U.S., IN RETALIATION, SUSPENDS FOOD AID TO THE MOZAMBICANS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302640090-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 20, 2012
• Sequence Number: 90
• Publication Date: March 21, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302640090-1
5
Alt77CLE APiyARE.i:7
ON P. 1:7E jilT? ?
1113., IN RETALIATION,4
SUSPENDS FOOD AID
TO THE MOZAMBICANS
,?
tf,e:
MOVE TIED TO ENVOYS' OUSTER
,44
1,;',;
State Departmeni contends Cuban
Agents Weie Responsibie-for
Actibn by African Nation ?
-
BERNARD GWERTZMAN
spew) to The N.. York Times
WASHINGTON, MarCh'20 -L.The Rea-
gan Administration said today that it had
suspended its entire food assistance pro-
gram to Mozambique in retaliation !Or
tlx expulsion of four American diplomats
two weeks ago. The wives of two of the en-
voys were also expelled. '4
Today's retaliatory move, one of the
rare cases in which the United States has,
usedthe withholding of food as a dipIo:
matic weapon; dramatized the Adminis-
tration's decision to display firmness
against Cuba, atid countries that solicit
Cuban help.p
When the African nation a cused'ilie-
Amertcans
NE4/ YORK TIMES
21 MARCH 1981
:Thiaction against Mozambique came 1
.4i.t.he.Administration's,ove.rall policy in ;
southern -Africa was under review and 1
was being questioned on Capitol Hill in
[
;light of recent developments suggesting
'departures from the Carter Administra-
tion's policy.;- - ..--T
tate Department. Cuban ,
sai
gence agents had instigated-the action.
Ta&w involves?T?En?assistance r e
current fiscal year.- consists of about 55

million in sales of wheat and rice and a
grant of 27,000 tcms of corn.
Reale/t --------
- nned
-r- "71F, , -1? - . -
"We have, temporarily suspended food
aid to Mozambique pending a complete
review of our bilateral:relations," Wil-
liam Dyess, "a --State_ Department
spokesman, said.*When asked whether
food aid was now to be used more fre-
quently by the United States as a tool of
diplomatic pressure, he said, "When we
are confronted with an incident such as in
the recent past, the entire bilateral rela-
tionship comes under review."::
Other-officials said that the ability of
theAlnited States. diptornati-
c.ally;;_again.le KC-0MM cwe *a limited
beiause it,sba3y
and receives no American assistancetut
C.angress is Asked to End Curb t
But StateDepartnient and White House
officials said that the basic outlines of 1
American .policy might not -be signifi-
Yesterday, in one of the moves suggest-I military intelligence ? officers recently
Neverthetess, the request to repeal the
Clark Amendment suggested to African
countries, including Angola, that the
United States was considering the re-
sumption of military cooperation with the
anti-Government group in Angola known
by its initials as Unita.
The leader of that organization, Jonas
Savimbi, who visited Washington during
the Carter Administration, is expected
here soon but it is unclear what kind of re-
ception he will receive.
Vlsit by South Africans
da fi senior South African
cantly altered after the study. , In a ition, ve
visited the United States on visas that the
?
ing a possible change in policy, the Ad-1
ministration announced . a .package of
tegisiative requests that included repeal
by Congress of the 1978 Clark Amend-
ment, which bars covert assistance to
anti-Government groups in Angola.
That law, known for its sponsor, former
Senator Dick Clark, Democrat of Iowa,
had been viewed by the Ford and Carter
Administrations as an impediment to ex-
ecutive authority, but the Carter Admin-
istration did not seek its repeal because it.
was seeking cooperation-with the Ango-
Ian Government. ? - , ? II White House officials also said that at
Angola's help was needed in negotia- '1 the request of the relevant Congressional
tions to gain the independence of South- committees, foreign aid authorization
West Africa from South Africa. Angolan
officials had hinted that once South-West
Africa became the independent country
of Namibia and Angola no longer had to
fear attacks from South Africa, it would
seek the removal of most of the 20,000
Cuban troops in its country.
The United States has refused to estab-
lish diplomatic relations with Angola be-
cause of the Cuban influence there. The
Carter Administration hoped that suc-
cess in the Namibia negotiations would I
lead to normalizing relations with Ango-
la.
, As parr of the Reagan Administration
study, officials have to decide whether or
not to change course in the Namibian ne-
gotiations, in which the United States,
Britain, Canada, France and West Ger-
many have been working with Nigeria
and African nations neighboring Namibia
to obtain the agreement of South Africa
and the main guerrilla force, the South-
West Africa People's Organization, on an
independence formula.
Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig
Jr., in appearances on Capitol Hill yester-
day and Wednesday, said that the United
States sought a peaceful, internationally
approved solution to the Namibia prob-
lem. A senior White House aide said last
night that he expected, once the study
was4 completed, that the United States
would remain in the five-power Western
group and advocate renewed negotia-
tions.
United States had issued without knowing
they were military men, the State De-
partment says -They met officials on
Capitol Hill and were received by the Na-
tional Security Council staff and the De-
fense Intelligence Agency.
-The White House and the State Depart-
ment insisted today that the request for
repeal of the Clark Amendment did not
mean anything- more than that the Ad-
ministration, during its "honeymoon"
period with Congress; wanted to remove
impediments to its freedom of action.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302640090-1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302640090-1
legislation would be submitted in the next
few weeks and that it had been decided to
request the repeal now.
Members of Congress pointed out that
action on the proposed legislation rou-
tinely takes many months, giving time
for negotiations on Namibia to resume. It
is generally asSumed here that South Af-
rica will not be ready to discuss Namibia
until after its elections at the end of next
month.
This gives the Administration time to
send fact-finding missions to Africa and
to invite key African leaders to Washing-
ton. However, the Administration has
said that the-Prime Minister of South Af-
rica wculdpot be among them. ? ' ' '
-
' ? ..' A Dissent On Issue of Cubans
Representative Howard Wolpe, Derno.:'
crat of Michigan, chairman of the House
Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa,
said he did not want the Clark Amend-
ment repealed except in tha context of the
establishment of diplomatic relations
with Angola, removal of the Cuban troops
and Settlement of the Namibian dispute.
?
Otherwise, he warned, repeal of the
amendment would cause_. Angola to rely
more heavily than ever on Cuban sup-\
port, "so I think that the effort is totally
counterproductive from the standpoint of
America's strategic' interests within
southern Africa." .
One thing that seems likely to change is
the American attitude toward South Af-
rica. The Carter Administration, with its
emphasis on human rights, was per-
ceived as being much- more confronta-
tional toward South Africa than the Rea-
gan Administraiipn is. Mr:* Reagan has
spoken of the need to have ,an. open ex-
change with South Africa.
'Mr. Haig, with his emphasis on strate-
gic responses to the Soviet Union, is likely
to look on South Africa as more of a West-
ern "asset" than the Carter Administra-
tion did, State Departmeneofficials said.
But he has said that he does not want to
see Soviet influence increase among
black African nations and that he sees a
need for diplomatic solutions to African
problems.
The Reagan Administration, for in-
stance, has gone along with a $75 million
economic program for the Zimbabwe,
formerly Rhodesia, the same amount the
Carter Administration proposed.
t
2
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302640090-1