|
|
Article: Zimbabwe backs black squatters; Fighting to stay in power, President Mugabe's party encourages black farmers to take white-owned land.(World)
- Article from:
- The Christian Science Monitor
- Article date:
- March 30, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 The Christian Science Publishing Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Chanting and beating on drums, dozens of Zimbabwean peasants descended on Kevin Conner's farm and matter-of-factly informed him they had come to take his land. "Whites stole the land from our forefathers a century ago," a group leader said as the squatters set up camp on Mr. Conner's corn fields, outside Zimbabwe's capital of Harare. "We want it back."
Similar scenes have played out on at least 600 of Zimbabwe's commercial farms in recent weeks, in every corner of the country. Some peasants have begun planting. Others simply sit on the seized land with axes and automatic rifles, chanting "war, war, war!''
Land reform has long been the most-emotional and ...