Zimbabwe paranoia

The Herald (Zimbabwe government propaganda rag) carries an extremely funny article that goes like this:

THE United States has taken its anti-Zimbabwe campaign to Hollywood with the release of a film that attempts to set the agenda for Zimbabwe’s "trial" at the United Nations Security Council.
The movie, which is set at the UN, was timed to coincide with next week’s United Nations General Assembly.

The film was released on 22 April 2005.

It is understood that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is behind the release of the scandalous film titled, The Interpreter.

By Sidney Pollack? He must have apologized and made up after “Three days of the Condor”!

The plot of the two-hour long film is a satirical account of an 82-year-old President of an imaginary African country, called Matobo, a former teacher who has been in power for 23 years, and whose country is facing increasing international isolation.

Satirical? This is how the NYT sees it:

Matobo is ruled by one Dr. Zuwanie (Earl Cameron), a vaguely Mugabe-like figure who followed a familiar path from liberator to genocidal maniac, and who has squandered both the hopes of his people and the respect of the United Nations member states.

Does it sound like a caricature? Obviously, the writer realizes what a public disgrace Mugabe is or he wouldn’t have seen the “satire”. But the paranoia is not finished:

"The film just shows how careful we have to be and that we should know that our enemy is very powerful. We should plan to counter Euro-American imperialism. Our enemies have resources and are determined to wage their war on the economic, social and cultural fronts."

You would think, from such gratuitous observations, that Zimbabwe didn’t have other problems.

Zimbabwe, Mugabe, The Interpreter, Sidney Pollack