US President George W. Bush on Friday expanded sanctions against the “illegitimate” regime of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his supporters.
Bush’s signature of an executive order action was meant to send a strong message that the US would not permit individuals closely linked to Mugabe to operate in US financial markets.
The new sanctions also are meant to add pressure on Mugabe, whose ruling party recently began power-sharing talks with the opposition to try to resolve the country’s economic and political crisis.
“No regime should ignore the will of its own people and calls from the international community without consequences,” Bush said in a statement.
The president said he took steps to extend sanctions as a result of the Mugabe regime’s continued “politically motivated violence” and the African leader’s decision to disregard calls from the Southern African Development Community, the African Union and the UN to halt the attacks.
Under immense pressure, with even some African leaders declaring they did not consider him Zimbabwe’s elected president, Mugabe on Monday signed an agreement with the opposition to hold talks.
Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF party and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change have committed themselves to negotiating “an inclusive government” within two weeks.
A major point of contention is expected to be deciding who will lead a new government.
Bush said on Friday, “should ongoing talks in South Africa between Mugabe’s regime and the Movement of Democratic Change result in a new government that reflects the will of the Zimbabwean people, the United States stands ready to provide a substantial assistance package, development aid and normalization with international financial institutions.”
Bush affirmed his commitment to support the people of Zimbabwe with up to US$2.5 million from the US Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund to assist Zimbabwean refugees and asylum seekers who have been displaced by the violence.
The Treasury Department designated 17 entities and one individual that it says has supported Mugabe’s regime and therefore is undermining the democratic process in Zimbabwe.
“In light of the continued intransigence of the brutal Mugabe regime, the US is imposing further sanctions against this regime and its supporters,” said Adam Szubin, director of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. “These actions send a clear warning to those who would protect Mugabe and his assets at the expense of the Zimbabwean people.”
As a result of Treasury’s action, the US assets of the one individual and 17 entities must be frozen. US persons are prohibited from conducting financial transactions with those under sanctions.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
RSS