Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in remarks to the United Nations General Assembly on Friday pronounced his country's government to be united in purpose and committed to a “new vision” for the country while denouncing Western sanctions and accusing the United States and Britain of “filthy, clandestine, divisive” efforts to divide that government.
In an interview Thursday with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Mr. Mugabe called Western travel and financial sanctions “unjustified” and “illegal” and intended to bring about regime change.
He denied that lawmakers of the former opposition Movement for Democratic Change, now a partner in the so-called inclusive government, have been wrongly prosecuted, saying members of Parliament “can’t get away” with crimes because of the new political dispensation.
Mr. Mugabe defended land reform as “the best thing that ever could have happened" to the country though most observers say it led to the country's economic collapse.
Asked by Amanpour why he was so determined to remain in power, Mr. Mugabe responded: "You don’t leave power when imperialists dictate that you leave.” He told her that in the face of alleged U.S. and British regime change efforts, “we dig in.”
Commenting on Mr. Mugabe's latest U.N. address, political analyst Dewa Mavhinga told VOA reporter Blessing Zulu that Mr. Mugabe reform to gain international acceptance.
More reports from VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe...
