Obama on aid to Zimbabwe

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June 13, 2009, 4:52PM

It appears to be a quick decision made Friday:

Obama Pledges $73 Million for Zimbabwe's People
By Kent Klein
White House
Voice of America, 12 June 2009

President Barack Obama is promising $73 Million in U.S. aid to the people of Zimbabwe. The president made the pledge Friday, after meeting with Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in the Oval Office.

President Obama says the U.S. assistance will go directly to the people of Zimbabwe because Washington believes that President Robert Mugabe does not always act in the interest of Zimbabwe's people.

But after meeting with Prime Minister Tsvangirai, Mr. Obama told reporters there is reason for hope.

"I, obviously, have extraordinary admiration for the courage, the tenacity that the prime minister has shown in navigating through some very difficult political times in Zimbabwe," he said....

contrast that with this report the day before:

US Seeks Ways to 'Appropriately' Support Zimbabwe Government - Clinton
By Blessing Zulu & Patience Rusere
Washington
Voice of America, 11 June 2009

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai met Thursday with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who in comments to reporters before their conversation appeared to add some nuance to the well-established American position that Washington will not directly fund the operations of the Harare government without seeing broad and deep reforms.

Mr. Tsvangirai is scheduled to meet Friday with President Barack Obama.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson said early this week that no major aid could be expected until the Harare government as a whole institutes significant reforms on human rights and the rule of law, and ends harassment of political and civic activists, seemingly underscoring the humanitarian-only aid policy that has been in place for months....

See also New York Times' Zimbabwe Divisions Pose a Quandary for the West, of June 12, by Celia W. Dugger,

and Urging Freedoms, Obama Chides Zimbabwe Leader, of June 13, by Sheryl Gay Stolberg.

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China not so picky as long as you buy Chinese goods with the dough they extend:

Zimbabwe Says China Is Giving It Loans
(July 1, 2009 print edition)

JOHANNESBURG — Zimbabwe’s prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, said Tuesday that an official he had appointed had secured lines of credit worth $950 million from China, President Robert Mugabe’s longtime ally.

Mr. Mugabe’s party has mocked Mr. Tsvangirai for failing to bring home much aid from his three-week tour of the United States and Europe. Zimbabwe’s government — a virtually bankrupt contraption led by Mr. Mugabe and his rival, Mr. Tsvangirai — needs an estimated $8 billion to rebuild the country’s ruined economy.

The West has been leery of giving the government a large infusion of money until Mr. Mugabe stops the human rights abuses that have been a fixture of his 29 years in power. China, however, has maintained its close relationship with Zimbabwe as it has extended its financial ties to other nations in Africa.

Mr. Tsvangirai said Tuesday that the finance minister he had appointed, Tendai Biti, had negotiated the loan package with China. Details of the deal were scant, and Chinese officials could not be reached to confirm the deal or to comment on it.

Officials close to Mr. Tsvangirai said they believed that at least some of the financing would be provided on the condition that the money was spent on Chinese goods, like fertilizer.

“It is available for the procurement of goods from China — that is my understanding,” said Ian Makone, an aide to Mr. Tsvangirai....

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/world/01zimbabwe.html?ref=todayspaper

Posted by artappraiser
July 1, 2009 3:35 PM | Reply | Permalink

Obama on aid to Zimbabwe

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