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AFRICA
(ContinuedJrom page 6)
power by the bullet and not the bal–
lot.
Such an "all parties" conference
was held once before, in Geneva. It
was an utter fiasco. Since that time
Smith and the moderate black lead–
ers have continuously extended
their hands to the guerrilla leaders
wi th the provisioo that they re–
nounce thei r terrorism. But the two
outsiders have refused. Realizing
they could never win in a free elec–
tion, they have chosen to go to
Moscow for the guns needed to put
them into office.
Exact ly what kind of men are
these "externa!" Jeaders whom the
Carter Administration and its new
frie nds in Africa insist must be in–
volved in a settlement?
One of these guerri lla chiefs,
Robert Mugabe, told a French left–
wing magazine recently: "If we find
him [Mr. Smith] a live when we take
power, he will be tried by a people's
court and,
1
hope, shot. Smith and
his immediate collaborators are war
criminals." Before an. applauding
United Nations audience in March,
Mugabe denounced the moderate
black leaders as "African stooges"
and "black puppets."
Mugabe has repeated ly and
openly stressed that he wants to in–
stall in a future Zimbabwe a Marxist
one-party state in which democratic
elections would be dispensed with
as being a " luxury."
Bishop Abe! Muzorewa, one of
the black leaders who agreed to the
interna! settlement in Rhodesia, re–
acted sharply to President Carter's
statement in Nigeria that the Rho–
desian talks should be reopened to
include guerrilla groups trying to
take power by force: "Mr. Carter
should be reminded that if he thinks
the masses of Zimbabwe can be
traded for Nigerian oil he is guilty
of gross betrayal of democracy- an
alarming thing to come from the
world champion ofhuman rights."
Folly Over Namlbla
Also in Nigeria, Mr. Carter bluntly
warned South Africa that it could
face the prospect of economic sanc–
tions if it failed to cooperate with
The
PLAIN TRUTH June/July 1978
the U.N. in producing an "inter–
nationally acceptable agreement"
on independence for South West
Africa (Namibia) by the end of the
year. Pretoria has controlled the ter–
ritory under an old League of Na–
tions mandate.
Originally South Africa had pro–
posed its own independence for–
mula, similar to the Rhodesian
"interna! settlement," which was
based upon the principie of one
man, one vote, an end to racial dis–
crimination, and protection for mi–
nori ty groups. However, this did not
meet the approval of the United
Nations and many black African
states which would prefer to vir–
tually hand over Namibia on a plat–
ter to the militantly Marxist
SWAPO organization, whose power
base is the territory's large Ovambo
tribe. The U.N. has already declared
SWAPO to be the "legitimate repre–
senta ti ve" of the "Namibian "
people.
The "Big Five" Western powers
of t he United Nations Security
Counci l medi ating between
SWAPO and Sou th Africa-the
U.S., Britain, Canada, France, and
West Germany- have bent over
backward in an attempt to meet
SWAPO's demands. In return for
this favor, SWAPO guerrillas, strik–
ing out from their bases in southem
Angola, have repeatedly engaged in
hit-and-run terror tactics, política!
assassinations and the kidnapping
of young people into the movement.
It is widely believed that SWAPO
gunmen were responsible for as–
sassinating Herero tribal chief Dr.
Clemens Kapuuo, widely regarded
as having had the best chance of
becoming independent Namibia 's
first presiden!.
Again, what kind of people com–
prise SWAPO- the organization the
Uni ted States and Western powers
say must be accommodated?
One indica tion was given in a re–
markable television interview in
New York City recently. SWAPO
leader Sam Nujoma was asked:
"Once there's black majority rule (in
Namibia], there's black majority
rule. What more do you want?"
Nujoma's answer: "The question
of black majority rule is out. We are
not fighting even for black majority
rule. We are fighting to seize power
in Namibia for the benefit of the
Namibian people. We are revolu–
tionaries."
The reaction of South African
Prime Minister John Vorster to the
Nujoma interview was quick and
sharp. "He has Jet the cat out of the
bag and he has now confirmed what
we have always suspected and what
we have accused SWAPO of," Mr.
Vorster said. "He has made it clear
that he is not really interested in the
welfare of the people but only in
SWAPO's revolutionary doctrines
for the sake of power over the terri–
tory and its peoples."
American negotiator for the Nam–
ibi a dispute , Don McHenry ,
who heads the group of Western ne–
gotiators, had earlier defended the
group's preoccupation with SWAPO
by saying: " If you ultimately want a
political sett lement you have to deal
with the people with the guns." The
magazine
To The Point
noted in an
editorial, however, that the words
"deal wi th" really mean "defer to."
"This is a dangerous concession to
barbarism. Taken to its logical con–
clusion it simply means that you
must eringe to the man with the
biggest club...."
(As this article goes to press, the
South African government, in an
historie move, has accepted the lat–
est Western plan for independence
for South West Africa, scheduled
fo r Dec ember 31, 1978. Th e
spotlight is now on Nujoma and
whether or not he will go along with
the plan. The real pressure is on the
Western powers, however, to hold
fast to their proposals and not give
in to new demands from the pro–
SWAPO U. N. General Assembly.)
Underlying the current Western
approach toward African problems
is the fear that supporting men of
peace and moderation in their
struggle against Communist-sup–
ported radical leaders might pro–
voke a confron t ation with the
Soviets themselves. Hence the pol–
icy of attempting to gain the hand
of the guerrillas, to "let them inside
the hen house," to give them what
they want peacefully before the
Russians give them the guns to do
the job.
The problem is that a policy of
appeasement will never work; the
Russians and those whom they sup-
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