Zimbawe's President Robert Mugabe arrives at Fiumicino airport in Rome, Italy, on Monday. He is banned from traveling to the European Union over allegations of human rights abuses and election rigging.
By Alastair Jamieson, Staff writer, NBC News
Zimbabwe's long-ruling President Robert Mugabe on Monday arrived in Rome, where he is expected to join other leaders at Tuesday’s installation of Pope Francis.
The 89-year-old is banned from traveling to the European Union amid allegations of human rights abuses and election rigging.
However, the papal state of Vatican City is not part of the EU.
Italy does not to enforce the ban on those using its territory to reach Vatican City, which is encircled by Italy and has no airport of its own.
Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pontiff, will be officially installed as the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church on Tuesday.
As the new Pope Francis has been greeting tens of thousands in St. Peter's Square this weekend, worldwide leaders, including Vice President Joe Biden, are arriving for his inauguration on Tuesday. NBC's Keir Simmons reports.
Heads of state and governments customarily attend, but Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi explained that the Holy See does not make specific invitations, according to the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper.
Lombardi told reporters on Sunday he had "no idea" if Mugabe would be attending, the Guardian said.
Mugabe, a conservative Catholic who has ruled the southern African country since independence from Britain in 1980, last visited the Vatican in April 2011 when he joined world dignitaries for the beatification of Pope John Paul II.
He has staunchly opposed gay rights that he says are immoral and not compatible with African cultural practices in Zimbabwe.
Vice President Joe Biden and the president of Jesuit-run Georgetown University will be among the Americans attending, The Associated Press reported.
Pope Francis, who was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, met Argentine President Cristina Fernandez on Monday.
The two have been on opposite sides for many years, since Francis had lobbied hard against moves by the country's government to legalize gay marriage and make contraceptives available for free.
Fernandez said after the meeting that she had asked the pope to intervene in support of Buenos Aires in a dispute with Britain over the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, according to Reuters.
"I asked for his intervention to avoid problems that could emerge from the militarization of Great Britain in the south Atlantic," Reuters quoted her as saying. "We want a dialogue and that's why we asked the pope to intervene so that the dialogue is successful.''
Crippling inflation in Zimbabwe led the government to issue a 100 trillion-dollar note in 2009, leading to reforms that have tamed the cost of living but left the country with almost no cash.
Before you get depressed about the state of your finances, spare a thought for the nation of Zimbabwe, which as of Tuesday had exactly $217 in the bank.
That's 217 dollars, not $217 million or $217 billion.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti said Tuesday that that was all that was left in the country's public accounts after it paid its civil servants last week, the South African Press Association reported. He told reporters in the capital, Harare, that some of them were probably better off than the state.
After a decade of inflation hit 500 billion percent in 2008 — leading to the issuance of 100 trillion-dollar bills in Zimbabwean currency — the country switched to the U.S. dollar and formed a coalition government in 2009, which the International Monetary Fund credited in September with taming inflation and stabilizing the economy.
But the debt the country built up during those years of nationalist rule by President Robert Mugabe left it with a minimal tax base and few cash reserves, the IMF said, leaving Zimbabwe vulnerable to economic "shocks."
One of those would appear to be the regular wage bill for civil servants — which accounts for 73 percent of the national budget.
Biti, an opposition member of Mugabe's coalition, said the lack of cash threatened elections that are expected some time after a March referendum on a new constitution.
"The government finances are in a paralysis state at the present moment," he said, adding that the country might have to seek donations to stay afloat.
Zimbabwean officials on Tuesday dismissed reports that President Robert Mugabe was critically ill in Singapore, saying he was well and on vacation there with his family, and was expected to return home this week.
Mugabe is one of Africa's longest serving leaders and has ruled the former British colony in southern Africa since 1980. He is sharing power with political rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in a fragile coalition formed three years ago.
The 88-year-old president has been the subject of several health scares in recent years, with some reports saying he has prostate cancer, but in February interviews with state media he laughed off suggestions that he was seriously ill.
However, two senior officials from Mugabe's ZANU-PF party angrily denied the reports. "The president is well and away on a private holiday to help his daughter prepare for post-graduate studies, but we are expecting him home this week," said one of the two officials, who declined to be named.
"But some sick and malicious people are spreading false stories about him being seriously ill while others are saying he is dead or dying out there," he added.
Asked whether the president had also used his 10-day visit to Singapore for a medical check-up, one of the officials said: "We are not going to be engaged over rumours, speculation and wishful thinking."
A Twitter account in the name of ZANU-PF appeared to defend Mugabe by saying the leader had merely gone shopping with his wife, although the account it is widely assumed to be a spoof.
Mugabe has made frequent visits to Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
A terse Zimbabwean government statement saying a weekly cabinet meeting set for Tuesday had been postponed to Thursday had fed the rash of media speculation about the president's health. Mugabe usually chairs cabinet meetings.
Mugabe, who celebrated his 88th birthday on Feb. 21, was endorsed by his party as its presidential candidate for a general election he wants to be held before the end of this year despite opposition from his major political rivals.
Analysts say Mugabe will face a tough challenge convincing voters to extend his 32-year rule after a devastating economic crisis many blame on ZANU-PF.
Although ZANU-PF officials rally behind Mugabe in public, in private many want him to retire and pass the baton to a younger heir due to fears his advanced age may cost the party victory in the upcoming election.
This sentiment within ZANU-PF has intensified since reports, based on a June 2008 U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks, that Mugabe is suffering from prostate cancer.
Reuters and msnbc.com's Alastair Jamieson contributed to this report.
In Zimbabwe, alleging the president had gay sex can get you arrested.
The BBC News relays that local media said lawmaker Lynette Karenyi was held for seven days after telling supporters at a rally that President Robert Mugabe had sex with two male politicians.
Karenyi, who was released Thursday on bail, has denied insulting the president, which is a crime in Zimbabwe.
Mugabe is known for his extremist anti-gay views, having called gays "worse than pigs or dogs."
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe greets the crowd upon his arrival for the official opening of the Zanu PF Congress in Bulawayo, on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011. Loyalists of the Zimbabwe president's party are gathering for a party conference in preparation next year's election.
By Rohit Kachroo , NBC News Correspont
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe – Dancing erratically and singing passionately outside the conference hall, an elderly woman named Grace anticipates the arrival of the president. While many people refer to him simply as a “tyrant” and a “dictator,” she calls him “our liberation hero, Mr. R.G. Mugabe.”
His smiling face is stitched onto her outfit. She sings his name and throws her body from side to side close to the edge of the red carpet. “He is our savior, he freed us from the imperialists,” she says, referring to Britain, the old colonial power.
Suddenly she spots “His Excellency” walking toward the auditorium to open the congress of his party, ZANU-PF, where he is confirmed as a candidate for elections, expected next year. Grace joins the crowd that is following him – a mix of loyal supporters, loyal civil servants and loyal security guards.
Eventually, seven hours after he was due to begin, Mugabe delivers his speech.
Familiar rhetoric It suddenly becomes obvious where Grace has picked up her language. Her leader defines Zimbabwe’s enemies as “the imperialists,” too – in this case, the American and European powers involved in the NATO campaign in Libya, a “bloody tragedy” motivated by “oil and reconstruction projects.” Only “a dead imperialist” is a good one, he says.
It is a long speech, and some of the slogans about the West are familiar. The apparent evil of the white world, particularly Britain, has formed part of the rhetoric of Robert Mugabe for his whole political life. The ZANU-PF party congress started Thursday with Mugabe’s appearance and continues until Saturday.
Delivering his speech wearing a bright red suit, Mugabe throws his fist around, switching between languages as he works through the address. But the country and the world beyond the heavily armed gates has evolved much faster than the president’s favorite lines.
Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi / AP
Supporters of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe are seen before his arrival for the official opening of the Zanu PF Congress in Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011.
For one, Mugabe’s closest enemies are no longer in foreign capitals, but a few blocks from the presidential state house in Harare.
Though he remains an autocrat in control of most organs of the state, the disputed results of elections in 2008 forced him into an uneasy power-sharing agreement with his party’s rival, the Movement for Democratic Change, led by the prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai. “They are a party for women,” said one delegate, emulating part of Mugabe’s speech, though he then named the older enemy, Britain, as Zimbabwe’s true foe.
With school choirs singing celebratory songs in the background, many ZANU-PF supporters are keen to highlight Zimbabwe’s successes. Literacy rates are relatively high; the economy is growing as natural resources are exploited; the terrifying days of 2008, when hyper-inflation forced the economy into free-fall, have passed. But in the run-down townships a few miles from the conference hall, it is clear that extreme poverty and disease haunt many parts of Zimbabwe.
Divisions among the ranks There, many people no longer accept the president’s claim that they are suffering the destructive impact of international sanctions; some do not believe his proposed solution of ensuring that black Zimbabweans own 51 percent of foreign companies based within the country. And many are concerned that under Mugabe the country will never be far from another explosion of violence.
There are rumors of divisions at the congress – unheard of at previous meetings. Independent newspapers claim that delegates are worried about the ability of the 87-year-old president to fight an election campaign and they have been plotting to find a successor. One loyal supporter rolls his eyes when I mention such concerns. He is frustrated by the very suggestion, but his response suggests that it is one that he is used to hearing. Another senior supporter calls Mugabe “the fittest public figure in Zimbabwe.”
That may be a wildly exaggerated assessment for a man who appears to nod off during some meetings, but he seemed to be healthy as he stormed into the conference hall to speak for more than two hours. However, that will not have convinced some of his opponents. They claim that the octogenarian’s frequent trips to Singapore are not to visit his daughter, as his people claim, but for medical treatment.
The now banned South African Nandos "Last Dictator Standing" ad. The ad was deemed offensive by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and his supporters - so out of fear of violent reprisals, the ad was pulled from the airwaves.
'Last dictator standing' ad Then there’s one unexpected issue that has cropped up as a last-minute talking point on the fringes of the congress – a controversial fast food commercial that many see as a humiliating attack on the president. When I mention it to one delegate, he gulps and warns me that “‘Nando’s’ is a dirty word here.”
We’re talking, in hushed tones, about a TV commercial for the restaurant chain that stars an actor depicting Mugabe as “the last dictator standing.” To the soundtrack ‘Those Were The Days’, the look-a-like recalls the president during happier times – laughing uncontrollably during cozy moments with the dictators of the world – playing in the sand with Saddam Hussein and sharing the microphone with Mao Tse-tung at a raucous karaoke evening. After the reminiscing, a lonely “Mugabe” is seen sitting mournfully at the head of a presidential dining table set for his fallen foreign friends. “No one should ever have to eat alone” the voiceover guy tells us, with the final pitch for a family-size portion of fast-food chicken.
The ad, broadcast across southern Africa, was pulled because of fears of attacks on Nando’s restaurants in Harare, but only after raising many laughs and a few questions about Mugabe’s future after this year of revolution.
For Mugabe, heading into a likely election year, the Arab Spring simply teaches Zimbabwe to beware of the West and to consolidate sovereignty. His opponents worry what that might mean. They believe that the pace of democratic reform must accelerate, and the president must accept the need for change.
But Grace, his singing, dancing elderly supporter outside, believes “He must rule forever.”
According to the feverish rhetoric of the Congress, there can be no Zimbabwe without him.
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