Pan Africanism : Mugabe, Chavez Slam U.S. at U.N. Event...

Aqil

Well-Known Member
REGISTERED MEMBER
Feb 3, 2001
4,029
116
New York
Zimbabwean leader compares Bush, Blair to Hitler, Mussolini

ROME, Italy (AP) - The leaders of Zimbabwe and Venezuela on Monday denounced President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair as "unholy men," and blamed the United States and other developed countries for world hunger, pollution and war. President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez turned their speeches at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization into tirades, with the African leader describing Blair and Bush as "two unholy men of our millennium."

Chavez accused what he called "the North American empire" of threatening "all life on the planet," while Mugabe compared Bush and Blair - for their alliance in the war in Iraq - to Germany's Adolf Hitler and Italy's Benito Mussolini, who were World War II allies. U.S. representatives at the UN organization's gathering in Rome said Mugabe and Chavez made "a mockery" of the occasion with their scathing remarks. The gathering, a day after the United Nations marked World Food Day, commemorated the organization's 60th anniversary.

The verbal attacks by Chavez and Mugabe drew cheers and applause from many of the delegates. The organization has 188 members. "These leaders chose to politicize an event that was meant to be about feeding the hungry people of the world," Tony Hall, the U.S. ambassador to U.N. food agencies, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "Mugabe, especially, should not have been invited," Hall said. "He would be the last person, I think, an organization should invite to talk about hunger."

A defiant Mugabe defended the land reforms blamed for ruining the country's agriculture-based economy and contributing to widespread famine there. The European Union has imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe's political elite that include travel restrictions. But an agreement between Italy and the UN agency allows all delegations to go to the organization's headquarters, FAO spokesman Nick Parsons said.

Despite the restrictions, Mugabe has been allowed to do some travel in the countries that imposed the sanctions, including UN General Assembly sessions in New York. The seizure of white-owned commercial farms in the past five years and prolonged drought have crippled Zimbabwe's agriculture-based economy. About 4 million Zimbabweans are in urgent need of food aid in what was once a regional breadbasket, according to U.N. estimates.

Recent constitutional changes in Zimbabwe will prevent white owners of confiscated farms from recovering their land and could be used to strip critics of their passports and the right to travel. Mugabe defended the land reforms as "redressing the past gross imbalances in land ownership which were institutionalized by British colonialism. Countries such as the U.S. and Britain have taken it upon themselves to decide for us in the developing world, even to interfere in our domestic affairs and to bring about what they call regime change," he said.

Chavez praised Mugabe's land reform, saying the African leader had been "demonized" and that similar reforms were being enacted in his own country. The Venezuelan leader used his speech to rail against woes that he blamed on rich countries - including climate change, agricultural trade barriers and debt interest payments by developing nations. He called for wealthy nations to cancel debt, or give poor countries a grace period of at least a year on the interest payments.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva appealed to rich countries to put hunger on their political agendas. He also suggested poor countries should stamp out the corruption that often diverts aid. "The poor countries must give an example of honesty, of ethics, so that we truly deserve the solidarity from millions and millions of people who would like to contribute but sometimes are not sure their money will go where it should go," the Brazilian leader said. The UN agency said it had signed a deal with Brazil to run food programs for schoolchildren in developing countries around the world.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/10/17/un.mugabe.ap/index.html
 
Thank god there are still leaders that have possesion of their balls. I like Hugo Chavez and Mugabe. U.S. and Britain hate those two because they dare say what everyone else is thinking. Hopefully more presidents and leaders will follow suit and put pressure on the people to change their direction, because we know they will never change their hate toward non-white people and anyone that doesn't have capitalism on their agenda.
 

Donate

Support destee.com, the oldest, most respectful, online black community in the world - PayPal or CashApp

Latest profile posts

HODEE wrote on Etophil's profile.
Welcome to Destee
@Etophil
Destee wrote on SleezyBigSlim's profile.
Hi @SleezyBigSlim ... Welcome Welcome Welcome ... :flowers: ... please make yourself at home ... :swings:
Back
Top