Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, met with President Obama at the White House today. “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,” Obama said.
Zimbabwe “has gone through a very dark and difficult period politically,” Obama said, noting that its president, Robert Mugabe, “has not acted often times in the best interest of the Zimbabwean people and has been resistant to the kinds of democratic changes that need to take place.”
The United States wants “to do everything we can to encourage the kinds of improvement not only on human rights and rule of law, freedom of the press and democracy that is so necessary, but also on the economic front,” Obama said.
The United States is a “friend to the people of Zimbabwe,” and is committed to giving $73 million in assistance. However, the president said, the money will not go through the Zimbabwean government, but rather directly to the people.
What do you think of Obama’s comments about Zimbabwe?
