2000s in Zimbabwe from staying on campus. Student leaders believe this was part of the administration's plan to take revenge on them for their demonstrations over deteriorating standards. 2000s in Zimbabwe Zimbabwe began experiencing a period of considerable political and economic upheaval in 1999. Opposition to President Mugabe and the ZANU-PF government grew considerably after the mid-1990s in part due to worsening economic and human rights conditions. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was established in September 1999 as an opposition party founded by trade unionist Morgan Tsvangirai. The MDC's first opportunity to test opposition to the Mugabe government came in February 2000,
Robert Mugabe Zimbabwe's economic problems. British prime minister Tony Blair had an antagonistic relationship with Mugabe and allegedly planned regime change in Zimbabwe in the early 2000s as pressure intensified for Mugabe to step down. British General Charles Guthrie, the Chief of the Defence Staff, revealed in 2007 that he and Blair had discussed the invasion of Zimbabwe. However, Guthrie advised against military action: "Hold hard, you'll make it worse." In 2013, South African President Thabo Mbeki said that Blair had also pressured South Africa to join in a "regime change scheme, even to the point of using military force" in Zimbabwe.