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7 -THE CAROLINA TI3 SAT., APRIL 27, 187 A Woclily Digost of ' African Affairs LIBERIA TOLBERT IN TROUBLE ANLeaders of Liberia's political opposi tion have been forced into hiding by a government crackdown following the rioting that broke out over the- April 13 weekend in the capital of Monrovia. At least 29 persons were killed and several hundred were injured in the violence that spread through the Liberian capital after police tried to break up a demonstration against the proposed in crease in the price of rice, one of the country's staple foods. The protesters, some 2,000 strong, picked up a larger following after government forces block ed their march on the Ex ecutive mansion. Large crowds then dispersed through the city, burning selected targets and ran sacking and looting others. The demonstration on Friday was organized by a dissident group known as the Progressive Alliance of Liberia (PAL), whose leader, Gabriel Matthews, is believed by some sources to have been killed or apprehended by the government. Other promi nent opposition figures, including Togba h Nah Tipoteh of the Movement for Justice in Africa (MOJA), Amos Sawyer of SUSUUKU, and Albert Porte, a veteran journ nalist, were also unac counted for a week after the original protest. According to some observers, the government helped to set the stage for the weekend uprising by making an issue of its ban on public demonstrations. PAL was denied clearance for its rally by the Justice Department, and the state-owned radio subse quently issued repeated warnings that any demonstration would be met 'with' 'force. ' (i "" "' Under ' pressure from rice farmers who complain of losing money on their crop, the Agriculture Ministry has proposed raising the price of a. 100 lb. bag of rice from $22 to $35, a 60 increase. With this incentive, agricultural officials argue, rice farm ing can be expanded and the goal of self-sufficiency in the staple crop can be attained. The government, however, has yet to give final approval to the measure. Millions of dollars worth of damage was done to downtown Monrovia during the re cent weekend uprising. Protesters burned and ransacked Lebanese and other foreign-owned businesses including airline offices. Crowds also set fire to businesses owned by the Tolbert family'one of Liberia's wealthiest'and partially destroyed the 'OAU village' being constructed for the African heads of state meeting this summer. By most accounts the weekend violence reflects the growing strength of the political opposition and a mood of profound discontent among most Liberians. Said one stu dent: "It was the result of several years of repressive measures by the Tolbert regime; something had to spark it off, and the pro posed price increase on rice was the thing that did it." Students at the Univer sity of Liberia went on strike following the recent violence and have called for Tolbert's resignation. Rumors ;of a general strike, meanwhile, are widespread in the capital, and troops from neighbor ing Guinea (Conakry) have been flown in to help Tolbert quell the unrest. U.S.-ZIMBABWE ADMINISTRATION 'WOBBLY' ON RHODESIA WASHINGTON AN U.S. officials expect to be confronted with a major congressional effort to recognize Rhodesia's elec tion victors in late May, arid the first skirmish may begin this week. There is a slim chance that conser vatives will attach a rider lifting Rhodesian sanc tions to the State Depart ment's authorization bill, which the House will be considering It is more likely, however, that the maior push to lift sanctions will not occur until after a new Rhodesian government is installed at the end of May, and after President. Carter makes a decision whether he considers the election free and fair. The President's deter mination on the fairness of the Rhodesian elections is certain to be an am biguous process, beset with conflicting reports and perspectives giving ample scope to divergent interpretations. Critics of the internal settlement'the Patriotic Front, indepen dent African states, and others'maintain that there is no way the elections could be fair, given the constitutional provisions which ensure continued white privilege, and given the exclusion of the Patriotic Front itself from the options offered to the electorate. The elaborate security precautions taken by the Rhodesians are also sub ject to quite contradictory interpretations. Often portrayed as measures necessary to prevent guer rillas from interfering with the exercise of democratic rights by willing citizens, the mobilization of vir tually the entire white male population for military duty, in a country already ninety per cent under martial law, is seen on the other side as part of a massive process of in timidation of the African population. Initial reports indicate that heavy voting has been concentrated in the urban areas, on white farms and in "protected villages," where the white military presence is par ticularly strong. Voters turning out in the first two days of the election were officially estimated at some 41 per cent of the total elec torate. Whites, coloureds, Asians and Africans voted from April 17 t$ 21,;butr " whites had also "voted separately for their own representatives on April 10. Since there was no of ficial voter registration of Africans prior to the elec tion, percentage estimates of the turnout, which were expected to exceed fifty ner cent, were reportedly based on rough estimates of the,1 total eligible population, said to number some 2.9 million. The election has also been accompanied by a new escalation of ongoing raids by Rhodesian forces on neighboring African countries. Particularly notable were several raids on refugee and allegedly guerrilla camps in Zam bia, two attacks on the Zambian capital Lusaka, destroying several buildings occupied by Joshua Nkomo's ZAPU officials from Fran-s cistown, Botswana, and destruction of the ferry linking Botswana and Zambia. When President Carter rules on how "free and fair" the Rhodesian elec tions were, therefore, a determination called for by the Case-Javits amend ment Congress passed last year, he will also be stak ing out a position on the widening military con frontation in southern Africa. On the Rhodesian issue, the administration's basic failure can be found in of ficials' early belief that they could play both ends against the middle in Rhodesia, and their cur rent discovery that there is no middle. Recently an administration official closely involved in Rhode sian diplomacy told a private gathering that if some way could be found to increase the viability of the internal settlement, it could be acceptable. He said that basically what was wrong with the inter nal settlement was that it just wouldn't work. More simply put, the ad ministration has now taken the position that if the election ends the war, fine; and if it doesn't, the administration will restate that the war must be end ed. ..: nt 1 1. no n n H i n ii thA ' ' . arguments that the best way of ending the war is to increase the muscle of Rhodesia's new govern ment have gained increas ed acceptability in the Congress. Other foreign policy concerns have also con- 1, -! ' - r"4 PRINCIPALS IN LAST WEEKEND'S LAW DAY activities it North Carolina Central University tadaded (from left) U.S. Attorney H.M. Michaux, Jr.; Michael Morgan of New Bern, president of the NCCU Stadent Bar Association; U.S. Solicitor General Wade McCree; and Harry E. Groves, dean of the NCCU School of Law. McCree's awards banquet address included a discussion of the role of the lawyer in government and society. tributed to administration wobbliness on Rhodesia. Two key fights confron ting the administration are appropriations for the Panama Canal treaties and ratification of SALT U. One political analyst described "a macho strain " at play in the Con gress, a perceived weakness of American will and diminished respect for American authority. Panama and SALT are in fluenced by these con cerns, and so is Rhodesia. But Rhodesia is far less important in the ad ministration's view, so some pro-Africa groups are despairing of the ad ministration's will to stand and fight for a set tlement on the basis of the Anglo-American pro posals. In any case, the Anglo component of the Anglo-American effort appears to be vanishing. Britain's Conservative Party is expected to win next month's elections where, and the party leader, Margaret That cher, is expected to be the new prime minister. Mrs. Thatcher is critical of the Anglo-American pro posals, and her party's platform includes a plank indicating plans to recognize Rhodesia's elec tion victors. Collapse of U.S. will to fight for its Rhodesia policy has implications for relations with independent Africa. One powerful motive for U.S. involve ment with the issues of southern Africa centers on U.S. concern to rebuild its relationships with in dependent Africa because of vital resources and raw materials. Already front line African states, which have been largely suppor tive of Anglo-American efforts in Rhodesia, have been voicing increased suspicions of U.S. motives and fears that the U.S. is backing Rhodesia. If Britain abandons the Anglo-American pro posals, the U.S. will be confronted with a decision as to whether it wants to take the side of indepen dent African nations of that of Rhodesia. And in dependent Africa believes that the only choice left will be more support for the guerrillas, a position which the U.S. has always rejected. Charles Cobb, contributing editor. AN South African Continued from front taking stand apartheid, is Princples, against necessary. "The plan for im plementation of the prin ciples is to have each firm work toward elimination of racial segregation, not only in their plant facilities and with the housing and educational opportunities for their own employes, but also to include the black popula tion outside the work plant as well", Sullivan said. "I am looking forward to the next report in September of Arthur D. Little, at which time we will be far more stringent in determining in which categories the companies shall be placed. This is possible now that criteria have been established for the objective measurement of the progress each com pany is making. The removal of the barriers of the apartheid system is my ultimate objective. I know that American companies cannot do it by themselves, that is why I am especially pleased with the breakthrough an nounced recently that nine South African Companies have joined together to work toward compliance with the Sullivan Prin ciples." "There is no doubt in my mind, however, that this American business in tiative can be a major .fac tor in changing the system and will help stir the cons cience and encourage the hope that the desperately needed changes can come without violent bloody racial warfare." 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The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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April 28, 1979, edition 1
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