Economic sanctions used as a tool to overthrow a democratically elected government

Sanctions have traditionally been applied since the colonial era to the present against some countries to achieve desired  political and economic outcomes by imperialists. Economic sanctions penalties applied by one country or a group of countries on another country for a variety of reasons.

Economic sanctions largely consist of the imposition of embargoes, trade and financial restrictions and diplomatic isolation. The most notorious economic sanctions should be  the more than fifty-year old United States embargo on Cuba. Sanctions generally entail restrictions on international trade and finance that are imposed for political reasons. Traditionally, sanctions are measures applied in response to a perceived wrong doing by a state, such as an act of aggression against another state or human rights violations from the perspectives of international conventions.

Economic sanctions are the commonest form of sanctions imposed on a nation. They imply a calculated and deliberate government-inspired withdrawal of trade and financial relations including technical cooperation. Sanctions remain a blunt instrument which hurts large numbers. In an effort to refine the effectiveness of sanctions, there has been a shift towards targeted sanctions, which impose travel bans and the freezing of foreign bank accounts of targeted individuals or entities.

There are two types of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe. Firstly, declared sanctions are pronounced sanctions, general and targeted, that are normally legislated by the imposing countries especially the USA and its western allies. Sanctions against Zimbabwe include the notorious Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA), which was signed into law by George Bush Jnr. ZIDERA is a sanctions bill legislated against Zimbabwe illegally, that is outside of the purview of the United Nations. The key provisions of ZIDERA include the denial of access to  lines of credit in order to cripple a sovereign government's economic programs.

Targeted or smart sanctions also fall under this category of declared sanctions; they are meant to be precise, seeking to focus their impact on targeted individuals with a theoretically-minimal negative impact on the general populace. It must be noted that although  sanctions, aimed at Zimbabwe's leadership do exist, they are not as ruinous and depraved as ZIDERA, which is illegal, punitive and country specific. Willfully ignored by the western media that serves as the propaganda arm of the West's foreign policy, ZIDERA is a cynical piece of legislation that has essentially dried up the lines of credit to the Government of Zimbabwe.

Inevitably, the downstream impact has been felt by the ordinary person, who has to contend with devaluation, deteriorating health and educational facilities as well as reduced agricultural productivity through lack of access to financing and agricultural inputs. The overall objective of ZIDERA is to create an enabling environment to nurture social and economic discontent amongst local populace towards the democratically elected government. Undeclared sanctions are not officially recognized but are 'stalking horses' that walk in the shadow of the declared sanctions. A cogent example is the exit of NGOs from Zimbabwe since the enactment of ZIDERA.