Robert Mugabe

* I am glad to see that the situation in Zimbabwe has been in the news. I was deeply concerned, while speaking to my mother in Harare, to learn that the Zimbabwean “government” has forbidden its citizens to discuss the current political situation via e-mail, threatening violators with a $150,000 fine and up to a year in prison.

The rule of law has been eroded, as President Robert Mugabe openly encourages his supporters to intimidate the very citizens he claims to represent. Zimbabwe touts itself as a democracy; however, democracies do not stand in opposition to free speech, nor do they illegally seize the land of their citizens and flout the orders of the judiciary. The present government of Zimbabwe is a dictatorship and deserves to be toppled.

MARK A. SPALDING

Pasadena

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Thank you for your balanced editorial about the crisis in Zimbabwe (May 5). I fully agree with you that Thabo Mbeki, president of South Africa, is doing a great disservice by not putting serious pressure on the racist, undemocratic dictator, Mugabe.

Nelson Mandela, who, by the way, did not like Mugabe, would surely have dealt with this situation in the common-sense manner he is renowned for. Mbeki so far is unimpressive. It is understandable that he is disinclined to openly criticize a fellow Communist freedom fighter, but he needs to distance himself from this nasty man who has the blood of 20,000 Ndebele Zimbabweans on his hands.

Like Chile’s Augusto Pinochet, Mugabe is a war criminal and should be indicted. In today’s world these types of people cannot be tolerated.

ROBERT ATKINSON

San Rafael