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E u rope wi ll no t be sudde nly
tra ns formed into o ne big democratic
confed era tion when Europeans go
to the po lls in 1978, but the process
towa rd tha t goa l will a t last bave
been set in mo ti on. The vision of an
eventua l United States of Euro pe
will become a lillle les v isiona ry
and a littl e more of a rea lity .
SOVIET NAVAL PUSH
INTOTHE PACIFIC
Exce pt fo r such immediate neigh–
bors as Fiji and
S~moa,
few people
pay much a ttenti on to the Kingdom
o l· Tonga. a gro up o f 150 1s la nds
m idway between Hawaii and New
Zea la nd in the South Pacific. But
the e s trategically placed " friendly
isles" may soon be the scene o f a
maj o r Russian naval push into the
Pacific Ocea n.
The current government of King
Taufa'aha u Tupo u IV is seeking for–
ei gn in ves tm e nt so hi s o v e r–
po pula ted and underindus trialized
co untry can brea k out of its banana
and copra economy. The Soviet
Unio n is in a pos itio n to give To nga
the fore ig n inves tment it needs. The
Kremlin has o ffe red to build an in–
terna ti o na l airport in Tonga, a move
which wou ld not only put ma ny job–
less lo work. but a lso bring in a hos t o f
Russ ia n technic ia ns a nd ad visers. In
addition, th e Russian ambas ador to
ew Zea land recently pa id a visit to
King Tupo u to d iscuss the poss ibdity
o f a j o int Russ ia-Tonga fi sh ingen ter–
prise. The Sovie ts a re known to be
pressing T upo u for pe rmissio n toes–
tabli !> h a fis hing base a t Nukua lo fa .
th e isla nd 's capita l.
These rece nt Soviet diploma ti c ef–
forts have provoked fears, especially
in New Zealand, tha t gra nt ing the
U.S.S.R. a fi shing base m ight lead to
occas io na l ··courtesy ca lls" by sh ip
o f Russia's Pacific fl ee t a nd even–
tua lly to th e establ ishmen t of a fu ll–
ft edged Soviet nava l base in T o nga.
Another "Russian Lake"?
Th e Sovie t Unio n al ready exerts tre–
mendo us power in the Pacific. The re
are 750 sh ips o f a l! sizes in he r fa r
eas te rn fl ee t (more ships than the
United Sta tes has a ltogether) based
a t the ice-free po rt o f Vladivos tok.
The
PLAIN TRUTH September 1976
On to p of this. the U.S.S.R. ma in–
tains a s iza ble fi hing ft ee t.
This powe r has no t gone unno–
ticed. AU maj or powers in the region
- J apan, China . Aus tralia . and ew
Zeala nd e pecia lly - are very wor–
ri ed. Th e C hine e Communi s t s
regula rly cxcori a te th e Russians fo r
"s tirring up tro uble" in the Pacific.
Th e Peo pl e's Republic has exho rted
the majo r capita list powers - the
United Sta tes. Aus tralia, a nd New
Zealand - to build up the ir naval
de fe nses in the region Lo counte r th e
growing Sovi e t presence.
Since new gove rnments were in–
'talled in bo th New Zea la nd and
Australia in th e pas t year, those coun–
tri es have. in turn , been ma king con–
s tan! appea ls fo r the Uni ted Sta tes to
keep a hig h pro fil e in the Paciiic and
Indian oceans. a nd , reversing the
s ta nd of prev io us La bo ur govern–
me nts. have a l o ca lled upo n the U.S.
to s trengthen and develo p its naval
base a t Di ego Garcia.
ln We lling to n. N ew Zea land ,
Prime Minis te r Roben Muldoon
s ta tes his views ve ry directly:
" l
do n ' t say, 'Ya nk go home.'
l
say ,
'We lcome !'"
Aus tralian Prime Minis te r Ma l–
co lm Frase r makes no secr et of the
fact tha t he too is wo rried over the
g rowing Sovie t Pacific powe r. He re–
cen tly presented fi gures to the Aus–
tra lia n pa rliamen t showing that th e
Sovie t fl eet
i~
much mo re active in
the Pacific t han the U.S. ft eet.
l f the Sovie ts succeed in ga ining
the ir base in To nga, it is cen a in tha t
the ir fl ee t will become even more
acti ve . lt could even be the first s tep
toward try ing to turn the So uth
Pac ifi c into a nothe r " Russ ian
lake.··
- - - ·----------
THE $150-BILLION
DEFAULT
During I ndia\ crop fa ilures o f the
mid-1 960s. thc United Sta tcs ex–
tended gcnerou cred it te rms to the
New De lhi gove rnmen t with which
to buy more than 60 mill ion tons of
Ame rican g ra in. o t only was the
interes t rate cxtremely low - les
th an 3 pe rce nt over fon y yea rs -
but the te rms of rcpayment were
equa lly gene rous. Indi a could pay
back the debt in "soft." no nconver–
tible rupees instead o f dolla rs or
go ld .
The pileup o f U.S.-he ld rupees
c\·entua lly amo untcd to more tha n
une fift h of a l! the money in India.
But by 1974, the Unit ed Sta tes gov–
ernmcnt fo rgave Indi a the entire
d e bt - equa l to $3.2 b illio n - and
took a loss on its investment.
A write-o ff o f evcn grea ter pro–
portions may now be in the o ffin g.
At recent interna tio na l economic
development confe rences. rumo rs
were in the wind tha t Third World
na tion s would pro pose a wo rld
meet ing for t he purpose o f in–
sti tuting a mo ra torium - a post–
ponement of payment - on the ir
fo reign d ebts. These debts now tota l
a bo ut $ 150 b illion, basica lly loans
from fo reign governments, offi cial
interna tional ins titu t io ns (such as
the World Ba nk), a nd príva te ba nks
overseas.
T here a re reports that the Third
Wo rld wil l p ro pose a comple te mo–
ra to ri um on the publ ic (mea nin g
owed to another government) debts
of t he 29 poores t Third World coun–
tries, and they will request tha t the
deb ts o f a no th er 40 na ti ons be post–
po ned unt il the end o f th e decade.
T hey also would like the ir pr íva te
debt s consol ida ted into long- term
loans. guara nteed by We tern gov–
ernments. This wou ld mea n that the
taxpayers in these coun tries wou ld
haveto p ick up the tab if the re we re
a ny de fau lt.
The shaky fi nancia ! fou ndation of
ma ny poor na tions is underscored
by the fac t tha t more a nd more
coun tries a re fi nding tha t their d eb ts
a re gobbli ng up more o ft hei r ex po n
ea rnings.
l n
1967, dcbt servicing
took
JO
percen t or more o f the ex–
port ea rnings in only 15 countri es;
now it req uires 10 percenl o r more
in 25.
T he net imp licat io n of al! this is
tha t taxpayers in the developed
wo rld - pa rt icula rly the U.S. - will
be forced increasingly to pickup the
tab as na tions around the world re–
nege o n the ir commitments. even if
it is fo r pu re ly poli tical reasons.
T he Soviet Un ion ha al ready
s to pped payment on World War
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lend-lease debts. setting a precedent
fo r other n a tions to ge t o ut from
und e r the ir fi nancia! obliga ti ons.
O
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