After the Unilateral Declaration of Independence of Rhodesia in November 1965, the United States recalled its Consul General from Salisbury (now Harare), closed the U.S. Information Service (USIS) library, and withdrew its U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and trade promotion officials.

[1] After 1965, the small remaining American consular staff continued to operate under authority of exequaturs issued by Queen Elizabeth II.

[3] In 1971, despite Administration opposition, the U.S. Congress passed the Byrd Amendment, which permitted the United States to import strategic materials, such as chrome, from Rhodesia.

The legislation, which took effect on January 1, 1972, was of little real economic benefit to the Rhodesian economy, and the United States continued to support the balance of the sanctions program.

The Anglo-American proposals of late-1977, aimed at bringing a negotiated end to the dispute, lent the weight of the United States to the search for a peaceful settlement and were a counterpart to the Soviet-Cuban use of military power to increase their influence in southern Africa.

[5] The United States supported British efforts to bring about and implement the settlement signed at Lancaster House on December 21, 1979, and extended official diplomatic recognition to the new government immediately after independence as the Republic of Zimbabwe.

CDC's program consists of prevention of HIV transmission, improved care for persons with HIV/AIDS, surveillance, monitoring and evaluation of the epidemic, and health-sector infrastructure support.

Since 2000, the United States has taken a leading role in condemning the Zimbabwean Government's alleged assault on human rights and rule of law.

In 2002 and 2003, the United States imposed targeted measures on the Government of Zimbabwe, including financial and visa sanctions against selected individuals, a ban on transfers of defence items and services, and a suspension of non-humanitarian government-to-government assistance.

[12] In early-March 2009, Obama proclaimed that US sanctions would be protracted provisionally for another year, because Zimbabwe's political crisis is as yet unresolved.