"Early in my tenure as secretary of state, when I gave a speech in South Africa, I called for reform in president Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe.
And unfortunately, the situation has just continued to deteriorate," Powell told the public television network PBS.
"And so we believe that change is appropriate there, too, to help the people of Zimbabwe. And I'm sure this will be a subject of considerable discussion during the president's trip next week," Powell added.
US President George W Bush called for the international community to press for democracy in Zimbabwe in a speech Thursday.
Powell last week also urged South Africa and other African nations to take more urgent action to resolve the political crisis.
The US joined many European countries, the Commonwealth, Zimbabwe's main opposition party and independent Zimbabwe election observers in refusing to recognise Mugabe's victory in the 2002 polls, which were marred by widespread voter intimidation and irregularities.
Bush travels July 7-12 to Botswana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. - Sapa-AFP.
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