Earth Summit
How Mugabe belted Britain and stole the show

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe was applauded and US Secretary of 
State, Colin Powell was booed at the Earth Summit last week. Colin Powell 
attempted to justify the refusal of the US to ratify the Kyoto protocols 
and to claim that the US was pursuing a responsible role in efforts to meet 
the serious environmental problems facing the world.

Robert Mugabe and Namibia's President Sam Nujoma both strongly attacked the 
role played by Britain in Africa.

Mugabe said that "Sustainable development is not possible without agrarian 
reforms that acknowledge that land comes first before all else and that all 
else grows from the land. In our situation, this fundamental has pitted the 
black majority against an obdurate and internationally well-connected 
racial minority, largely of British descent, brought in and sustained by 
British colonialism, now being supported and manipulated by the Blair 
Government."

Mr Mugabe's remarks on Zimbabwe's sovereignty drew most applause.

"We do not mind having and bearing sanctions banning us from Europe. We are 
not English, we are not Europeans. We have not asked for any square inch of 
that territory", he said. "Let no one interfere in the internal affairs of 
our nation. So, Blair, keep your England and let me keep my Zimbabwe."

Sam Nujoma, the Namibian President also upstaged Tony Blair's speech during 
which he attempted to highlight Britain's commitment to environmental 
targets. Conference organisers had moved the time slots for Tony Blair and 
Robert Mugabe because they were originally close together but they failed 
to take into account the response of Namibia's President Sam Nujoma.

Sam Nujoma told a stony faced Blair that "Here in southern Africa we have 
one problem and it was created by the British. The Honourable Tony Blair is 
here and they created the situation in Zimbabwe."

The applause for Mugabe and the booing of Colin Powell is yet another 
indication of the divisions in the world between the haves and the have 
nots, between the industrially developed and rich countries and those that 
have been kept in poverty by colonialism and exploitation.

An Indigenous chief from Alaska approached President Mugabe as soon as he 
stepped down from the podium and congratulated him, saying he had spoken 
"for all of us, the downtrodden".

Two young people from Seattle paid tribute to Mugabe saying he had spoken 
for all the young people of the world.

A Kenyan activist said his country was still experiencing land problems as 
wheat farming, horticulture and other key agricultural activities were 
still being controlled by whites.

Sources close President Mugabe said many heads of State and diplomats who 
were in the plenary hall sent him hand-written notes congratulating him for 
speaking out against imperialism, colonialism and oppression of the 
developing countries in the South by the rich and powerful countries of the 
North.

President Mugabe's speech was widely covered in South African newspapers.

In a front page story headlined "Mugabe hammers Blair", the Sowetan  
reported: "Mugabe drew applause from many of the delegates at the summit 
when he fired a salvo at the UK Prime Minister, the sternest critic of 
Zimbabwe's seizure of white-owned farms. Mugabe was strongly backed by one 
of his key regional supporters, Namibia.

"The speech by Sam Nujoma, who vowed to follow in Mugabe's footsteps in 
seizing land last week, was punctuated by laughter and clapping from many 
African and developing country delegates, a clear indication of the extent 
of support for Mugabe."

However, British newspapers stung by Robert Mugabe's speech and showing all 
the signs of sour grapes continued to blame Mugabe. The right-wing Daily 
Mail and the Sun accused Mugabe of using the summit to blame 
Britain for Zimbabwe's problems.

The Daily Telegraph said Mr Blair was "stitched up", and argued that 
he should have made a direct response to Mugabe rather than choosing to 
"avoid an ugly wrangle off the main agenda. Tactically, we suffered a 
defeat in Johannesburg yesterday which in the long run may prove very 
damaging to Africa", the paper said.

Back in England, Tony Blair claimed that President Mugabe did not speak for 
Africa.

"It is a shame that people think Mugabe speaks for Africa. He doesn't. The 
vast majority of African people would totally disassociate themselves 
[from] what he said yesterday", claimed Blair.

But others in Britain think differently. The UK based lobbyists Africa 
Strategy congratulated President Mugabe on his speech, which they described 
as having opened a pandora's box of the toxins of Tony Blair's foreign 
policy.

"The Caribbean population and blacks in Britain were deeply touched by this 
statesman and mature presentation by President Mugabe which clearly 
enunciated the fight for anti-colonial subjugation..."

Social commentator Claude Mararike said Mugabe's speech sought to redirect 
the thinking of the African people and instill the desire to promote and 
live within their African context.

"The speech reminded Africans that the idiom of slavery changes with time 
and that slavery of the mind was more destructive than slavery of the 
body."

The speech, Mr Mararike said, clarified the misrepresentation of the way 
Zimbabwe was implementing agrarian reforms. "It's a prerogative of 
Zimbabweans to own and control their assets if we want to talk of 
sustainable development."