On September 12, 2002, Barron hosted an event at New York City Hall honoring Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, whom Barron praised as the liberator of black Africans in then-Rhodesia. In 2008, he again voiced support for Mugabe, who had allegedly committed crimes and atrocities in Zimbabwe. Specifically, Barron said, "In the year 2000, when he said one farm, one farmer, he was vilified", arguing that Mugabe was popular internationally only while his government "didn't take the land from the whites". He added that in South Africa, whites "still own 80 to 90 percent of the land," which is why international powers support South African leaders such Nelson Mandela. Barron stated he had seen no evidence which tied the Mugabe government to any attacks on supporters of the Zimbabwe opposition.