Campaigning for the runoff election between current president Robert Mugabe and challenger Morgan Tsvangirai has gotten underway (Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in the first round, but fell just short of the 50% plus one majority needed to avoid a runoff). Mugabe is attacking the opposition MDC party as agents of Great Britain looking to bring Zimbabwe back under colonial control. He is also telling his supporters to ignore claims that the police are abusing opposition candidates.
Those claims have come after two newly-elected members of parliament from the opposition MDC party were arrested in what they say is a campaign to intimidate their party before the June 27 runoff election. Tsvangirai, meanwhile, delayed a return to Zimbabwe because of information he received that Mugabe's government was planning to assassinate him.
The situation in Zimbabwe is showing signs of spinning out of control. The International Crisis Group, a non-partisan think tank that focuses on the world's hotspots, is warning that the Zimbabwean military could launch a coup if Mugabe is ousted from power.
For Zimbabwe's people conditions in the country are grim. The unemployment rate is now estimated to be 80%, while inflation is reported to have hit an unbelievable one million percent.
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