Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- April 6, 2019

MacDonald Dzirutwe, Reuters: Zimbabwe after Mugabe: dashed hopes and economic chaos

HARARE (Reuters) - When Robert Mugabe was deposed as Zimbabwe’s president in 2017, Karen Sundirai was convinced the country would quickly recover from years of economic turmoil and authoritarian rule.

Nearly two years later, the 36-year-old bank teller speaks of dashed hopes and expresses reverence for Mugabe, who died on Friday aged 95.

The country, now led by Mugabe’s long-serving security chief Emmerson Mnangagwa, is grappling with its worst economic crisis in a decade, marked by unemployment above 80%, acute shortages of foreign currency and fuel, and rolling power cuts lasting up to 18 hours a day.

“They said it was a new era but now we know it was an error ... Things are worse under Mnangagwa,” Sundirai told Reuters while queuing to buy food at a supermarket in central Harare.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- April 6, 2019

A look at the shattered Zimbabwe that Mugabe left as leader -- Farai Mutsaka and Cara Anna, AP

I met Robert Mugabe in the late 1970s. What he told me still haunts me. -- Lawrence Pintak, VOX

Celebrate or cry? Zimbabweans have mixed feelings about Mugabe -- AFP

Africa's longest serving leaders -- AFP

Cracks in Saudi-UAE coalition risk new war in Yemen

-- Maggie Michael, AP

The likelihood of 'peace' in Afghanistan is slim to none -- Mary Beth Long, The Hill

Inside story of the first Iran nuclear deal -- Pepe Escobar, Asia Times

Beijing's Hong Kong compromise is surely too little, too late -- Emma Graham-Harrison, The Guardian

Can Beijing and Hanoi overcome their latest South China Sea flashpoint at Vanguard Bank? -- Lye Liang Fook & Ha Hoang Hop, SCMP

Papuan race riots lay bare long-running tensions, fuelling push for independence from Indonesia -- Anne Barker, ABC News Online

Trump-Kim summit: Will two leaders meet for third round of talks? -- Faras Ghani, Al Jazeera

With US Help, Africa’s Coastal Nations Are Learning to Work Together -- Adm. James Foggo III, Defense One

Rebellions, ejections ... but no elections: what next for Brexit? -- Peter Walker, The Guardian

South Africans need to face some harsh truths -- Shaazia Ebrahim, DW

Justin Trudeau seeks to repeat 2015 surge as Canada braces for election -- Leyland Cecco, The Guardian