On the eve of the elections scheduled for
February 27-29, Lord Soames, the British governor of Zimbabwe, is continuing to carry out his plan of harassing and repressing the nationalist movement. The “protected villages” (strategic hamlets) are being maintained on a wide scale. Arrests are continuing and thousands of people remain in prison.
There has been a step-up in assassinations and attempted assassinations of members and leaders of the nationalist movement, especially those in ZANU.
The state of siege remains in effect in 90 percent of the country. The repressive forces—police, army, and auxiliaries—have been redeployed, in violation of the London accords. The South African contingents have not, in fact, been withdrawn. In addition, Soames has given himself certain powers that allow him to frustrate the election campaign and its results. These powers include the ability to exclude sections of the population from voting, without lowering the number of seats at stake, and the ability to prohibit a party or front from running candidates in certain areas.
The motives behind Soames’s attitude are clear. The Salisbury regime accepted the idea of a compromise with the nationalist movement because its maneuver with its puppet Muzorewa had fizzled. The armed guerrilla struggle had not been weakened; the economic situation was approaching catastrophe; the ranks of the white settlers were becoming demoralized. Soames hoped to be able to exploit the rather onerous concessions that he was able to force from ‘the nationalist movement, thanks in part to the pressure from the so-called front-line states (Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, Angola, Botswana). These concessions involved the renunciation of the original goals of the nationalist movement,
In particular, the Patriotic Front agreed that the white settlers would have parliamentary representation far above their numerical weight, that the settlers’ property would not be expropriated for ten years, that the army would not be dismantled, and that the guerrilla detachments would go to assembly camps.
The settlers, Soames, and imperialism hoped to be able to set up a conservative, neocolonial regime, whose character would be guaranteed by Muzorewa or Nkomo’s ZAPU. To carry out this operation they would have to fully exploit the split in the nationalist movement, and hit at its most radical wing, reducing it as much as possible.
That is why the repression was and is aimed primarily against Mugabe’s ZANU, while the policy toward ZAPU leader Nkomo is one of enticements and overtures.
But all these maneuvers may come to naught. In fact, a new situation has been created in the country in recent weeks. Far from being disconcerted and held back by the London accords, the exploited masses of Zimbabwe have seized upon all the openings that have developed. The return of the best-known nationalist leaders and the election campaign have been marked by a level of mobilization without precedent in the country’s history, and the repression has not had the anticipated effect.
These mobilizations in themselves represent a threat to the London compromise and to the neocolonial plan. They contain the seeds of gigantic anti-imperialist and revolutionary explosions. Soames and the settlers are trying to react to that danger by making maximum use of all the resources at their disposal, including massive repression and stepped-up election fraud. Along with the white settlers of southern Africa and British imperialism, imperialism as a whole and especially U.S. imperialism know just how high the stakes are in Zimbabwe. That is why they are so deeply involved in the battle.
The international workers and revolutionary movement must respond. It must mobilize in defense of the national and democratic rights of the people of Zimbabwe. It must demand that Zimbabwe receive immediate and total independence, and that civil liberties be established without any discrimination or restriction. This includes full and equal rights for all parties in the elections, and the right of the Zimbabwean people to determine, without prior limits, the economic and social structures of the country.
* For the immediate withdrawal from Zimbabwe of the imperialist troops from the Commonwealth countries and South Africa!
¢ For the dissolution of the repressive forces of the settler regime!
¢ For equal election rights for all parties!
¢ For the immediate freeing of all political prisoners!