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BBC.Thursday, 26 July, 2001, 15:40 GMT 16:40 UK The fortunes of Zimbabwe have for the past two decades been tied to President Robert Mugabe, who wrested control from a small white community and put the country on a stable course. However, he now presides over instability, a land crisis and a faltering economy. OVERVIEW Zimbabwe is home to the Victoria Falls, regarded as one of the natural wonders of the world, the stone enclosures of Great Zimbabwe - remnants of a past empire - and to herds of elephant and other game roaming vast stretches of wilderness. For years it has been the world's third biggest source of tobacco and is potentially a bread basket for surrounding countries less geared up for agricultural production and often forced to import food. The former Rhodesia has been the scene of much conflict, with white settlers dispossessing and suppressing the resident population, guerrilla armies forcing the white government to submit to elections, and the post-independence leadership committing atrocities in southern areas where it lacked the support of the Matabele people. The country's challenges now include the need to address unresolved land issues, a rampant Aids problem, declining respect for the law and an economic crisis. FACTS
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LEADERS President: Robert Mugabe Mugabe played a key role in ending white rule in Rhodesia and he and his ZANU-PF party have dominated Zimbabwe's politics since independence in 1980. He has only recently faced any serious challenge to his authority, in the form of popular protest and substantial gains for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Ideologically, he belongs to the African liberationist tradition of the 1960s - strong and ruthless leadership, anti-Western, suspicious of capitalism and deeply intolerant of dissent and opposition. His economic policies are widely seen as being geared to short-term political expediency and the maintenance of power for himself. Foreign
Minister: Stanley Mudenge Self-censorship is common, with independent journalists facing harassment as well as a host of anti-defamation laws and colonial-era laws restricting access to information. The constitution provides no explicit protection for press freedom. THE PRESS The Herald - Harare The Financial Gazette - Harare The Standard Zimbabwe Independent The Daily NewsTelevision Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation Radio Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation News agency Zimbabwe Inter-Africa News Agency |
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