Word: vorster
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...takes one word to characterize the meetings," said an American participant at the close of last week's discussions between Vice President Walter Mondale and South African Prime Minister John Vorster: "Tough." And so they were. After 8% hours of talks in Vienna's Hofburg Palace, Mondale grimly told a press conference that the U.S. and South Africa were in "fundamental and profound disagreement" over the Pretoria government's policies, particularly apartheid. In what appeared to be a substantive turning point in relations between the two countries, Mondale added with almost startling candor: "We hope that South...
Even before the talks began, Mondale had been somewhat troubled about the possible outcome of what he recognized as an exceedingly tough assignment. Indeed, given the convictions of the South African leadership and the human rights concerns of the Carter Administration, a head-on collision was all but inevitable. Vorster remains firmly committed to apartheid and a policy of "separate development" for blacks, based on the creation of quasi-independent tribal homelands inside South Africa. Jimmy Carter is committed to progress toward majority rule not only in Rhodesia and Namibia (South West Africa) but in South Africa as well. Last...
...South African blacks rather than "oneman, one-vote." But once the talks got under way, with the two sides seated at separate but equal tables, the atmosphere became tense-and remained so. At times, strident voices could be heard through the closed doors. Said one American official later: "Vorster's expression never changed, nor did his tone." Mondale spoke of American efforts to reduce discrimination and of the resulting benefits to the nation. The South Africans spoke of their 300-year history in Africa and, at one point, taunted the U.S. delegation about the slaughter of American Indians...
...final session, Mondale read a statement that summarized the meeting and crisply stated U.S. policy. It was utterly devoid of diplomatic euphemism. On both Rhodesia and Namibia, he said, there had been some slight progress, though "the significance of that progress will depend on future developments." On Rhodesia, Vorster had reluctantly agreed to press for an agreement leading to an independent Zimbabwe (the African nationalists' name for Rhodesia) during 1978. On Namibia, the U.N. trust territory that South Africa has administered since 1920, Vorster had made several concessions, Mondale declared, though the two countries disagreed over the makeup...
...less ambiguous. Harvard would do no more than abstain on a shareholder resolution that would have forced Manufacturers' Hanover Trust to stop making loans to the South African government. We're not even talking about loans to corporations in South Africa--we're talking about loans to the Vorster government itself. In another instance, the University would not vote to force the General Electric Corporation--a company that even Harvard's investment research center described as one of the more socially retrograde U.S. corporations in South Africa--to withdraw its operations from the country. Treasurer George Putnam explained the Harvard...