Mugabe ocupou a fazenda que fora de Ian Smith

The farm of former white minority leader Ian Smith has been seized by Zimbabwe's government. Mr Smith led Rhodesia, as Zimbabwe was known, when its forces battled Robert Mugabe's guerrillas in the 1970s. Most white-owned land has been confiscated for redistribution to black farmers since 2000. Mr Smith's farm, known as Gwenoro, had been left alone. The seizure came as Mr Mugabe addressed thousands of his supporters, ahead of elections expected in 2013. Zimbabwe's land-reform programme has been widely blamed for its economic collapse in recent years. BBC Africa correspondent Andrew Harding says Gwenoro was perhaps the most symbolic of all Zimbabwe's white-owned farms. It was where Mr Smith bred cattle and lived for most of his adult life, even after he lost power in 1979. His ashes were scattered there after he died in 2007. The farm has been handed over to a local technical college - a move some are linking to next year's election. BBC