“The international community has condemned the Mugabe regime’s ruthless campaign of politically-motivated violence and intimidation with a strong and unified voice that makes clear that yesterday’s election was in no way free and fair,” Bush said.

“Given the Mugabe regime’s blatant disregard for the Zimbabwean people’s democratic will and human rights, I am instructing the Secretaries of State and Treasury to develop sanctions against this illegitimate government of Zimbabwe and those who support it,” Bush stated, adding that the U.S. will “press for strong action by the United Nations, including an arms embargo on Zimbabwe and [a] travel ban on regime officials.”

Bush also declared that the U.S. “stands ready to support a legitimate government through a robust package of development assistance, debt relief, and normalization with international financial institutions.”