African Activist Archive

The strategy memorandum discusses recent developments in southern Africa and how U.S. foreign policy has responded. It notes that the independence of Mozambique and Angola has inspired Africans in Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa and that recent uprisings in South Africa demonstrate that a new phase has opened in the struggle there. It also highlights expanding U.S. investment (by more than 30 percent over the last 18 months), U.S. bank exposure that has exceeded $2 billion, and the tenfold increase in Export-Import Bank exposure in South Africa in the last five years. The memo argues that the perspective of the Carter Administration is unlikely to change significantly, still seeing southern Africa in cold war terms and emphasizing reform through economic development and corporate involvement. The memo suggests a strategic focus on both ending U.S. economic support for minority rule, especially in South Africa, and giving positive economic assistance to refugees fleeing from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, which is congruent with the position of the Organization of African Unity. It then reviews possible legislative foci: 1) deny tax credits to companies investing in South Africa and Namibia, 2) end all Export-Import Bank financing of trade with South Africa, 3) repeal the Byrd Amendment and expand U.S. implementation of sanctions to include U.S. subsidiaries in South Africa, 4) oppose possible economic preconditions on Zimbabwean independence, and 5) give humanitarian assistance to refugees fleeing minority rule.

African Activist Archive

DISCUSSION OF A SOUTHERN AFRICA STRATEGY FOR 1977

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