Word: roelof
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Pretoria, Vance was encouraged that South African Foreign Minister Roelof ("Pik") Botha tacitly urged him to carry on with his efforts for a broader Rhodesian settlement. Then, during five hours of talks in Salisbury, Vance and Owen tried to persuade Smith and his colleagues (sarcastically described by some observers as "the gang of four") that the Rhodesians had nothing to lose by attending a round-table meeting. Vance reportedly argued that the U.N. might be prepared to lift its economic sanctions against Rhodesia, at least partly, if the Salisbury regime would accept a U.N. supervisory force during the transition...
Meanwhile South African government officials reacted to the statements by Young and Carter with rage. Foreign Minister Roelof ("Pik") Botha, formerly his country's Ambassador to Washington, denounced the U.S. as a "faithless friend" and as Pretoria's "No. 1 enemy," and accused Carter of demanding from South Africa a standard that it would not expect from black Africa. As for an arms embargo, Botha contended that South Africa's arms industry was strong enough to overcome any sanctions. Said he: "I think the superpowers, if they want to overcome us, will have to do it with...
...Mondale's proposals, and seemed genuinely stunned by some of his remarks. "I'm prepared to be hanged for what I am," Vorster told the press, "but I'll be damned if I'll be hanged for what I am not." Like Vorster, Foreign Minister Roelof ("Pik") Botha implied that Washington had tried to push too far. "If the U.S. demands from us a political formula that means our own destruction, then we will say no," he declared. "As in the biblical story, if you blind our eyes, then we will pull down the pillars...