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NEWS & LETTERS, August-September 2001 Zimbabwe general strike A general strike shut down Zimbabwe July 3 and 4. The Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) called the strike to protest a 70% increase in the price of oil, something that hit the poor the hardest. Although the government of Robert Mugabe declared the strike to be illegal, up to 80% of the working class is said to have participated. Stores, factories and banks had to close. Most workers followed the ZCTU's call to stay at home and remain calm, rather than risk coming out onto the streets, where they would undoubtedly have encountered the regime's thugs. In one case, however, three trucks that tried to make deliveries during the strike were burned. The strike had important political dimensions, especially since the ZCTU and its principal leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, are key figures in the opposition. While the government did not back down on the price increase, the whole nation could see the massive support that the ZCTU and the opposition now enjoy. In an effort to crack down, government thugs recently took over Tsvangirai's village of origin, also threatening businesses that had closed down during the strike. Mugabe has continued his demagogic land takeovers, where, in the name of land reform, regime cronies calling themselves liberation war veterans have been besieging and taking over farms. Mugabe is focusing on the 2002 elections, which he presumably plans once again to rig. In preparation for this, he has been cracking down on the press. He has shut down the BBC bureau, while also pressuring the local press. In January, a bomb destroyed the printing press of the Daily News, the country's only privately owned newspaper. |
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