I want to start with a question…
What would you do if you had 250 TRILLION dollars?
I’m sure there are lots of things you would like to do with that amount of money.
But what if I told you that those 250 Trillion dollars were from ZIMBABWE?
Well, that’s a totally different question because, in 2015, 250 trillion Zimbabwean
dollars were the equivalent of…
ONE US DOLLAR!!!
Yep.
You heard that right.
The truth is Zimbabwe is like Venezuela but… at a massive scale.
This country has suffered the worse hyperinflation of all time.
Since, more or less, the year 2000, prices were rising higher and higher at a mind-boggling
pace.
In 2008, a piece of bread was worth 10,000 Zimbabwean dollars.
And now you might wonder…
How did this happen?
Well… the answer is simple.
One day, ROBERT MUGABE told his finance minister…
‘Dude, I don’t care how you do it but we need money’
And what did the minister do?
Well… he just pressed the money printing button like there was no tomorrow.
So in conclusion: Zimbabwe had to get rid of their own national currency and let their
economy be dominated by foreign currencies, especially the American dollar.
But…
What’s going on in ZIMBABWE now?
In the latest days of 2017, this country appeared on the news because a coup d’etat spelled
the end of Mugabe’s 37 year long dictatorship.
And yes, my dear friends at VisualPolitik, we must say that coup d’etats are not what
they used to be.
This was the DIET COKE version of a coup d’etat.
Just look at this.
Zimbabwe: Robert Mugabe to get $10m payoff and immunity for his family.
In fact, this has been more of a soap opera.
Mugabe, at 93 years old, wanted to die in power and he also wanted his wife, 52 years
old, to inherit the presidency.
You know, these kinds of things can only happen in countries like Argentina, North Korea or…
the Front National in France.
So as you can imagine, a lot of people did not agree with this.
So the Mugabe klan sent all their political opponents out of the country.
This is what happened at the beginning of November 2017, when they kicked out the Vicepresident
EMMERSON MNANGAWA.
The army’s reaction was immediate.
And you know the rest.
But now the questions about Zimbabwe’s future are many.
Is MNANGAWA the new MUGABE?
Can this man resurrect Zimbabwe’s economy?
Today, we are going to answer these questions.
But before we do, let’s take a look back at history.
TITLE: THE 2000 EFFECT
Yes, you are right, Zimbabwe’s economy is a total disaster.
And I know what you are thinking.
If you make a cocktail where you mix dictatorship and Africa, what you get is corruption and
poverty, right?
Well… you are kind of right.
But not as much as you might think.
In fact, there was a time where Zimbabwe was known as the African jewel.
Their fertile soil allowed this country to become the whole continent’s barn.
And now you might wonder…
What happened in a country with so many natural resources, so many rich lands, so many gold
mines, to make it become such a catastrophe?
Well… the answer has a name and a surname, and that is ROBERT MUGABE.
Zimbabwe has been an independent country for 37 years.
And 37 years is the time Mugabe has been in power.
The decolonization process of the, so called, SOUTH RHODESIA, a British colony, ended in
a 15 year civil war.
On one hand, we had the white minority, that made up just 5% of the population.
Despite what you might think, they didn’t have the support of the Western powers.
They declared their independence unilaterally and, therefore, any other country supported
them.
On the other hand, you had the guerrilla troops, led by ROBERT MUGABE, a man who combined anti
imperialist nationalism with a hardcore communist view.
Back then, Margaret THATCHER was the UK’s Prime Minister.
And you might think now… hmm, cold war, plus, a
communist leader, plus, Margaret Thatcher…
this sounds like an explosive combination, right?
Well… you are wrong.
Back then, the UK’s priority was to let their former colonies become healthy democracies.
And this is why Thatcher herself signed a peace agreement with the Zimbabwean guerrilla
fighters and organized elections in the country.
These elections were as fair as they could be given that the country had just ended a
civil war and had guerrilla warriors all over the place.
And… who won this election?
Exactly!
Robert Mugabe!
And now you might wonder…
did he cheat or was it a fair victory?
Well…. the evidence suggests that he really have the support.
You see, among the majority of the black population in Zimbabwe, there are 2 major ethnic groups.
You have the SHONA, who make up 80% of the population.
And then you have the MATABELE, who are just 10%.
Well…
Robert Mugabe belongs to the SHONA group.
And this is why it is no surprise that he won with 60% of the vote.
So in 1980, the UK granted independence to Rhodesia, and this is how ZIMBABWE as a sovereign
country, with Mugabe as the president, was born.
And during the first 7 years he grabbed all the power.
And in terms of the economy, we must admit things worked… in the beginning.
Mugabe respected the property rights of the white population.
But, in a very Venezuelan fashion, he sent all the savings from the colonial times.
And, well… we have to admit that although it didn’t work in the long run, Mugabe achieved
a great goal.
Under his rule, Zimbabwe achieved the highest literacy rate in Africa.
90% of Zimbabweans can read and write.
And what’s the next thing on the to-do list for a dictator?
Well… get rid of the opposition!
In this chapter, Mugabe didn’t save a penny.
He sent the 5th garrison of his army to North Korea so they could learn state of the art
methods for oppression.
And then, when those soldiers came back, he said… ‘hey guys, now go to the MATABELES
and… wipe them out!!!!’.
This is how the GURUKAHUNDI started.
GURUKAHUNDI means, in the SHONA language, ‘early rain that cleans the straws by the
inside before the spring rains come’.
Yeah, SHONAS are pretty poetic.
But, despite the beautiful name, GURUKAHUNDI was an ethic cleansing to the manual.
More than 20,000 people died.
But Mugabe gained great stability.
All his political foes had been killed.
But in the year 2000, things changed.
That year, Mugabe decided to start an agricultural revolution, Mao style.
It was a real revolution.
Everything changed… for worse.
Mugabe decided that the best lands couldn’t be owned by the White minority.
So he expropriated those and gave to… surprise!
Surprise!
His ministers and political allies!
He gave them the land but not the knowledge to tend to it.
So… production fell sharply while hyperinflation destroyed the rest of the industries.
Since then, Zimbabwe has been a living hell.
THE TIME OF THE CROCODILE
They say crocodiles wait beneath the water, showing just their eyes and their nostrils
until a victim appears.
Then, they open their jaws and eat them.
This is why the new president of Zimbabwe, Emerson Mnangagwa is known as ‘THE CROCODILE’
MNANGAGWA was one of those guerrilla leaders during the civil war.
And he has been a minister since 1980.
So he spent all his life waiting under the shadow of the dictator.
But his moment has come.
So far, after this coup d’etat, his first steps haven’t been very risky.
Here is an example.
Zimbabwe leader's Cabinet heavy on military, ruling party
But this is not enough for Zimbabwe and he still has a lot of work ahead.
This is one of the biggest steps he has already taken.
Govt amends Indigenisation Law
The Indigenisation Law is another economic policy made by Mugabe.
In this case, he said bigger companies couldn’t belong to white people.
As you can imagine, the white minority that used to live in the country has already emigrated.
They used to be a 5% of the population.
Now they are just 1%.
But now the CROCODILE wants foreign investment.
And rejecting someone because of his or her race doesn’t seem like a good economic idea.
But wait a minute because… despite all of that, this new president of Zimbabwe might
not be the right man for the job!
Look, in a country like this, it’s very easy to find dark spots in the curriculum
of a politician who’s served such a crazy dictator.
And… guess what the CROCODILE did in the 80s!
Yes, he was the minister of…
NATIONAL SECURITY!
So… he would have had something to do with the GURUKAHUNDI genocide.
And, as you can imagine, being a genocide executor doesn’t seem like the best introduction
letter to lead a country, right?
So now you might wonder…
Is there any other person for this job?
Someone who can really become the opposition to the regime?
The answer is YES.
In 2008, there was a political party called MOVEMENT FOR A DEMOCRATIC CHANGE.
And, surprisingly, they beat Mugabe in those elections.
Yep.
You heard that right.
In a dictatorship like Zimbabwe, this meant a big time political crisis.
He couldn’t destroy an opponent with such a huge amount of political capital.
But he couldn’t let him win either.
And, finally, Mugabe came up with a solomonic decision.
He would remain the president, but he would let
his opponent, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, become the Prime Minister.
Of course, this Prime Minister remained in power for just 4 years.
It was during those 4 years that Zimbabwe started using USD as an official currency
after the collapse of their local one.
But the country remained in dire straits.
Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate at 90 percent
This is why, Tsvangirai has lost a lot of political capital.
So… it seems that in the next election, the CROCODILE has all the chances to win.
Besides, the army is going to control the process.
And the army supports the Crocodile.
One thing must be said here.
Whoever leads the country next will have a great advantage…
it is impossible to do any worse than their predecessor.
So now the question is…
Do you think this CROCODILE will be able to take Zimbabwe back to the African jewel times?
Or he will do the same as Mugabe did?
Please, leave your answer in the comment section below.
And if you want to know about another African dictator, click on this video to learn about
the history of Egypt.
Also, visit RECONSIDER MEDIA.COM, the podcast that provided the vocals on this video that
are not mine.
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