Mugabe’s government is out to intimidate opposition and has now banned all rallies indefinitely supposedly out of concern for Tsvangirai’s safety. The government has now also banned food aid distribution in the country which prompted immediate criticism from the international community. The US Ambassador to Zimbabwe accused Mugabe’s regime of using food as a weapon, and this UN official was upset as well. Zimbabwean officials dismissed the criticism, and this minister says his country has good reason to ban the distribution of food aid. One NGO official whose organization is affected by the ban says the ban will have huge effects. Those food shortages have been going on for a long time in Zimbabwe but the current tension has made it worse.