[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 94 (Friday, June 12, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E891-E892]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE FUTURE OF U.S.-ZIMBABWE RELATIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 12, 2015

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, Zimbabwe is a country the size 
of the state of Montana, with a population of nearly 14 million people. 
However, its mineral wealth gives it an outsized importance. The 
southern African nation is the world's third largest source of platinum 
group metals and has significant reserves of nickel, gold, chromium and 
dozens of other metals and minerals. Significant diamond reserves were 
discovered in 2006. Currently, about 40 percent of the country's 
foreign exchange is earned from the export of these metals and 
minerals.
   It was the abundance of such mineral resources, and their 
exploitation, which has driven the relationship between the West and 
Zimbabwe. Since its colonization by Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa 
Company in 1889 on behalf of Great Britain, the area once known as 
Southern Rhodesia has experienced a tumultuous history. The white 
minority gained self-governance in 1922, and a 1930 Land Apportionment 
Act restricted black access to land, making many Africans laborers and 
not land owners. In 1964, the white minority government unsuccessfully 
sought independence from Great Britain, and then unilaterally declared 
independence a year later under white rule. This move sparked 
international outrage and economic sanctions, and that regime was never 
widely recognized by the international community, though the support of 
white-ruled South Africa enabled the government to limp along.
   Meanwhile, black opposition to minority rule, which began in the 
1930s, erupted into a guerilla war in 1972. Attempts to end the 
conflict diplomatically failed until the 1979 talks brokered by Great 
Britain resulted in British-supervised independence elections. The 
winner of those elections was Robert Mugabe, leader of the Zimbabwe 
African National Union, or ZANU, who at age 91 continues to rule this 
country, in large part through intimidation and manipulation of 
elections.
   As a hero of the independence and majority rule movements, Mugabe 
has enjoyed the support of many other African leaders, who have 
considered him an honored elder and have generally declined to join in 
international efforts to sanction his government. This has placed the 
United States in an awkward position, with limited African support for 
political and economic reforms in Zimbabwe.
   Although many observers have credited the Mugabe government with 
productive management until fairly recent years, there were political 
problems from the beginning of his rule.

[[Page E892]]

For example, Mugabe fired fellow independence leader Joshua Nkomo in 
1982 and then launched a campaign to suppress what his government 
called a rebellion by pro-Nkomo forces. The Mugabe regime has been 
accused of killing thousands of ethnic Ndebele citizens over the next 
few years to end the supposed rebellion, assisted by military advisors 
from East Germany and North Korea.
   Once one of the leading industrial nations in Africa, Zimbabwe began 
a long economic downward spiral in the late 1990s. Squatters, with the 
support of the Zimbabwe government, seized white farms they claimed had 
been stolen by white settlers in the past. Despite government 
assurances, these farms were not transferred to black farm workers, but 
rather to cronies of the Mugabe government who lacked agricultural 
experience. Both whites and blacks in Zimbabwe acknowledged that the 
land policies had been unfair, but the manner of addressing this 
problem led to serious economic problems for the country.
   Agricultural production fell, and the manufacturing sector, heavily 
tied to agriculture, also diminished. Efforts to squeeze currency for 
shrinking national reserves from businesses, coupled with the 
disastrous requirement that businesses use the fictitious exchange 
rate, caused retailers to lose money with each sale. The effort to 
close the many vendors who supplied tourists with souvenirs and 
citizens with necessary household items was yet another milestone in 
Zimbabwe's economic collapse. By 2006, year-on-year inflation exceeded 
1,000 percent. Devaluation of the currency and the subsequent use of 
foreign currency are credited with eventually preventing a complete 
economic collapse.
   Zimbabwe and the United States have had a tempestuous relationship 
since that southern African country emerged from white minority rule. 
Part of the problem has been resentment by Zimbabwe President Robert 
Mugabe and his closest advisers against the United States for not 
supporting their liberation movement, the backdrop to which was the 
geopolitical conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States. 
Another part of the problem has been the justifiable public criticism 
of repressive political policies by the Mugabe government by successive 
U.S. administrations. Consequently, the minimal communications between 
our two governments has contributed to suspicions and an inability for 
U.S. officials to reach out to cooperative Zimbabwe officials.
   Successive elections have been the subject of opposition and 
international criticism for the lack of political space allowed to 
those who would challenge the ruling ZANU party. Arrests, 
incarcerations, torture in custody, beatings at public rallies and 
demonstrations and disappearances of government opponents have denied 
legitimacy to the Zimbabwe election processes. The country's commitment 
to democratic governance has been further placed in question due to a 
series of repressive laws preventing freedoms of speech, association 
and movement.
   As if the government's repressive tactics are not troubling enough, 
political jockeying in Zimbabwe, including the recent dismissal of Vice 
President Joice Mujuru, places the succession to President Mugabe in 
doubt, which puts U.S. policy in question. Last week's hearing examined 
current U.S. policy toward Zimbabwe and the prospects for an enhanced 
relationship depending on events that have not yet taken place.
   Of course, in foreign policy, one cannot wait until a crisis 
materializes in order to create a planned response. A leader nearing 
the century mark, presiding over a fractious political scene in a 
country that has experienced political and economic turmoil creates a 
situation in which planning for a positive outcome to regime change 
must be devised.
   Zimbabwe is a country rich in both natural and human potential. Once 
the resentments of the current old guard have passed and democratic 
governance can be established, U.S.-Zimbabwe relations can become what 
they have never been: harmonious and mutually beneficial.