United States–Zimbabwe relations are bilateral relations between Zimbabwe and the United States. Both countries share a common history and language as former British colonies. History of relations U.S. relations with Rhodesia 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. After 1965, the small remaining American consular staff continued to operate under authority of exequaturs issued by Queen Elizabeth II. Following Rhodesia's declaration of a republic, the United States closed its Consulate General on March 17, 1970. In 1971, despite Administration opposition, the U.S. Congress passed legislation permitting 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. After the legislation was repealed in March 1977, the United States once again enforced all sanctions. The United States supported the United Nations and the United Kingdom consistently in their efforts to influence Rhodesian authorities to accept the principles of majority rule. Beginning in 1976, the United States began to take a more active role in the search for a settlement in cooperation with the UK. 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. U.S. relations with Zimbabwe 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. A resident Embassy was established in Salisbury on Zimbabwean Independence Day, April 18, 1980. The first U.S. Ambassador arrived and presented his credentials in June 1980. US President Jimmy Carter met with Zimbabwean Prime Minister Robert Mugabe in August 1980. Author Geoff Hill criticized Carter for keeping "quiet as Mugabe's ZANU government nationalised the press, committed genocide against minority tribes and subverted [Zimbabwe's] constitution to make himself the sole source of authority." At the Zimbabwe conference on reconstruction and development (ZIMCORD)