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Nationallssues_Divide
.Commonwealth
~embers
by
Clarence Bass
KINGSTON, Jamaica: Tbe
sensitive, potentially explosive
issues of world commodities
control and race relations dom–
inated
Ibis
year's Commonwealth
Conference held here from April
29 to May 6.
With 33 Commonwealth
heads of govemment in atten–
dance, representing all sbades
of races and nationalitics, pro–
posed solutions ran from the
conservativo to the radiéal.
Jamaican Prime Minister Mi·
chael Manley opened the con–
ference by calling on world
leaders to eliminate the uwide
disparities in wealtb now exisl·
ing belween dilrerent sectio.ns of
manlúnd which are too great to
be
tolerat~d."
Prime Mirúster Harold Wil–
son presénted
his
govemm7n1's
proposal that "the wealth of the
world must be redistributed
in
fa~o~or
of t!Íe poverty-stricken
and the starving." This could be
done, be
said,_
through a."general
agreement on commodilieS."
- Scrap tbe World Bank?
"Freedom Figbters"
Be.ing
Traincd
President Nyerere said he
boped negotiations would be
sucoessful, but tbat if tbey were
not, "we.will fight in Rhod<:sia
and Namibia [Soutbwest Af–
rica]." He further stated lhat
just in case negotiations should
fail. "we are now training the
freedom fighters."
Not aU parúcipants in .rhe
LEE KUAN YEW: ••. : .
every
issue raised
by
each participant
is of' svpreme lmportance to
himself and his particular
country...
Promoting a more radical
SO.
lution, Prime Minister Forbe$
Bumham of
G~yana
su_ggested
the wholesale dismantling of
the General Agreement
00
conferenee thought that south–
Trade and Tariffs (GA11), the ero Afrjca deserved
~o
much at–
lnternational Monetary Fund tention_ lt remained for Lee
(IMF), and the World Bank and Kuan Yew, Prime Minister of
their reconstruction along Iines Singapore, to
try -
futilely - to
more favorable to the poor na- inject a broader perspectivo inlo
úons- Bumham, wbo favors the the c9nferenee, noting that
organizing of producer associa- "every issue raised by each par–
tions or resouree cartels, said úcipant is of supreme impor–
the developing nations should lance to himself and bis
follow tbe lead of the major oil- particular country." He told bis
producing nations.
.
fellow delegates that "tb.e world
The Kingston Conference begins with home, but it cannot
also confronted the sensitive is, end with your own bailiwick.
sue of Southem Africa. Presi· There is a
world
priority of is–
dents Nyerere of Tan2.ania and sues." Number one, he said, was
Kaunda ofZambia took consid- the Middle East conJiict, for it
erable time in their press con·
~tries
the dangers of ft!10iher
ferences to emphasize their otl embargo.. Second tS the
intention to take up arms
if .
problem
~f ~djustments
to the
Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian sudden shift
ID
wealth to tbe otl
Smith did not agree to negoúate . produeers, _most of w_hom can–
a majority rule settlement with not use thetr vast earmngs.
Rhodesia's Black African Na-
Lee's counterpam, however,
úonal ,Council. They indicated c.learly
di~ ~~~
agree with his
that guerrilla warfare in South- hst of
~nonlles.
In
the ñnal
em Africa would have to be es· communtqué the M1ddle East
calated if peaceful solutions cO!'flict
w~ ~e'.'tioned~in
only
failed. Prestdent Kaunda
as-
ten typewnuen lines.
serted tbat "Zimbabwe.[the-Af–
rican name for Rhodesia] milst
simply be bom now, if not natu–
rally, then by a Caesarean op·
eration with all its con–
sequences." He later added:
"Wc havc said that if the nego–
tiations fail we will intensify the
armed struggle. And it will be a
long struggle."
4
Bass
also
sent
in this fol/ow–
up reporf:
Commonweal tb Heads
Cbeer
Sóutb Vietnllm's "Liberation"
Nations, like children, like tÓ
side with a popillar new "kid on
lhe block." On the day tbat Sai–
gon surrendered to the commu-
nis ts, Mrs. lndira Gandhi,
Prime Mittister of India, was
addressing the Commonwealth
beads of govemmeht meeting in
Kingston, Jamaica. A Common–
wealth souree said thal Mrs.
Gandhi looked around the table
at ber fellow heads of govern–
ment and said,
"1
think we
would like to send our greetings
lo the Provisional Revolution–
ary Govemment."
Prime ministers and govem–
ments, all Third World, lost no
time in foUowing Mrs. Gandhi's
lead. hñmediately the govem–
ment of Jamaica "conveyed its
f r aternal greetings 10 the
People's Revolutionary Gov–
ernment of
Vietnam."
Shei.k
Mujibur Rabmart, Presiden! of
Bangladesh; said, "1 congratu–
late the heroic Vietnamese
p~ople
19 whom over the last
- few decades, no sacriflce has
been too great in their beroic
endeavor to liberate their moth–
erland."
ln the afiernoon, President ·
Julius Nyerere ofTanzania held
a press conference at wltich he
extoUed the communist victory.
''Those people in lndochina are
absolutely incredible," he said.
''Tiiere
is
no example of lhat
kind of fighting, that kind of
courage, tJ;tat kind of endurance
in
th~
whole of
pistory."
Zambian Presiden! Kenneth
Kaunda said in a press oonfer–
enee on May 1, "Well, the
South Vietl)am· developmeóts
are very, very good in"deed!'
One searched in vain for any
sign of condolences beiilg sent
to the people of the United
States,. whose tbvernment had
suffered a humiliaúng defeat of
its Southeast Asían policy.
Australian Prime Minister
Gough Wbitlam, fresh' from the
Commonwealth talks, said in
Washington, "The truth
is
tbat
tbe United States did not lose
Vietnam any more !han she has
lost China. Wbat was defeated
was not the United States and
h~r
allies, but a policy of forejgn
intervention
whicb
was bound
to fail." His was perbaps· the
kindest remarkof aU.
· Everyone of the Third World
members of the Commonwealth
has benefited from aid and/or
aSsistance given by the gavem–
ment and people of !he United
States, but n,ot one voicc. not
one press release could be
found saying, "We are con–
eemed about the outcome of
the war upon the American
p.eople." lnstead, ·the atútude
was more like that of Jerusa–
lem's enemies described by the
p~ophet
Jeremiah: "Al! your
enemies deride you. They biss
and grind Cbeir teeth and ·say,
'We b.ave destroyed her at last!
Long· have we waited for this
hour
an~
it is ñnally here!" (La–
mentations 2:
16;
The Living
Bible.)
o
Warlllllllillah
by
Gene H. Hogberg
"Peace Forces"on the March
"Al/e auf die Strasse. Rot
is
der Mai. Al/e .auf die Strasse.
Saigon ist Jrei.
-
" lnto the streets. May {day) is Re4. loto the
streets. Saigon ls free."
.
•Tiiis liule diuy, celebrating both this year's "May Oay" and
the nearly simultaneous ·Viet Cong vic.tory in Saigon, was pub–
li.Shed in the East Getrn'\0 Communist Party daily,
Neues Deutsch-
•
/anrl,
which I picked up al a news kiosk in Prague, Czechoslovakia.
Ostensibly, according 10"the editors of the newspapcr (which
publ ishes only communist good news and capitalist bad news) tbe
verse was wriuen by the "Youth Oktober Club" of East Berlín in
honor of the victory of tbe "People's Liberatlon Forces" of South
Vietnam.
Throughout my recent tour of Eastern Europe
ip
early May, it
was obvious that the communist press everywhere was dutifully
ecstatic over evénts in Southeast Asia. Day aner day giant head–
lines -
q~ite
often in appropriate- red color - proclaimed such
tributes as "Out Flaming Salute to the Victors in Vietnam!" or
''The Last Bastions Fall - All ofVietnam Ha$ Been Liberated!" ·
America, on tbe other hand, took a journalistic beating. An·
otber communist newsf?aper, .this time an English-language one,
lleraldi!d: "The Americans bave gone, scurrying in ignominious
defeat before the liberation forces whose ·courage,
detemiiii~tion
ao¡! self-sacriJicing devotion to their cause
will
be talked abou1 for
the rest of time as an example of the true greatness of ordinary
human beings!..
.
··
' E_:ents, indeed, seem to be going"K4oscow's way
in
thÓ .:.orld;'
much to the dismay of Washington and its NA
:ro
allies - who,
incidentally have just concluded an inconclusive Atlantic.summit.
No repairs were made to NATO's crackings uperstructure. The
momentum, as ifoften said in sports, se-em$10 be on the other.side.
Last year, wltile
tra~eling
ih
parts of the Soviet Union, 1
chaneed to piclc up an interesting little p3111phlet entitled:
For a
Jusi Democratic
Pea~e,jor
tire Security ofNations and'lnternational
Co-operatíon.
lt
was actually the text of a
~peech
delivered by
Leonid Brezhnev 10 the "World Congress nf Peace Forces" (mean–
ing those communist parties and movements of the world support-
ive ofMoscow rather than Peking).
_
Using lhe words "peaée," "peaeeful," "peaceable" and "peace–
loving" 155 times. the
~oviet
General Secretary said tbat as he
lookl'd
~pon
the world scene he
was
molivated by a pbilosophy of
"llistorical optimism." He told
his
audience, "All 'of us, dear
friends, !ove peace, want a Jasting peace and work to ensure
peace . ..
.·•
But something was stiU wrong in the world, according to Mr.
Brcz.hnev: "Wc must not forget thal wars stiU Jceep breaking out,
people are súU being killed, and cities, faetones, viUages and
objects of cultural value are being destroyed in various parts of 1he
world ... . Past experienee shows tbat, as a ruJe, in modem condi–
tions these break out wherever and whenever the forces of impe–
rialism and
r~action
attempt to·put down the liberaúon movement,
or to obstruct the free and independent dev.elopment of stales that
· have opted for
progr~ive
interna! developmeill and the anú–
imperialist Jine
in
foreign policy."
In
other words, if the "non·socialist" nations would only stop
resisúng lheir own "liberation," there. wou!d be peace- c;ommunist
style. ·
"For millions of people ofour planet peace has·yetto come,"
said the Soviet leader.. "Arms in han.d tbey are foreed to ligbt
against imperialist aggressors and their accomplices .... They are
foreed to
figbt'fo~
their freedom and·independence."
1 doubt if any ciúzens of the Westem democratic world would
agree with Mr. Brezbnev's interptetation of such words as "peace,"
"freedom," and "independence." But the "peace fighters" assem-.
bled before Mr..Brezhnev in the Krernlin Palace of Congresses that
night ofOctober 26,
1973
were undoubtedly given renewed encour–
agementto "liberate" add!tional chunks of tlie earth's real estate.
WEEK ENDINO JUNE 21. 197S