The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. – Benjamin Franklin
The ruthless new leader of Zimbabwe is being welcomed by the global elite in Davos this week – despite his links to decades of repression and genocide alongside predecessor Robert Mugabe.
Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, nicknamed ‘the crocodile’, became president of the African nation last year when Mugabe was forced out after a 37-year rule.
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H/t reader kevin a.
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– Mugabe latest leader over years taken into custody:
Zimbabwe’s army has taken President Robert Mugabe and his wife into custody, triggering speculation of a military coup, though the military’s supporters have called it a “bloodless correction.” It wasn’t clear exactly where the 93-year-old Mugabe and his wife were, but army Major Gen. Sibusiso Moyo said they were being held by the military.
Unlike the Mugabes, many foreign leaders in recent history have been ousted from power and detained as the result of interventions by foreign armies or other external circumstances. Those include Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, who was captured by American forces in 2003, and Panama’s Manuel Noriega, a onetime U.S. ally ousted by an American invasion in 1989. More recently, Lebanese leaders and citizens insist their prime minister, Saad Hariri, has been detained by Saudi Arabia in a regional power play.
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H/t reader kevin a.
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Masonic handshakes….
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– UN Agency Makes Mugabe ‘Goodwill Ambassador’ One Month After He Endorsed Killers of White Farmers:
The World Health Organization (WHO) has made Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe an official ‘Goodwill Ambassador’ just a month after he vowed that the killers of white farmers in his country would never be prosecuted.
The 93-year-old tyrant has been tasked by the United Nations agency — at least nominally — with helping to tackle non-communicable diseases, the BBC reports.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus — an Ethiopian national and the agency’s first African leader — told a conference in Uruguay that he was “honoured to be joined by President Mugabe of Zimbabwe, a country that places universal health coverage and health promotion at the centre of its policies to provide healthcare to all.”
– Mugabe Says Zimbabwe “Will Not Prosecute Killers Of White Farmers”:
93-year-old Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe made it clear in an address this week that people who murdered white farmers during a government-sanctioned purge in the 2000s will never be prosecuted.
In 2000, Zimbabwe implemented a controversial land reform program that saw squatters invade and seize hundreds of white-owned farms around the country. As Newsweek details, the violent seizures resulted in the murder of several white farmers, with many more displaced, and close associates of Mugabe given large chunks of land.
And now, speaking at a rally in Harare, Mugabe confirmed this massacre will go unpunished, according to Zimbabwean news site NewsDay.
Read moreMugabe Says Zimbabwe “Will Not Prosecute Killers Of White Farmers”
– China buys its first African colony for a meagre $40 million:
Zimbabwe is back in the news. Or, it was. For about two days. European and Western media have dutifully reported on the series of painful economic crises the country has suffered since independence with the occasional “so-bad-it’s-funny” article on the birthday celebrations of the country’s long-time President Robert Mugabe. But the full tragedy is that the country is entering its second century of colonial rule, having enjoyed a 35 year stint of totalitarian independence in the middle, and no one seems to care.
Read moreChina buys its first African colony for a meagre $40 million
– Judging By Their Stock Markets, The Economies Of These Two Nations Must Be Doing Great:
As the public is told day after day by mainstream media, if stock prices are up in America, it is an indication that all is well in the economy… consumers can consume, investors can invest, and producers can produce as confident citizens gorge on ever more credit (because everything is awesome). So we wonder what the ‘CNBC’ of these two countries would be saying about their stock markets’ massive outperformance…
Venezuela’s “economy” must be roaring?
Of course the point is, it matters what the numeraire is and with Bolivars hyperinflating and ZimDollars on the verge of hyperinflating as Mugabe prints money once again, these ‘markets’ are merely reflecting the collapsing worth of local currency. But hey, don’t tell the global investing public, stocks up = good news, no matter what, right?!
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– Zimbabwe Goes Down The Path Of Hyperinflation… Again:
Some people just don’t learn.
After becoming the most famous case of hyperinflation in modern history roughly ten years ago, Zimbabwe is about to have another go at conjuring paper money out of thin air.
I’m sure this time will be different.
You know the story. Starting in the late 1990s, the Zimbabwe government’s policies under Robert Mugabe began to have some devastating effects.
He confiscated private property from established (mostly white) farmers and redistributed the land in very tiny tracts to his supporters, most of whom had no experience in farming.
Unsurprisingly, Zimbabwe’s once-booming agriculture exports collapsed almost overnight.
Read moreZimbabwe Goes Down The Path Of Hyperinflation… Again
You can’t make this stuff up!
From the article:
“Stacked on pallets in the cargo hold of Western Global Airlines MD-11 wide-body cargo plane is 57 tons of South African currency.
By the time the plane is released, that figures will have increased by another 10 tons.”
– Dripping blood, a severed arm, & 67 tons of cash on a CIA plane:
Initial reports state the plane made either A. an emergency landing at the airport in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, as stated in initial reports. Or B. making a routine scheduled refueling stop, according to a press release put out three days later by the owners of the plane.
Always go with the smart money
The smart money was always on “A.”
The wide-body cargo plane impounded in Harare belongs to “Western Global Airlines,” a Florida airline that is the successor to a long-time CIA subsidiary which itself is no stranger to blood dripping down the fuselage.
Read moreDripping Blood, A Severed Arm, & 67 Tons Of Cash On A CIA Plane
– Zimbabwe phases out local currency at 35 quadrillion to US$1 (RT, June 15, 2015):
Zimbabwe has started retiring its almost worthless local currency in favor of the US dollar. Today, 35 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars are equal to US $1, as a result of hyperinflation which hit the country in 2009.
The demonetization process of the Zimbabwe dollar started on Monday and will run till September 30.
People with accounts of up to 175 quadrillion (175,000,000,000,000,000) Zimbabwean dollars will be paid $5. Those who preserved bills at home will receive a rate of 250 trillion to $1 for their 2008-issued notes and 250 to $1 for their 2009-issued notes.
Read moreZimbabwe phases out local currency at 35 quadrillion to US$1
– Zimbabwe Demonetizes: Offers US$5 Per 175 Quadrillion Zim Dollars (ZeroHedge, June 11, 2015):
It’s over! Starting June 15th and ending September 30th, the Zimbabwe Central bank will begin its process of “demonetization” of the old Zimbabwe Dollar. The Zimbabwe dollar will be removed as legal tender after the currency’s use was abandoned in 2009 following a surge in inflation to 500 billion percent. For bank accounts containing up to 175 quadrillion Zimbabwe dollars they will be paid $5, the country’s central bank said. The people remain angry slamming this as “abusing one’s rights in the banking system,” and claiming this is being done to enrich a chosen few.
- *ZIMBABWE’S CENTRAL BANK SAYS `DEMONETISATION IS A NECESSITY’
- *ZIMBABWE SAYS DEMONETISATION `CRITICAL FOR POLICY CONSISTENCY’
As Bloomberg reports,
Read moreZimbabwe Demonetizes: Offers US$5 Per 175 Quadrillion Zim Dollars
– Zimbabwe’s Gold Mines On Verge Of Collapse Due To Low Bullion Prices (Zerohedge, Jan 28, 2015):
To say that Zimbabwe has not had much luck in its recent, post Robert Mugabe-goes-berserk, history with fiat money is putting it lightly. But did you know that with gold trading at prevailing depressed prices, driven over the past several years not by physical demand but by paper supply, Zimbabwe is about to have another “money” moment, only this time not with fiat but with real money. The reason: the same one why every so often we show the gold cost curve: because some miners simply can not continue operating if the “market” price of gold, with or without central bank and BIS intervention, is below their blended cost. Unfortunately for the south African country, the cost curve of the entire Zimbabwe gold mining industry is on the wrong side of the gold price line.
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– Obama Threatens More Sanctions Against Zimbabwe Over Russian-Platinum Deal (ZeroHedge, Oct 6, 2014):
As Martin Armstrong exclaims, Obama is out of control. According to NewZimbabwe.com, Washington has said it will accelerate sanctions imposed against Harare in 2003, due to the Robert Mugabe-led government’s closer ties with Russia over the US$3 billion Darwendale platinum project. Herald columnist Nathaniel Manheru (who is thought to be Mugabe’s spokesman), reported, Washington explained its expectations on Zimbabwe, namely that Zimbabwe was expected (read required) to support those sanctions by avoiding any association with companies sanctioned by the Americans and their Western allies, or their subsidiaries or affiliates. Manheru said “it was ridiculous for the US to refuse to lift sanctions against Harare and then demand support for its measures against Moscow… This is where I am tempted to tell the American government to go and hang, hang on a banana tree, bums up.“
Read moreObama Threatens More Sanctions Against Zimbabwe Over Russian-Platinum Deal
– China Demands Gold As Collateral For Zimbabwe Loans (ZeroHedge, May 7, 2014):
China, as we noted here, is happy to provide the financing to turn Africa into Disneyland – Monorails and all – but there is one catch… the loans must be backed by gold as collateral. As The Source reports, China wants Zimbabwe to use its mineral proceeds to guarantee any future loans having already extended nearly $1.5 billion in the last three years to Harare’s ailing economy. Various minerals have been discussed to back the loans “but we feel gold is more stable,” Zimbabwe’s Mines Minister noted. Of course, China is defending the demand, claiming “it’s in accordance with rules and regulations when granting any loan” and adding that “it doesn’t mean that we will use the collateral.”
Read moreChina Demands Gold As Collateral For Zimbabwe Loans
– Meanwhile, China Quietly Takes Over Zimbabwe (ZeroHedge, March 2, 2014):
While the developed world is focusing on the rapidly deteriorating developments in the Crimean, China, which has kept a very low profile on the Ukraine situation aside from the token diplomatic statement, is taking advantage of this latest distraction to do what it does best: quietly take over the global periphery while nobody is looking.
Over two years ago we reported that none other than Zimbabwe – best known in recent history for banknotes with many zeros in them – was bashing the US currency, and had alligned itself with the Chinese Yuan. This culminated last month with the announcement by Zimbabwe’s central bank that it would accept the Chinese yuan and three other Asian currencies as legal tender as economic relations have improved in recent years. “Trade and investment ties between Zimbabwe, China, India, Japan and Australia have grown appreciably,” said Charity Dhliwayo, acting governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
– Hyperinflation – 10 Worst Cases (ToTheTick, May 22, 2013):
I have a neat little app on my smartphone that I like to look at when I’m feeling bored. It won’t change anything in my life, but it makes me think as I see the numbers clocking up, and then suddenly stopping for a few seconds. It’s the app that tells me the how much the National Debt of each country stands at in real-time. As I sit down at my computer screen the USA National Debt amounts to $17 041 241 xxx xxx. Forgive the x’s…they’re not kisses…I tried to get the last six digits, but, there’s no point, they’re moving too fast! Speedie Gonzalez has got into that app! It works out to $54 087 per person. That’s the same value as 3 408 248 816 XXX Big Mac Meals.
Inflation is hot property today, hyperinflation is even hotter! We think we are modern, contemporary, smart and ready to deal with anything. We’ve got that seen-it-all-before, been-there-done-it attitude. But, we are not a patch on what some countries have been through in the worst cases of hyperinflation in history. Here’s the top 10 list of worst cases in history. We’ll start with the worst first…let’s think positive!
With a line-up that includes Drew Barrymore, David Beckham, Orlando Bloom, and Ricky Martin, the UN’s choice of ambassadors has been known to cause raised eyebrows or the odd smirk.
Seldom, however, has there been such anger, or questioning of the organisation’s credibility, as that greeting the appointment of a new international envoy for tourism: Robert Mugabe.
Improbable as it seems, the Zimbabwean president, who is widely accused of ethnic cleansing, rigging elections, terrorising opposition, controlling media and presiding over a collapsed economy, has been endorsed as a champion of efforts to boost global holidaymaking.
Despite that fact Mugabe, 88, is under a travel ban, he has been honoured as a “leader for tourism” by the UN’s World Tourism Organisation, along with his political ally, Zambian president Michael Sata, 75. The pair signed an agreement with UNWTO secretary general Taleb Rifai at their shared border at Victoria Falls on Tuesday.
Read moreZimbabwe President Robert Mugabe Asked To Be UN’s New International Envoy For Tourism
“Hyperinflation accompanied by a housing collapse is simply impossible—by definition.”
– None-too-clever financial blogger.Most people in the advanced economies—including most economists—really don’t have any idea what inflation and hyperinflation is. They don’t have a clue because they haven’t lived through it, or were children when it happened in the States and in Europe during the Seventies.
Read moreInflation, Hyperinflation and Real Estate (Price Collaps)
