Zimbabwe's Mugabe believes he's been chosen

Cruel past began in the seventies
Back in 1976, when Mugabe fled Rhodesia to take control of the war for black rule from Mozambique, "a lot of people were arrested and tortured for him to be accepted as a leader, so his cruel past started at that time, and he has always worked like that," Hove said.

When Mugabe's leadership was challenged after independence in 1980 by disgruntled military leaders of rival liberation leader Joshua Nkomo's movement, Mugabe sent his North Korean-trained elite Fifth Brigade on a rampage against Nkomo's minority Ndebele tribe. Some 20,000 people, most innocent civilians, were killed. Thousands starved to death as Mugabe withheld international drought relief from Ndebele civilians.

The international community looked the other way, still pleased that Mugabe had urged reconciliation with the whites who had oppressed his people, allowing former Rhodesian ruler Ian Smith to draw a government parliamentary pension and whites to continue living privileged lifestyles with domestic workers in mansions replete with pools and tennis courts.

But then the white farmers started voting against him, infuriating Mugabe. He again turned brutal after voters rejected a 1999 referendum that would have strengthened his presidential powers and allowed his government to seize white-owned farms without compensation for redistribution to black farmers.

Redistribution brought collapse, oppression
Few could argue with the logic of redistribution when some 5,000 white commercial farmers owned two-thirds of the best arable land in a country of millions of blacks. But Mugabe sent self-styled "war veterans" to violently take over farms that were then given to his Cabinet ministers, military leaders and other elite. Hundreds of thousands of black farm laborers lost their jobs, fertile lands turned fallow and nearly a third of the population fled the economic collapse and political oppression.

In 2005, Mugabe sent bulldozers to shantytowns and street markets where residents had voted overwhelmingly for the opposition.

This year, Mugabe unleashed his military and ruling party hooligans on his people after Zimbabweans rejected him in the first round of presidential elections in March, giving the most votes to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Dozens of opposition supporters have been killed and thousands have been injured.

As the violence intensified, fearing more blood on his hands, Tsvangirai withdraw from the runoff election held Friday.

Mugabe has shrugged off the growing chorus of criticism, which this week belatedly was joined by African leaders condemning him for pursuing his violent re-election.

Holland fears the violence won't end now.

"This is a man who does not forgive ... I think it's about revenge ... He now knows that his own people don't want him."

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