{"id":9242,"date":"2022-07-02T04:00:32","date_gmt":"2022-07-02T11:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/?p=9242"},"modified":"2022-07-02T09:18:52","modified_gmt":"2022-07-02T16:18:52","slug":"zimbabwe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/zimbabwe\/","title":{"rendered":"Zimbabwe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/h2>\n

Zimbabwe, officially the\u00a0Republic of Zimbabwe, is a\u00a0landlocked country<\/a>\u00a0located in\u00a0Southeast Africa<\/a>, between the\u00a0Zambezi<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Limpopo Rivers<\/a>, bordered by\u00a0South Africa<\/a>\u00a0to the south,\u00a0Botswana<\/a>\u00a0to the south-west,\u00a0Zambia<\/a>\u00a0to the north, and\u00a0Mozambique<\/a>\u00a0to the east. The capital and largest city is\u00a0Harare<\/a>. The second largest city is\u00a0Bulawayo<\/a>. A country of roughly 15 million people,<\/sup>\u00a0Zimbabwe has 16\u00a0official languages<\/a>,<\/sup>\u00a0with English,\u00a0Shona<\/a>, and\u00a0Ndebele<\/a>\u00a0the most common.<\/p>\n

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Views of Harare<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since the 11th century, the region that is now Zimbabwe has been the site of several organized states and kingdoms such as the Rozvi<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Mthwakazi<\/a>\u00a0kingdoms, as well as being a major route for migration and trade. The\u00a0British South Africa Company<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Cecil Rhodes<\/a>\u00a0first\u00a0demarcated<\/a>\u00a0the present territory during 1890 when they conquered\u00a0Mashonaland<\/a>\u00a0and later in 1893\u00a0Matabeleland<\/a>\u00a0after a fierce resistance by Matabele people known as the\u00a0First Matabele War<\/a>.\u00a0Company rule<\/a>\u00a0ended in 1923 with the establishment of\u00a0Southern Rhodesia<\/a>\u00a0as a\u00a0self-governing British colony<\/a>. In 1965, the conservative\u00a0white<\/a>\u00a0minority government<\/a>\u00a0unilaterally declared independence<\/a>\u00a0as\u00a0Rhodesia<\/a>. The state endured international isolation and a 15-year\u00a0guerrilla war<\/a>\u00a0with\u00a0black nationalist<\/a>\u00a0forces; this culminated in a\u00a0peace agreement<\/a>\u00a0that established universal enfranchisement and\u00a0de jure<\/a><\/i>\u00a0sovereignty as Zimbabwe in April 1980. Zimbabwe then joined the\u00a0Commonwealth of Nations<\/a>, from which it was suspended in 2002 for breaches of international law by its then-government under\u00a0Robert Mugabe<\/a>, and from which it withdrew in December 2003. The\u00a0sovereign state<\/a>\u00a0is a member of the\u00a0United Nations<\/a>, the\u00a0Southern African Development Community<\/a>\u00a0(SADC), the\u00a0African Union<\/a>\u00a0(AU), and the\u00a0Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa<\/a> (COMESA). It was once known as the “Jewel of Africa” for its great prosperity.<\/p>\n

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Zimbabwe on the Globe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Robert Mugabe became\u00a0Prime Minister of Zimbabwe<\/a>\u00a0in 1980, when his\u00a0ZANU\u2013PF<\/a>\u00a0party won the\u00a0elections<\/a>\u00a0following the end of white minority rule; he was the\u00a0President of Zimbabwe<\/a>\u00a0from 1987 until his resignation in 2017. Under Mugabe’s\u00a0authoritarian<\/a>\u00a0regime, the state security apparatus dominated the country and was responsible for widespread\u00a0human rights<\/a>\u00a0violations.<\/sup>\u00a0The country has been in economic decline since the 1990s, experiencing several crashes and\u00a0hyperinflation<\/a>\u00a0along the way.<\/p>\n

On 15 November 2017, in the wake of over a year of\u00a0protests<\/a>\u00a0against his government as well as Zimbabwe’s rapidly declining economy,\u00a0Mugabe was placed under house arrest<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0the country’s national army<\/a>\u00a0in a\u00a0coup d’\u00e9tat<\/a>\u00a0and eventually resigned six days later.\u00a0Emmerson Mnangagwa<\/a>\u00a0has since served as Zimbabwe’s president.<\/p>\n

History:<\/h2>\n

Before 1887:<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Archaeological records date human settlement of present-day Zimbabwe to at least 100,000 years ago. The earliest known inhabitants were probably\u00a0San people<\/a>, who left behind arrowheads and cave paintings. The first Bantu-speaking farmers arrived during the\u00a0Bantu expansion<\/a> around 2,000 years ago.<\/sup><\/p>\n

Societies speaking proto-Shona languages first emerged in the middle Limpopo valley in the 9th century before moving on to the Zimbabwean highlands. The Zimbabwean plateau eventually became the centre of subsequent Shona states, beginning around the 10th century. Around the early 10th century, trade developed with\u00a0Arab merchants<\/a>\u00a0on the Indian Ocean coast, helping to develop the\u00a0Kingdom of Mapungubwe<\/a>\u00a0in the 11th century. This was the precursor to the Shona civilisations that would dominate the region during the 13th to 15th centuries, evidenced by ruins at\u00a0Great Zimbabwe<\/a>, near Masvingo, and by other smaller sites. The main archaeological site uses a unique dry stone architecture.<\/p>\n

The Kingdom of Mapungubwe was the first in a series of trading states which had developed in Zimbabwe by the time the first European explorers arrived from Portugal. These states traded gold, ivory, and copper for cloth and glass.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Towers of\u00a0Great Zimbabwe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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From about 1300 until 1600 the <\/span>Kingdom of Zimbabwe<\/a>\u00a0eclipsed Mapungubwe. This Shona state further refined and expanded upon Mapungubwe’s stone architecture, which survives to this day at the ruins of the kingdom’s capital of Great Zimbabwe. From\u00a0<\/span>c.<\/abbr>\u00a01450 to 1760 Zimbabwe gave way to the\u00a0<\/span>Kingdom of Mutapa<\/a>. This Shona state ruled much of the area of present-day Zimbabwe, plus parts of central Mozambique. It is known by many names including the\u00a0<\/span>Mutapa Empire<\/a>, also known as\u00a0<\/span>Mwene Mutapa<\/i>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/span>Monomotapa<\/i>\u00a0as well as “Munhumutapa”, and was renowned for its strategic trade routes with the\u00a0<\/span>Arabs<\/a> and Portugal. The Portuguese sought to monopolise this influence and began a series of wars which left the empire in near collapse in the early 17th century.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

As a direct response to increased European presence in the interior a new Shona state emerged, known as the\u00a0Rozwi Empire<\/a> (1684\u20131834). Relying on centuries of military, political and religious development, the Rozwi (meaning “destroyers”) expelled the Portuguese from the Zimbabwean plateau\u00a0by force of arms. They continued the stone-building traditions of the Zimbabwe and Mapungubwe kingdoms while adding\u00a0muskets<\/a> to their arsenal and recruiting a professional army to defend recent conquests.<\/p>\n

Around 1821 the\u00a0Zulu<\/a>\u00a0general\u00a0Mzilikazi<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Khumalo clan<\/a>\u00a0successfully rebelled against King\u00a0Shaka<\/a>\u00a0and established his own clan, the\u00a0Ndebele<\/a>. The Ndebele fought their way northwards into the\u00a0Transvaal<\/a>, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake and beginning an era of widespread devastation known as the\u00a0Mfecane<\/a>. When\u00a0Dutch<\/a>\u00a0trekboers<\/a>\u00a0converged on the Transvaal in 1836, they drove the tribe even further northward, with the assistance of\u00a0Tswana<\/a>\u00a0Barolong<\/a>\u00a0warriors and\u00a0Griqua<\/a>\u00a0commandos<\/a>. By 1838 the Ndebele had conquered the Rozwi Empire, along with the other smaller Shona states, and reduced them to\u00a0vassaldom<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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A Matabele\u00a0kraal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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After losing their remaining South African lands in 1840, Mzilikazi and his tribe permanently settled in the southwest of present-day Zimbabwe in what became known as Matabeleland, establishing Bulawayo as their capital. Mzilikazi then organized his society into a military system with regimental kraals, similar to those of Shaka, which was stable enough to repel further Boer incursions. Mzilikazi died in 1868; following a violent power struggle, his son <\/span>Lobengula<\/a>\u00a0succeeded him.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span>Colonial era and Rhodesia (1888\u20131964):<\/span><\/h3>\n
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The Union Jack was raised over Fort Salisbury on 13 September 1890<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In the 1880s European colonists arrived with Cecil Rhodes’s\u00a0British South Africa Company<\/a>\u00a0(BSAC, incorporated in 1888, chartered in 1889). In 1888 Rhodes obtained a\u00a0concession for mining rights<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0King Lobengula<\/a> of the Ndebele peoples.\u00a0He presented this concession to persuade the government of the United Kingdom to grant a\u00a0royal charter<\/a>\u00a0to the company over Matabeleland, and its subject states such as\u00a0Mashonaland<\/a> as well.<\/p>\n

Rhodes used this document in 1890 to justify sending the\u00a0Pioneer Column<\/a>, a group of Europeans protected by well-armed\u00a0British South Africa Police<\/a>\u00a0(BSAP) through Matabeleland and into Shona territory to establish Fort Salisbury (present-day\u00a0Harare<\/a>), and thereby establish\u00a0company rule<\/a>\u00a0over the area. In 1893 and 1894, with the help of their new\u00a0Maxim<\/a>\u00a0guns, the BSAP would go on to defeat the Ndebele in the\u00a0First Matabele War<\/a>. Rhodes additionally sought permission to negotiate similar concessions covering all territory between the\u00a0Limpopo River<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Lake Tanganyika<\/a>, then known as “Zambesia”.<\/p>\n

In accordance with the terms of aforementioned concessions and treaties,<\/sup> mass settlement was encouraged, with the British maintaining control over labor as well as over precious metals and other mineral resources.<\/p>\n

In 1895 the BSAC adopted the name\u00a0“Rhodesia”<\/a>\u00a0for the territory, in honour of Rhodes. In 1898 “Southern Rhodesia” became the official name for the region south of the Zambezi,<\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0which later adopted the name “Zimbabwe”. The region to the north, administered separately, was later termed\u00a0Northern Rhodesia<\/a>\u00a0(present-day Zambia). Shortly after Rhodes’ the disastrous Rhodes-sponsored\u00a0Jameson Raid<\/a>\u00a0(December 1895 – January 1896) on the South African Republic, the Ndebele rebelled against white rule, led by their charismatic religious leader, Mlimo. The\u00a0Second Matabele War<\/a>\u00a0of 1896-1897 lasted in Matabeleland until 1896, when a British operation had Mlimo assassinated. Shona agitators staged unsuccessful revolts (known as\u00a0Chimurenga<\/a><\/i>) against company rule during 1896 and 1897.<\/p>\n

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The Battle of the Shangani on 25 October 1893<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Following these failed insurrections, the Rhodes administration subdued the Ndebele and Shona groups and organized the land with a disproportionate bias favoring Europeans, thus displacing many indigenous peoples.<\/p>\n

The United Kingdom annexed Southern Rhodesia on 12 September 1923. Shortly after annexation, on 1 October 1923, the first constitution for the new Colony of Southern Rhodesia came into force.<\/sup><\/p>\n

Under the new constitution, Southern Rhodesia became a\u00a0self-governing<\/a>\u00a0British colony<\/a>, subsequent to a\u00a01922 referendum<\/a>. Rhodesians of all races served on behalf of the United Kingdom during the two\u00a0World Wars<\/a>\u00a0in the early-20th century. Proportional to the white population, Southern Rhodesia contributed more\u00a0per capita<\/i>\u00a0to both the\u00a0First<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Second World Wars<\/a> than any other part of the Empire, including Britain itself.<\/p>\n

The\u00a01930 Land Apportionment Act<\/a>\u00a0restricted black land ownership to certain segments of the country, setting aside large areas solely for the purchase of the white minority. This act, which led to rapidly rising inequality, became the subject of frequent calls for subsequent land reform.<\/p>\n

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1953 stamp with the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In 1953, in the face of African opposition,<\/sup>\u00a0Britain consolidated the two Rhodesias with\u00a0Nyasaland<\/a>\u00a0(Malawi) in the ill-fated\u00a0Central African Federation<\/a>, which Southern Rhodesia essentially dominated. Growing\u00a0African nationalism<\/a>\u00a0and general dissent, particularly in Nyasaland, persuaded Britain to dissolve the Union in 1963, forming three separate divisions. While multiracial democracy was finally introduced to Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, however, Southern Rhodesians of European ancestry continued to enjoy\u00a0minority rule<\/a>.<\/sup><\/p>\n

Following\u00a0Zambian independence<\/a>\u00a0(effective from October 1964),\u00a0Ian Smith<\/a>‘s\u00a0Rhodesian Front<\/a>\u00a0(RF) government in Salisbury dropped the designation “Southern” in 1964 (once\u00a0Northern Rhodesia<\/i>\u00a0had changed its name to\u00a0Zambia<\/i>, having the word\u00a0Southern<\/i>\u00a0before the name\u00a0Rhodesia<\/i>\u00a0became unnecessary and the country simply became known as\u00a0Rhodesia<\/i>\u00a0afterwards). Intent on effectively repudiating the recently adopted British policy of “no independence before majority rule<\/a>“, Smith issued a\u00a0Unilateral Declaration of Independence<\/a>\u00a0(commonly abbreviated to “UDI”) from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965. This marked the first such course taken by a rebel British colony since the\u00a0American declaration<\/a> of 1776, which Smith and others indeed claimed provided a suitable precedent to their own actions.<\/p>\n

<\/span>UDI and civil war (1965\u20131980):<\/span><\/h3>\n
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After the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI), the British government petitioned the United Nations for <\/span>sanctions<\/a> against Rhodesia pending unsuccessful talks with Smith’s administration in 1966 and 1968. In December 1966, the organization complied, imposing the first mandatory trade embargo on an autonomous state.<\/span><\/sup> These sanctions were expanded again in 1968.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The United Kingdom deemed the Rhodesian declaration an act of rebellion, but did not re-establish control by force. A guerrilla war subsequently ensued when Joshua Nkomo’s Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) and Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), supported actively by communist powers and neighboring African nations, initiated guerrilla operations against Rhodesia’s predominantly white government. ZAPU was supported by the Soviet Union<\/a>, the\u00a0Warsaw Pact<\/a>\u00a0and associated nations such as Cuba, and adopted a\u00a0Marxist\u2013Leninist<\/a>\u00a0ideology; ZANU meanwhile aligned itself with\u00a0Maoism<\/a>\u00a0and the bloc headed by the People’s Republic of China. Smith declared Rhodesia a republic in 1970, following the results of a\u00a0referendum<\/a> the previous year, but this went unrecognized internationally. Meanwhile, Rhodesia’s internal conflict intensified, eventually forcing him to open negotiations with the militant communists.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ian Smith\u00a0signing the\u00a0Unilateral Declaration of Independence\u00a0on 11 November 1965 with his cabinet in audience.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In March 1978, Smith reached an accord with three African leaders, led by Bishop Abel Muzorewa, who offered to leave the white population comfortably entrenched in exchange for the establishment of a biracial democracy. As a result of the\u00a0Internal Settlement<\/a>,\u00a0elections<\/a>\u00a0were held in April 1979, concluding with the\u00a0United African National Council<\/a>\u00a0(UANC) carrying a majority of parliamentary seats. On 1 June 1979, Muzorewa, the UANC head, became prime minister and the country’s name was changed to Zimbabwe Rhodesia. The Internal Settlement left control of the\u00a0Rhodesian Security Forces<\/a>, civil service, judiciary, and a third of parliament seats to whites.<\/sup>\u00a0On 12 June, the\u00a0United States Senate<\/a>\u00a0voted to lift economic pressure on the former Rhodesia.<\/p>\n

Following the\u00a0fifth Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting<\/a>\u00a0(CHOGM), held in\u00a0Lusaka<\/a>, Zambia from 1 to 7 August in 1979, the British government invited Muzorewa, Mugabe, and Nkomo to participate in a constitutional conference at\u00a0Lancaster House<\/a>. The purpose of the conference was to discuss and reach an agreement on the terms of an independence constitution, and provide for elections supervised under British authority allowing Zimbabwe Rhodesia to proceed to legal independence.<\/sup><\/p>\n

With Lord Carrington, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom, in the chair, these discussions were mounted from 10 September to 15 December in 1979, producing a total of 47\u00a0plenary sessions<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0On 21 December 1979, delegations from every major interest represented reached the\u00a0Lancaster House Agreement<\/a>, effectively ending the guerrilla war.<\/sup><\/p>\n

On 11 December 1979, the Rhodesian House of Assembly voted 90 to nil to revert to British colonial status (the ‘aye’ votes included Ian Smith himself). The bill then passed the Senate and was assented to by the President. With the arrival of\u00a0Lord Soames<\/a>, the new Governor, just after 2 p.m. on 12 December 1979, Britain formally took control of Zimbabwe Rhodesia as the Colony of Southern Rhodesia, although on 13 December Soames declared that during his mandate the name Rhodesia and Zimbabwe Rhodesia would continue to be used. Britain lifted sanctions on 12 December, and the\u00a0United Nations<\/a> on 16 December, before calling on its member states to do likewise on 21 December. Thus Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Angola and Botswana lifted sanctions on 22\u201323 December; Australia partly pre-empted this, lifting all but trade sanctions on 18 December, and trade sanctions on 21 December.<\/p>\n

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Bishop Abel Muzorewa signs the Lancaster House Agreement seated next to British Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

During the\u00a0elections of February 1980<\/a>, Robert Mugabe and the ZANU party secured a landslide victory.<\/sup>\u00a0Prince Charles<\/a>, as the representative of Britain, formally granted independence to the new nation of Zimbabwe at a ceremony in Harare in April 1980.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Independence era (1980\u2013present):<\/span><\/h3>\n

Zimbabwe’s first president<\/a>\u00a0after its independence was\u00a0Canaan Banana<\/a>\u00a0in what was originally a mainly ceremonial role as Head of State. Robert Mugabe, leader of the ZANU party, was the country’s first Prime Minister and Head of Government.<\/sup><\/p>\n

Opposition to what was perceived as a Shona takeover immediately erupted around Matabeleland. The Matabele unrest led to what has become known as\u00a0Gukurahundi<\/a><\/i>\u00a0(Shona<\/a>:\u00a0“the early rain which washes away the\u00a0chaff<\/a>\u00a0before the spring rains”<\/i>).<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0Fifth Brigade<\/a>, a North Korean-trained elite unit that reported directly to the Zimbabwean Prime Minister,<\/sup> entered Matabeleland and massacred thousands of civilians accused of supporting “dissidents”.<\/sup><\/p>\n

Estimates for the number of deaths during the five-year\u00a0Gukurahundi<\/i>\u00a0campaign ranged from 3,750<\/sup> to 80,000.<\/sup>\u00a0Thousands of others were tortured in military internment camps.<\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0The campaign officially ended in 1987 after Nkomo and Mugabe reached a unity agreement that merged their respective parties, creating the\u00a0Zimbabwe African National Union \u2013 Patriotic Front<\/a> (ZANU\u2013PF).<\/sup><\/p>\n

Elections in March 1990<\/a> resulted in another victory for Mugabe and the ZANU\u2013PF party, which claimed 117 of the 120 contested seats.<\/sup><\/p>\n

During the 1990s, students,\u00a0trade unionists<\/a>, and other workers often demonstrated to express their growing discontent with Mugabe and ZANU\u2013PF party policies. In 1996, civil servants, nurses, and\u00a0junior doctors<\/a> went on strike over salary issues. The general health of the population also began to significantly decline; by 1997 an estimated 25% of the population had been infected by HIV in a pandemic that was affecting most of southern Africa.<\/sup><\/p>\n

Land redistribution re-emerged as the main issue for the\u00a0ZANU\u2013PF<\/a> government around 1997. Despite the existence of a “willing-buyer-willing-seller” land reform program since the 1980s, the minority white Zimbabwean population of around 0.6% continued to hold 70% of the country’s most fertile agricultural land.<\/p>\n

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Trends in Zimbabwe’s\u00a0Multidimensional Poverty Index, 1970\u20132010.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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In 2000, the government pressed ahead with its\u00a0Fast Track Land Reform<\/a> program, a policy involving compulsory land acquisition aimed at redistributing land from the minority white population to the majority black population.<\/sup>\u00a0Confiscations of white farmland, continuous droughts, and a serious drop in external finance and other supports led to a sharp decline in agricultural exports, which were traditionally the country’s leading export-producing sector.<\/sup> Some 58,000 independent black farmers have since experienced limited success in reviving the gutted cash crop sectors through efforts on a smaller scale.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
President Mugabe and the ZANU\u2013PF party leadership found themselves beset by a wide range of international sanctions.\u00a0In 2002, the nation was suspended from the\u00a0<\/span>Commonwealth of Nations<\/a>\u00a0due to the reckless farm seizures and blatant\u00a0<\/span>election tampering<\/a>.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0The following year, Zimbabwean officials voluntarily terminated its Commonwealth membership.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0In 2001, the United States enacted the\u00a0<\/span>Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act<\/a>\u00a0(ZDERA). It came into effect in 2002 and froze credit to the Zimbabwean government. The bill was sponsored by\u00a0<\/span>Bill Frist<\/a>\u00a0and co-sponsored by U.S. senators\u00a0<\/span>Hillary Clinton<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Joe Biden<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Russ Feingold<\/a>, and\u00a0<\/span>Jesse Helms<\/a>. Through ZDERA Section 4C (“Multilateral Financing Restriction”), the Secretary of the Treasury is ordered to direct U.S. Directors at the International Financial Institutions listed in Section 3 “to oppose and vote against– (1) any extension by the respective institution of any loan, credit, or guarantee to the Government of Zimbabwe; or (2) any cancellation or reduction of indebtedness owed by the Government of Zimbabwe to the United States or any international financial institution.”<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

By 2003, the country’s economy had collapsed. It is estimated that up to a quarter of Zimbabwe’s 11 million people had fled the country. Three-quarters of the remaining Zimbabweans were living on less than one U.S. dollar a day.<\/p>\n

Following\u00a0elections in 2005<\/a>, the government initiated “Operation Murambatsvina<\/a>“, an effort to crack down on illegal markets and slums emerging in towns and cities, leaving a substantial section of urban poor homeless.\u00a0The Zimbabwean government has described the operation as an attempt to provide decent housing to the population, although according to critics such as\u00a0Amnesty International<\/a>, authorities have yet to properly substantiate their claims.<\/p>\n

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Map showing the food insecurity in Zimbabwe in June 2008<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

On 29 March 2008, Zimbabwe held a\u00a0presidential election<\/a>\u00a0along with a\u00a0parliamentary election<\/a>. The results of this election were withheld for two weeks, after which it was generally acknowledged that the\u00a0Movement for Democratic Change \u2013 Tsvangirai<\/a> (MDC-T) had achieved a majority of one seat in the lower house of parliament.<\/p>\n

On 10 July 2008, Russia and China vetoed UN sanctions on Zimbabwe pushed by the United Kingdom and the United States.<\/sup> The United States drafted the file, which would have placed an arms embargo on Mugabe’s regime. However, nine of 15 countries on the UN Security Council opposed it, including Vietnam, South Africa and Libya, which argued that Zimbabwe was not a ‘threat to international peace and security.’<\/p>\n

In late 2008, problems in Zimbabwe reached crisis proportions in the areas of living standards, public health (with a major\u00a0cholera outbreak<\/a>\u00a0in December) and various basic affairs.<\/sup>\u00a0During this period, NGOs took over from government as a primary provider of food during this period of food insecurity in Zimbabwe.<\/sup><\/p>\n

In September 2008, a\u00a0power-sharing agreement<\/a> was reached between Tsvangirai and President Mugabe, permitting the former to hold the office of prime minister. Due to ministerial differences between their respective political parties, the agreement was not fully implemented until 13 February 2009. By December 2010, Mugabe was threatening to completely expropriate remaining privately owned companies in Zimbabwe unless “western sanctions” were lifted.<\/p>\n

A 2011 survey by\u00a0Freedom House<\/a> suggested that living conditions had improved since the power-sharing agreement. The United Nations\u00a0Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs<\/a>\u00a0stated in its 2012\u20132013 planning document that the “humanitarian situation has improved in Zimbabwe since 2009, but conditions remain precarious for many people”.<\/sup><\/p>\n

On 17 January 2013, Vice-President\u00a0John Nkomo<\/a>\u00a0died of cancer at St Anne’s Hospital, Harare, at the age of 78.<\/sup>\u00a0A new constitution approved in the\u00a0Zimbabwean constitutional referendum, 2013<\/a>\u00a0curtails presidential powers.<\/p>\n

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Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe attended the Independence Day celebrations in South Sudan in July 2011<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Mugabe was re-elected president in the July 2013\u00a0Zimbabwean general election<\/a>\u00a0which\u00a0The Economist<\/a><\/i>\u00a0described as “rigged.”<\/sup>\u00a0and the\u00a0Daily Telegraph<\/a><\/i>\u00a0as “stolen”.<\/sup> The Movement for Democratic Change alleged massive fraud and tried to seek relief through the courts. In a surprising moment of candor at the ZANU\u2013PF congress in December 2014, President Robert Mugabe accidentally let slip that the opposition had in fact won the contentious 2008 polls by an astounding 73%.<\/sup>\u00a0After winning the election, the Mugabe ZANU\u2013PF government re-instituted\u00a0one party rule<\/a>, <\/sup>doubled the civil service and, according to\u00a0The Economist<\/i>, embarked on “misrule and dazzling corruption”.\u00a0A 2017 study conducted by the\u00a0Institute for Security Studies<\/a> (ISS) concluded that due to the deterioration of government and the economy “the government encourages corruption to make up for its inability to fund its own institutions” with widespread and informal police roadblocks to issue fines to travellers being one manifestation of this.<\/p>\n

In July 2016\u00a0nationwide protests<\/a> took place regarding the economic collapse in the country, and the finance minister admitted “Right now we literally have nothing.”<\/p>\n

In November 2017,\u00a0the army led a coup d’\u00e9tat<\/a>\u00a0following the dismissal of Vice-President\u00a0Emmerson Mnangagwa<\/a>, placing Mugabe under house arrest. The army denied that their actions constituted a\u00a0coup<\/a>.\u00a0On 19 November 2017, ZANU\u2013PF sacked Robert Mugabe as party leader and appointed former Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa in his place.<\/sup>\u00a0On 21 November 2017, Mugabe tendered his resignation prior to impeachment proceedings being completed.<\/sup>\u00a0Although under the\u00a0Constitution of Zimbabwe<\/a>\u00a0Mugabe should be succeeded by Vice-President\u00a0Phelekezela Mphoko<\/a>, a supporter of\u00a0Grace Mugabe<\/a>, ZANU\u2013PF chief whip\u00a0Lovemore Matuke<\/a>\u00a0stated to the\u00a0Reuters<\/a> news agency that Mnangagwa would be appointed as president.<\/p>\n

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Grace Mugabe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On 30 July 2018 Zimbabwe held its\u00a0general elections<\/a>,[98]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0which were won by the ZANU-PF party led by Mnangagwa.<\/sup>\u00a0Nelson Chamisa<\/a>\u00a0who was leading the main opposition party\u00a0MDC Alliance<\/a>\u00a0contested the election results and filed a petition to the Constitution Court of Zimbabwe.<\/sup> The court confirmed Mnangagwa’s victory, making him the newly elected president after Mugabe.<\/sup><\/p>\n

In December 2017 the website Zimbabwe News, calculating the cost of the Mugabe era using various statistics, said that at the time of independence in 1980, the country was growing economically at about five per cent a year, and had done so for quite a long time. If this rate of growth had been maintained for the next 37 years, Zimbabwe would have in 2016 a GDP of US$52 billion. Instead it had a formal sector GDP of only US$14 billion, a cost of US$38 billion in lost growth. The population growth in 1980 was among the highest in Africa at about 3.5 per cent per annum, doubling every 21 years. Had this growth been maintained, the population would have been 31 million. Instead, as of 2018, it is about 13 million. The discrepancies were believed to be partly caused by death from starvation and disease, and partly due to decreased fertility. The life expectancy has halved, and death from politically motivated violence sponsored by government exceeds 200,000 since 1980. The Mugabe government has directly or indirectly caused the deaths of at least three million Zimbabweans in 37 years.<\/sup> According to World Food Programme, over two million people are facing starvation because of the recent droughts the country is going through.<\/p>\n

Geography:<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/div>\n
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The\u00a0Zambezi River\u00a0in the\u00a0Mana Pools National Park.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in southern Africa<\/span>. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the west and southwest, Zambia to the northwest, and Mozambique to the east and northeast. Its northwest corner is roughly 150 meters from Namibia, nearly forming a four-nation\u00a0<\/span>quadripoint<\/a>. Most of the country is elevated, consisting of a central plateau (high veld) stretching from the southwest northwards with altitudes between 1,000 and 1,600 m. The country’s extreme east is mountainous, this area being known as the\u00a0<\/span>Eastern Highlands<\/a>, with\u00a0<\/span>Mount Nyangani<\/a>\u00a0as the highest point at 2,592 m.<\/span><\/sup><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The highlands are known for their natural environment, with tourist destinations such as Nyanga, Troutbeck, Chimanimani, Vumba and Chirinda Forest at Mount Selinda. About 20% of the country consists of low-lying areas, (the low veld) under 900m.\u00a0Victoria Falls<\/a>, one of the world’s biggest and most spectacular waterfalls, is located in the country’s extreme northwest and is part of the\u00a0Zambezi<\/a> river.<\/sup><\/p>\n

Economy:<\/h2>\n

Minerals, gold,<\/sup>\u00a0and agriculture are the main foreign exports of Zimbabwe. Tourism also plays a key role in its economy.<\/sup><\/p>\n

The mining sector remains very lucrative, with some of the world’s largest\u00a0platinum<\/a>\u00a0reserves being mined by\u00a0Anglo American plc<\/a>\u00a0and Impala Platinum.<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0Marange diamond fields<\/a>, discovered in 2006, are considered the biggest diamond find in over a century.<\/sup> They have the potential to improve the fiscal situation of the country considerably, but almost all revenues from the field have disappeared into the pockets of army officers and ZANU\u2013PF politicians.<\/p>\n

In terms of carats produced, the Marange field is one of the largest diamond producing projects in the world,<\/sup>\u00a0estimated to produce 12 million carats in 2014 worth over $350 million.<\/sup> Zimbabwe is the biggest trading partner of South Africa on the continent.<\/p>\n

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A proportional representation of Zimbabwe exports, 2019<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Taxes and tariffs are high for private enterprises, while state enterprises are strongly subsidized. State regulation is costly to companies; starting or closing a business is slow and costly. <\/sup>Government spending was predicted to reach 67% of GDP in 2007.[169]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Tourism was an important industry for the country, but has been failing in recent years. The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force released a report in June 2007, estimating 60% of Zimbabwe’s wildlife has died since 2000 due to poaching and deforestation. The report warns that the loss of life combined with widespread deforestation is potentially disastrous for the tourist industry.<\/sup><\/p>\n

The\u00a0ICT<\/a> sector of Zimbabwe has been growing at a fast pace. A report by the mobile internet browser company, Opera, in June\/July 2011 has ranked Zimbabwe as Africa’s fastest growing market.<\/sup><\/p>\n

Since 1 January 2002, the government of Zimbabwe has had its lines of credit at international financial institutions frozen, through U.S. legislation called the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 (ZDERA). Section 4C instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to direct directors at international financial institutions to veto the extension of loans and credit to the Zimbabwean government.<\/sup>\u00a0According to the United States, these sanctions target only seven specific businesses owned or controlled by government officials and not ordinary citizens.<\/p>\n

Zimbabwe maintained positive economic growth throughout the 1980s (5% GDP growth per year) and 1990s (4.3% GDP growth per year). The economy declined from 2000: 5% decline in 2000, 8% in 2001, 12% in 2002 and 18% in 2003.<\/sup>\u00a0Zimbabwe’s involvement from 1998 to 2002 in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the economy.<\/sup>\u00a0From 1999 to 2009, Zimbabwe saw the lowest ever economic growth with an annual GDP decrease of 6.1%.<\/p>\n

The downward spiral of the economy has been attributed mainly to mismanagement and corruption by the government and the eviction of more than 4,000 white farmers in the controversial land confiscations of 2000. The Zimbabwean government and its supporters attest that it was Western policies to avenge the expulsion of their kin that sabotaged the economy.<\/p>\n

By 2005, the purchasing power of the average Zimbabwean had dropped to the same levels in real terms as 1953.<\/sup>\u00a0In 2005, the government, led by central bank governor\u00a0Gideon Gono<\/a>, started making overtures that white farmers could come back. There were 400 to 500 still left in the country, but much of the land that had been confiscated was no longer productive.<\/sup> By 2016 there were about 300 farms owned by white farmers left out of the original 4,500. The farms left were either too remote or their owners had paid for protection or collaborated with the regime.<\/p>\n

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A market in\u00a0Mbare, Harare<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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In January 2007, the government issued long-term leases to some white farmers.<\/sup> At the same time, however, the government also continued to demand that all remaining white farmers, who were given eviction notices earlier, vacate the land or risk being arrested. Mugabe pointed to foreign governments and alleged “sabotage” as the cause of the fall of the Zimbabwean economy, as well as the country’s 80% formal unemployment rate.<\/p>\n

Inflation rose from an annual rate of 32% in 1998, to an official estimated high of 11,200,000% in August 2008 according to the country’s Central Statistical Office.<\/sup>\u00a0This represented a state of\u00a0hyperinflation<\/a>, and the central bank introduced a new 100 trillion dollar note.<\/p>\n

On 29 January 2009, in an effort to counteract runaway inflation, acting Finance Minister\u00a0Patrick Chinamasa<\/a>\u00a0announced that Zimbabweans will be permitted to use other, more stable currencies to do business, alongside the Zimbabwe dollar.<\/sup>\u00a0In an effort to combat inflation and foster economic growth the Zimbabwean dollar was suspended indefinitely on 12 April 2009.<\/sup>\u00a0In 2016 Zimbabwe allowed trade in the\u00a0United States dollar<\/a>\u00a0and various other currencies such as the\u00a0rand<\/a>\u00a0(South Africa), the\u00a0pula<\/a>\u00a0(Botswana), the\u00a0euro<\/a>, and the Pound Sterling (UK).<\/sup>\u00a0In February 2019, RBZ Governor introduced a new local currency, the\u00a0RTGS Dollar<\/a> in a move to address some of the Zimbabwean economic and financial challenges.<\/p>\n

After the formation of the Unity Government and the adoption of several currencies instead of the Zimbabwe dollar in 2009, the Zimbabwean economy rebounded. GDP grew by 8\u20139% a year between 2009 and 2012.<\/sup> In November 2010, the IMF described the Zimbabwean economy as “completing its second year of buoyant economic growth”.\u00a0By 2014, Zimbabwe had recovered to levels seen in the 1990s<\/sup> but between 2012 and 2016 growth faltered.<\/p>\n

Zimplats<\/a>, the nation’s largest platinum company, has proceeded with US$500 million in expansions, and is also continuing a separate US$2 billion project, despite threats by Mugabe to nationalize the company.<\/sup>\u00a0The pan-African investment bank\u00a0IMARA<\/a> released a favorable report in February 2011 on investment prospects in Zimbabwe, citing an improved revenue base and higher tax receipts.<\/p>\n

In late January 2013, the Zimbabwean finance ministry reported that they had only $217 in their treasury and would apply for donations to finance the coming elections that is estimated to cost US$107 million.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The GDP per capita (current), compared to neighboring countries (world average = 100).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

As of October 2014,\u00a0Metallon Corporation<\/a>\u00a0was Zimbabwe’s largest gold miner.<\/sup>\u00a0The group is looking to increase its production to 500,000\u00a0troy ounces<\/a>\u00a0per annum by 2019.<\/sup><\/p>\n

Inflation in Zimbabwe was 42% in 2018. In June 2019, the inflation rate reached 175%, leading to mass unrest across the country and in Harare.<\/p>\n

Transportation:<\/h2>\n

The\u00a0government of Zimbabwe<\/a>\u00a0is the main provider of air, rail and road services; historically, there has been little participation of private investors in transport infrastructure.<\/sup><\/p>\n

The railway operator is\u00a0National Railways of Zimbabwe<\/a>. There are a total of 3,427 km of track with connections to South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, and Mozambique.<\/p>\n

There are 88,100\u00a0km of classified roads in\u00a0Zimbabwe<\/a>\u00a0and 17,400\u00a0km of them are paved.<\/p>\n

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Road Map of Zimbabwe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are 196 airports in Zimbabwe of which 17 have paved runways.\u00a0 The airports in Harare<\/a>, Bulawayo<\/a>, and Victoria Falls<\/a> receive international flights, including direct flights from Europe and the Middle East to Harare.<\/p>\n

Flag of Zimbabwe:<\/h2>\n

The national\u00a0flag of\u00a0Zimbabwe<\/a> consists of seven even horizontal stripes of green, gold, red and black with a white triangle containing a red 5-pointed star with a\u00a0Zimbabwe Bird<\/a>. The present design was adopted on 18 April 1980. The\u00a0soapstone bird<\/a>\u00a0featured on the flag represents a\u00a0statuette<\/a>\u00a0of a bird found at the ruins of\u00a0Great Zimbabwe<\/a>. The bird symbolizes the history of Zimbabwe; the red star beneath it officially stands for the nation’s aspirations but is commonly thought to symbolize socialism, and the revolutionary struggle for freedom and peace. The design is based on the flag of Zimbabwe’s ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union \u2013 Patriotic Front<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Flag of Zimbabwe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The country now known as Zimbabwe was formally known as\u00a0Southern Rhodesia<\/a>\u00a0from 1895 to 1980 \u2014 although simply\u00a0Rhodesia<\/a>\u00a0was used locally between 1964 until June 1979 after\u00a0Northern Rhodesia<\/a>\u00a0obtained its independence \u2014 and then\u00a0Zimbabwe Rhodesia<\/a>\u00a0between June and December 1979. Southern Rhodesia achieved\u00a0responsible government<\/a>\u00a0in 1923, and thereby became a British\u00a0self-governing colony<\/a>\u00a0following three decades of\u00a0rule<\/a>\u00a0by the\u00a0British South Africa Company<\/a>. Following the granting of responsible government a flag was adopted which followed the standard British colonial practice, being a\u00a0Blue Ensign<\/a>,\u00a0defaced<\/a>\u00a0with the shield from the\u00a0Southern Rhodesian coat of arms<\/a>. This basic design was used until 1968, although a light blue ensign was introduced in April 1964 following the break-up of the\u00a0Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland<\/a>. On 11 November 1968, three years after the predominantly white government\u00a0unilaterally declared independence<\/a>\u00a0from Britain, a national flag based on a completely new design was adopted. This was a green-white-green vertical\u00a0triband<\/a>,\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0centrally with the\u00a0national coat of arms<\/a>. This was the first national flag to contain the\u00a0Zimbabwe Bird<\/a>, which had been present in the coat of arms since 1924.<\/p>\n

In 1979, when the country reconstituted itself as Zimbabwe Rhodesia following the\u00a0Internal Settlement<\/a>\u00a0between the government and moderate black nationalists, a new flag was adopted to mark the transition on 4 September of that year.<\/sup>\u00a0The flag of Zimbabwe Rhodesia was designed by Flight Lieutenant Cedric Herbert of the\u00a0Rhodesian Air Force<\/a> and a member of the Rhodesian Heraldry and Genealogy Society.<\/p>\n

The design incorporated the\u00a0pan-African<\/a> colors of yellow, black, green and red, with the\u00a0soapstone bird<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Great Zimbabwe<\/a>, representing an older, pre-colonial source of power and identity in yellow on a vertical black stripe, symbolizing the importance of majority rule, and three horizontal stripes, one red representing the blood spilled in the struggle for majority rule, one white, representing the integral part of the European community and other minorities in all aspects of the country’s life, and one green, reflecting the importance of agriculture to the country’s well-being, but the new design had little support from black politicians, who described it as “the flag with two names”, a reference to “Zimbabwe Rhodesia”.<\/p>\n

In response, the Voice of Zimbabwe radio service operated by Robert Mugabe’s\u00a0ZANU PF<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0Maputo<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Mozambique<\/a>, carried a commentary entitled “The proof of independence is not flags or names”, dismissing the changes as aimed at “strengthening the racist puppet alliance’s position at the\u00a0Zimbabwe conference<\/a> in London”.<\/p>\n

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Zimbabwe Birds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This flag was officially superseded in December 1979 when the UK took interim control of the country following the\u00a0Lancaster House Agreement<\/a>\u00a0which ended the\u00a0Rhodesian Bush War<\/a>. The UK’s\u00a0Union Jack<\/a>\u00a0was used as the official flag of the country, although\u00a0de facto<\/i>\u00a0the Zimbabwe Rhodesia flag continued to be flown, while fresh\u00a0elections<\/a>\u00a0were held in February 1980. At midnight between 17 and 18 April 1980, the country was granted independence by the UK under the name Zimbabwe and a new national flag was adopted,<\/sup><\/sup><\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0the draft for which had been handed to the Minister of Public Works Richard Hove by an unspecified designer. The initial design did not include the Zimbabwe Bird. This was added at the suggestion of Cederic Herbert, who pointed out its uniqueness and history. The final draft went through the approval of the then-Prime Minister<\/a>-elect\u00a0Robert Mugabe<\/a>. The adoption of the new flag coincided with the swearing-in of\u00a0Canaan Banana<\/a>\u00a0as the country’s new president.<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0Zimbabwe Bird<\/a>, used on every flag since 1968, is based on a statue discovered from the ancient ruined city of\u00a0Great Zimbabwe<\/a>\u00a0in the country’s south-east.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The national flag of Zimbabwe consists of seven even horizontal stripes of green, gold, red and black with a white triangle containing a red 5-pointed star with a Zimbabwe Bird. The present design was adopted on 18 April 1980. The soapstone bird featured on the flag represents a statuette of a bird found at the ruins of Great Zimbabwe. The bird symbolizes the history of Zimbabwe; the red star beneath it officially stands for the nation’s aspirations but is commonly thought to symbolize socialism, and the revolutionary struggle for freedom and peace. The design is based on the flag of Zimbabwe’s ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union \u2013 Patriotic Front.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9727,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[19,8,59,5,6,7,18,60],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9242"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9242"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9728,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9242\/revisions\/9728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}