McCormack, speaking at the department’s daily press briefing, had been asked if the United States had a contingency plan to monitor conditions inside Zimbabwe if the Mugabe government made good on its threats to throw U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe James D. McGee out of the country.
“We have a whole embassy of people who are focused either in whole or in part on issues in this election. We are going to continue to speak out. We are going to continue to be a voice and beacon for freedom,” McCormack said.
He was asked to comment on reports of the recent arrest in Zimbabwe of two Zimbabwean opposition leaders.
“It’s troubling, it’s disturbing and it is part of a continuing pattern on the part of ZANU (PF) to try to intimidate those who would like to speak up with views different than those held by the government,” he responded, calling the move “another example of the intimidation that we have witnessed.”
For that reason, he added, “it is incumbent upon us as well as other members of the international system to apply as much possible pressure and leverage as we possibly can to see that a runoff election is executed in such a way that people can actually vote their conscience — that they can vote for the candidate of their choice — that people are able to do so in an environment free of threat and intimidation and that candidates have an opportunity to use the media, use whatever public media they would like to use, to get out their message — so that people can understand the platform, values and the person for whom they are voting.”
Post published in: News