Two interesting incidents that played out on the international scene recently clearly underlined the profound confusion of values that has crept into Western policies and attitudes towards President Robert Mugabe of
*Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe And His Wife, Grace... |
At Victoria Falls, on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe ,
where Sata and Mugabe met to sign an agreement with the UNWTO Secretary
General, Taleb Rifai, Mugabe must have been surprised and elated to hear Rifai
say this about his own Zimbabwe :
"I was told about
the wonderful experience and the warm hospitality of this country … By coming
here, it is a recognition, an endorsement on the country that it is a safe
destination."
Following this May 28,
2012 agreement, Zambia and Zimbabwe will
jointly host the UNWTO general assembly in August 2013.
Reactions to this
development were prompt and unsparing. Human rights groups across the world and
government functionaries in EU countries condemned it in very strong terms,
just as Canada immediately
announced its decision to withdraw from the UNWTO. But while Canada maintained
that Mugabe’s appointment was the key factor that inspired its decision to
terminate its membership of the global body, UNWTO stated that Canada had
already withdrawn its membership two weeks before Mugabe was invited to join
the body.