Sanctions against the Mnangagwa government have been extended by the Trump administration. The United States said Mnangagwa’s governme...
Sanctions against the Mnangagwa government have been extended
by the Trump administration.
The United States said Mnangagwa’s
government “has arguably accelerated its persecution of critics and economic
mismanagement in the past year, during which security forces have conducted
extrajudicial killings, rapes, and alleged abductions of numerous dissidents.”
“In the wake of the resignation of former President Robert
Mugabe in November 2017, Zimbabwe’s national elections in July 2018, and
President Mugabe’s subsequent death in September 2019, Zimbabwe has had ample
opportunity to implement reforms that could set the country on a constructive
path, stabilize the southern African region, and open the door to greater
cooperation with the United States.
“Unfortunately, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s
administration has yet to signal credible political will to implement such
reforms. Indeed, the Zimbabwean government has arguably accelerated its
persecution of critics and economic mismanagement in the past year, during
which security forces have conducted extrajudicial killings, rapes, and alleged
abductions of numerous dissidents.”
“These actions and policies by certain members of the
Government of Zimbabwe and other persons to undermine Zimbabwe’s democratic
processes or institutions continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat
to the foreign policy of the United States. Therefore, I have determined that
it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared in Executive Order
13288 with respect to Zimbabwe,” a statement on the White House website said.
U.S. targeted sanctions apply to only 86 Zimbabwean
individuals and 56 entities (mostly farms and legal entities owned by the 87
individuals) as of February 2020. But the Ed government insists that the
sanctions are a noose on the whole economy.
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