I won’t pretend to know enough about Zimbabwe to make any kind of lucid, interesting argument. Suffice to say I am very saddened to hear that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has dropped out of the presidential run-off. I would have liked to have seen him fight against Robert Mugabe-a man who makes Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez look like JFK or Winston Churchill. Arguably Tsvangirai won the first election several months ago, if only by a slim margin. Now, after Mugabe’s hit squads have done enough damage to him and his followers he has pulled out. I don’t consider him a coward, far from it. Nonetheless I am still greatly saddened that Zimbabweans will not have a chance to stand up against one of the worst leaders in the world today.
I’m sad to say I still had hope (against hope) until his withdrawal was confirmed in writing on Tuesday. It’s an impossible situation–86 MDC supporters have already been killed, who knows how many more would have been killed in the run-up to the election. I know it has saved lives, but it’s a huge blow none-the-less.