World

Nelson Mandela denounces Zimbabwe chaos Update

by LotusFlower | June 25, 2008 at 12:50 pm

513 views | 27 Recommendations | 9 comments

Update: He did it! Even speaking out against the 'leadership' - well done Mandela!
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It would truly be a good thing if Mandela were to break his silence and speak out against not only the 'Zimbabwe chaos' but against Mugabe himself too though many feel that he won't go that far.

Nelson Mandela will tonight break his silence on the Zimbabwe crisis to condemn the electoral chaos engulfing the country, according to sources close to the former South African president.

Mr Mandela's words will resound across the world because of his huge moral influence. But the sources said that the former president, who is in London for a week of celebrations marking his 90th birthday which culminate with a concert on Friday, would not criticise President Robert Mugabe personally.

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julianw

at 12:59 on June 25th, 2008

Thanks for the post LotusFlower. Really though, what is preventing Mandela from strongly condemning Mugabe? There've been some pretty unconvincing explanations for why he hasn't or won't:

Critics of the Zimbabwean regime will hope that Mandela will break his silence on Robert Mugabe's campaign of intimidation and violence against opposition supporters. But his former lawyer, George Bizos, who has also represented the Zimbabwean opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, told Christopher Hitchens that Mandela had been advised by doctors to avoid anything stressful.

julianw

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 13:01 on June 25th, 2008

And I meant to say good stuff!

julianw

at 14:29 on June 25th, 2008

An excerpt with his exact words:

Mandela spoke at a dinner in London on Wednesday. He told the gathering there is a ``tragic failure of leadership'' in Zimbabwe.

LotusFlower

at 14:36 on June 25th, 2008

'a tragic failure of leadership' - understated but a powerful message to the rest of Africa about Mugabe.

Yuliya Talmazan

at 15:09 on June 25th, 2008

The lack of global condemnation of Mugabe's regime is alarming; there is so much effort going on to criticize China for its human rights violations, while at the same time there is very little public outrage about opposition oppression in Zimbabwe. It surprises me that Mandela would not speak up.