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PAGE 14
PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, MARCH 23, 1984
which time Mr. Mondale said the Carter administration would accept nothing
but a firm one-man-one-vote commitment by Pretoria to its own political
future. That summit collapsed immediately. Senator Gary Hart, Mondale's
opponent, is on record as being in favor of a timetable of increasing
economic sanctions against South Africa. So the Kremlin may have to wait
until there is a turn again in U.S. policy in southern Africa before
continuing the struggle.
For some background on Soviet intentions, here
are excerpts from a report in the April 1984 SOUTHERN AFRICAN FACTS SHEET:
If South Africa can establish a security accommodation with
Mozambique and Angola the whole political face of Southern Africa
wi11 undergo instant change,
with universally acceptable
independence for South West Africa an immediate prospect.
The gravest obstacle to the opening of a new era for Southern
Africa will come from two sources:
one, Russia, which has now
uninhibitedly marched onto the Southern Afr1can stage and for
which the replacement of conflict with peace in the subcontinent
would be� devastating blow to her long-term strategic planning,
especially in respect of Southern Africa's vast minerals treasure
house and in respect of her maritime interests.
One almost has the "sinking feeling" that all the talk of peace and pros
perity can't last.
There are too many forces opposed to peace for the
"regional superpower"--a new term coined to describe South Africa--to con
tend with over the long run, especially should it be politically isolated.
But peace will certainly last as long as God wills and His Church has a work
to do in this fascinating but embattled part of the world. Meanwhile, the
lesson of cooperation rather than confrontation being the key to progress
is being indelibly written.
--Gene H. Hogberg, News Bureau