Mugabe Maintains Stranglehold on Zimbabwe
In early June, the Mugabe regime suspended foreign aid activity, including food shipments for the impoverished, famine-ravaged country. Tsvangirai’s followers were then informed that they would not be given any food rations unless they surrendered their MDC voting cards.
Tsvangirai finally declared the election a farce and withdrew, citing the well-being of his supporters. On June 27, Mugabe was reelected by an overwhelming majority, although, according to some press reports, large numbers of voters deliberately defaced their ballots in anonymous displays of defiance.
