Morgan Tsvangirai, Longtime Foe of Mugabe in Zimbabwe, Dies at 65
14, 2018
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Morgan Tsvangirai, a former labor leader
and prime minister of Zimbabwe who once seemed on the cusp of defeating the country’s longtime president, Robert G. Mugabe, only to face bloody intimidation that thwarted his ambitions, died on Wednesday night.
For almost 20 years, Mr. Tsvangirai (pronounced CHAN-gih-ray) headed the Movement for Democratic Change, a party founded in 1999
to capitalize on the growing unpopularity of the autocratic Mr. Mugabe, who led Zimbabwe from its independence in 1980.
Mr. Mugabe frequently inveighed against Britain, the former colonial power,
and depicted his adversaries, including Mr. Tsvangirai, as puppets of the country’s former imperial overlords.
Even as he accused Mr. Mugabe of flouting provisions of the so-called unity government, many critics said Mr. Tsvangirai had been outwitted
and co-opted by the president, his former sworn enemy.
In 2002 and again in 2008, Mr. Tsvangirai stood against Mr. Mugabe in elections marred
by growing levels of violence against opposition supporters by government followers.
Mr. Tsvangirai was initially optimistic about the future of the unity government, despite being denied an
outright victory in the first round of voting, in which he had trounced Mr. Mugabe, his longtime rival.