Free Zimbabwe

We Should Lift the Sanctions on Zimbabwe por Matthew Feeney:

If we really care about the impoverished in Zimbabwe we should be arguing for the lifting of sanctions, not for their renewal.

.. sanctions hurt the poor. Moss dismisses this argument calling it ‘silly’ ..That the sanctions target seventy-seven particular people is of little consequence. Investors must undertake additional costly work to prove that none of these particular people will benefit from a trade in Zimbabwe, a piece of regulation that puts off many would-be investors.

.. the argument that lifting sanctions will remove a scapegoat the Zimbabwean government has been using for years .. While it might be the case that ZANU-PF wouldn’t stop blaming sanctions for poverty, it is certainly the case that they couldn’t do so with any credibility .. Sanctions have a poor track record of helping the poor or motivating change. Iran, Cuba, and North Korea have not been motivated to change their policies as a result of sanctions, and there is no reason to think that Zimbabwe is any different.