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Yahoo!
News. Mon Jul 15,10:05 AM ET
HAVANA - Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe, was to arrive in Cuba later
Monday for a five-day official visit, the government announced.
Mugabe, increasingly the subject of international criticism and sanctions
following his disputed re-election in March, was to hold official talks Tuesday
with President Fidel Castro ( news - web sites). He also was to tour numerous
educational and scientific centers during his stay.
The visit was announced Monday morning in the Communist Party daily Granma,
in a story entitled: "Mugabe: Teacher, Anti-colonialist, Friend of Cuba"
Mugabe last visited Cuba in April 2000, when he headed his country's
delegation at the summit of the Group of 77 developing nations held in Havana.
Mugabe, 78, has ruled Zimbabwe since it gained independence from Britain in
1980. As his popularity has waned, he has imposed curbs on journalists and
opposition parties, and many of his critics have been attacked or threatened
with prosecution.
After March elections that independent observers said were riddled with
irregularities, the 15-nation European Union ( news - web sites) imposed an
embargo against Mugabe's government. The United States also has imposed
sanctions.
Zimbabwe's government has targeted about 95 percent of farms owned by the
country's white minority for seizure, saying it wants to redistribute them among
landless blacks. The often violent program of seizures has been condemned by
Western governments and has contributed to widespread food shortages. | 
