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its treatment of dissidents, the Com–
munist powers are getting off vir–
tually scot-free.
Why, others ask the U.S., has not
Washington screamed loud and
clear before all the world's tribunals
about the brutal deaths of perhaps
up to two million people in Cam–
bodia since the Communists took
over in 1975? Why, they ask, is the
United States cozying up to Viet–
nam even though 500,000 people in
the southem half of that nation
have been forcibly uprooted from
their bornes to be resettled in the
countryside or in Communist "re–
education" camps, many of them
tortured in the process.
The fact
is,
America has been los–
ing the ideological battle to Com–
munism ever since its ill-fated
Southeast Asían venture. Thus, she
finds it very tempting to believe the
danger of Communist totalitarian–
ism no longer exists except perhaps
in a head-to-head confrontation
with Moscow itself.
It
becomes that
much easier to sidle up to sorne of
its main practitioners, even though
they fiagrantly violate human rights.
(Castro's Cuba has more política!
prisoners in its jails than all the rest
of Latin America combined.)
Rlght-Handed Club
But the human-rights club has to
fall somewhere, and today, to use
James Bumham's famous phrase,
the "preferred enemy is on the
right." ·
In Latin America, for example,
the countries most subjected to U.S.
criticism-Argentina, Brazil, Chile
and Uruguay-say that if sorne civil
liberties are curtailed it is because
they are literally at war with inter–
na! subversion and terrorism spon–
sored by the Soviet Union; that
these terrorists themselves are the
biggest violators ofhuman rights.
Overall, say these governments,
The
PLAIN TRUTH August-September 1977
the U.S. is "blind" and "naive" on
the whole human-rights issue, at
least
in
their part of the world.
In east Asia, free-world nations
whicb are practically newbom cubs
to the world of democracy are also
feeling the cold chill of estrange–
ment from Washington.
Singapore's energetic Prime Min–
ister Lee Kwan Yew argues that the
free world consists of many ditferent
societies, cultures and levels of de–
velopment "Now we bear that we
have to be like you or we are not
civilized. The Russians say there are
many different roads to social–
ism ... but the U.S. seems to be
saying that there is only one road to
democracy."
Leaders of other U.S. allies are
stressing-apparently on deaf ears
so far- that very few societies can
afford to be as open and free-wheel–
ing as the United States. These lead–
ers place greater emphasis on public
order and govemment direction in
all aspects of política! and economic
life. They feel individual rights,
while important, must take second
place to concepts such as "national
service," "duty" and "common
good"-:ideals seemingly outmoded
now in America.
Adds a top official in the South
Korean govemment : "There is not
one developing country in the world
where Westero democracy real!y
works. The govemment in a devel–
oping country must give guidance,
direction, stability . . . . If students
are in the streets all the time, every–
body is nervous, business sutfers.
We cannot atford it."
Perhaps the human-rights pill
would be easier for the 260 million
people in non-Communist Asia to
swallow if the United States were
not so preoccupied with Vietnam.
And the mere possibility that Hanoi
might arm-twist Washington into
parting with a few billion dollars in
"reparations" makes it even worse,
especially if human-rights "viola–
tions" in their own countries force
cutbacks in U.S. aid to them.
lt
is becoming obvious to many
that America's vision is blurred, that
it can no longer distinguish between
a
totalitarian
regime- in which the
individual is virtually the ward of
the state, not being free to marry as
he would like, to travel outside the
country or beyond its ideological
bounds, to have free access to
books, newspapers, magazines, orto
change jobs-and merely an
author–
itarian
one, where most freedoms
remain intact, but where there are
usually (sometimes only temporar–
ily) restrictions on politicalliberties.
South Afrlca-
"Our Way or Else"
lt
is in the southem part of Africa
where Washington's heavy-handed
pressure
is
being felt the most. In
May, Vice-President Walter Mon–
dale and South Africa's Prime Min–
ister John Vorster met in Vienna.
Tragically, this highest-level meet–
ing ever between the two nations
broke down in near total failure.
But,
in
fact, it was doomed from the
start.
The American side already had
its mind made up on what it was
going to tell the South Africans even
before the two sides sat down to
talk. In the end, Mr. Mondale told
Mr. Vorster what was obvious from
· the beginning- that the United
States could no longer support
South Africa unless it implemented
an American-style "one-man, one–
vote" democracy. No other política!
framework would be acceptable to
Washington: no consideration was
given that South Africa's enor–
mously complex racial and tribal
makeup dictated an altemative ap–
proach; the fact that one man, one
(Continued on page 41)
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