming of Ian Smith. His credentials would indicate otherwise.
His talk focuses primarily on the humanitarian crisis: AIDS, hyper-inflation, a lack of food, malnutrition, lowest life expectancy in the world (lower than Sudan), all coupled with a fairly consistent lack of attention by the international community. He blames this, at least in part, on the fact that the crisis is almost totally non-violent. Mercifully, the MDC has set aside violence as an option so far, although I question how long they can keep a lid on things given current conditions.
Coltart described his country as suffering under ‘fascism’ for too long: both the white-led fascism of Ian Smith and others, as well as the Zanu-PF fascism of Robert Mugabe. His talk then degenerated into a play-by-play description of the SADC/Mbeki-led negotiations to come-up with a new constitution and transition into a post-Mugabe world. That, combined with the internal MDC politics was all a bit ‘inside baseball’ (or should I say cricket?) for me. I was there primarily for anything on the hyper-inflation and a description of the ways people survive on a day to day basis. Unfortunately, he did go down that path. But I thought it was a fascinating presentation and a personal (if political) view into Zimbabwe.
(Side question for SA-expert SR: Who is Cyril Ramaphosa and why did several people in the audience (who appeared to be white South Africans) call for him to enter the mediation process?)
By Carl Oberg
Former U.S. Government employee specializing in trade and the Middle East. BA from American University in International Studies. MA from George Mason University in International Commerce & Policy. Currently a MA-Economics student at George Mason University and a Research Assistant at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.