Harare- Zimbabwe’s decision to take control of its natural resource is the only reason why Western countries slapped economic sanctions on the Southern African country, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday.
The US, along with the European Union and Britain imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe over two decades ago to force the government to abandon its land reforms in which excess white-owned farmland was compulsorily acquired to resettle landless blacks to economically empower them.
The sanctions, imposed under the guise of enforcing democratic principles in Zimbabwe, target both the economy and individual Zimbabweans seen as central to decision-making in government, and are estimated to have cost the country up to US$100 billion in lost economic opportunities.
But, Lukashenko sees through the Western charade.
“The reason behind these American sanctions imposed on your country is not that you are not democratic enough, the reason is because of your decision to take control of your natural resources,” he said in Harare through an interpreter.
Lukashenko, who is in Harare on a 3-day state visit encouraged Zimbabwe to soldier on despite the challenges posed by the sanctions.
“You dear friends will see the western countries trying to sow dissention among you, trying to put you on your knees, trying to bend you over, however, you should and must survive.”
Western countries have been at the forefront of sponsoring opposition parties and hostile non-governmental organisations as part of a regime change plot.
The West has also put in place an ostracisation campaign, which saw it cutting diplomatic engagement with Zimbabwe, while banning Zimbabwe’s top government officials, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa, from travelling to its member states.
The United States exercises its sanctions programme on Harare through the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (Zidera) which among other things forbids American banks from processing transactions on behalf of Zimbabwean companies and at times individuals who are not even on the sanctions list.
But, in October last year, after years of downplaying the true impact of its sanctions regime on Zimbabwe, Washington finally admitted that the Southern African country was losing out on investment opportunities as businesses, citing sanctions as a risk factor, shy away from investing in the country.
US Department of State sanctions coordinator James Obrien told a press a virtual press briefing then that the American government was fully aware of the challenges associated with the embargoes.
“We are aware that because of the depth of the problem and the duration of this (sanctions) programme, probably there are a lot of companies that believe that doing business in Zimbabwe is just too difficult and that does cost opportunities for the people of Zimbabwe,” he said then.
“We are well aware that in difficult environments, companies may decide not to be involved for a host of reasons and one of those reasons may be the risk that either new sanctions will be put in place or current sanctions are not clear.”
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