From Harare to Bulawayo

Over at The Economist's Africa-related blog, Baobob, correspondent "D.G." travels in Zimbabwe, going by vehicle from the country's capital, Harare, to Bulawayo, a trip that in good times once took about three hours but that can now take twice as long due to deteriorating road conditions and the ubiquitous reality of cops with outstretched hands at regular roadblocks. The travelogue serves the purpose of allowing a capsule look at the deteriorated state of Zimbabwe today by hitting all of the expected marks — the omnipresence of the Central Intelligence Office (CIO) thugs, land reform gone awry, rotted infrastructure, political violence that created ethnic resentments, and so forth.

There is certainly a case to be made that Zimbabwe has improved in the last couple of years, but Robert Mugabe still runs a state that largely functions based on his own whims. If violence ebbs today it is because for the time being Mugabe does not need to use violence. When he needs it, his minions official (CIO, police, military) and otherwise (the so-called war veterans, many of them born after hostilities ceased) will be there to destabilize and keep him in place.