European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 26, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns the stars and stripes thursday March 26,1987 Carl Rowan some questions americans should be asking As Congress to to the mar with president Reagan  arms for the Contra rebels i Nicaragua. Americans ought to be asking these question Why does the  always get in the bind of hav ing to support a scoundrel dictator or fight fee one who is a m Amsl or outright communist is there no policy that would permit proper an successful support of someone or something be tween a Fulgencio Batista and a Fidel Castro in Cuba a ficut dictator Anastasio Somoza and a leftist dictator Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua an irritating leftist Salvador Allende and a ruthless Cau dilo aug Sib Pinochet in Chile whether we speak of dwt Ghl Eisenhower and John f. Kennedy regarding Cuba. Lyndon Johnson and the dominican Republic Richard Nixon an Chile or Ronald Reagan and Nicaragua the , drifts relentlessly toward military intervention and economic warfare against its neighbors to the South. Every other option gels crowded out by the Monroe doctrine mentality that says the . Has a right to do whatever it wishes to see that the governments of the hemisphere Are palatable to Washington you can t get a sane discussion of the iss Suc going nowadays because a Large group of americans opens up asking do you want another Cuba an other soviet military base on our Borders so most americans never learn that the Sovi ets have for More than a Quarter Century been Mak ing inroads in Lai in America that May in the Long run influence the hemisphere a lot More than Mili tary bases while the . Has been concentrating on military efforts to overthrow the sandinista government in Managua the soviets have been pressing ahead with diplomacy and Trade. Congressional quarterly reported Early this month that by the end of the 1950s, the soviet Union had Diplo Matic relations with Only three countries in the re Gion. Today Moscow has diplomatic relations with 16 countries in the Region giving it a Bate of opera Lions in nearly All the important latin american  the soviets have instituted cultural and educational exchanges that would have been unheard Ofin 1960. At least 20,000 students from latin Ameri Ca and the Caribbean Are studying in the soviet Union the soviet bloc or Cuba compared with Only trifling number three decades ago. While the . Keeps telling latins they should fear the soviets and communism russian Trade officials Are telling them they should fear High interest rates and unfair Trade policies through which . Banks and multinational corporations Are piling up Tom Wicker Good  wkllm5.li the debts of their countries and keeping most lat ins in economic misery. The soviets Alto Are making Hay with some thing most americans Don t want to talk about a Point a woman put this Way on a talk show recently Why is it that All the countries that . Attacks militarily Are non White countries Grenada Libya Nicaragua Angora arabs in Lebanon Moscow has got to be Happy to see the . Fait into the posture of violent enemy to the third world and armed to the Leech protector of an in just status quo. Some will answer that the . Is attacking these governments because they arc marxist or com Munishor  but someone in America has to be Brave enough to ask Are the angolans in bed with cubans and rus sians because the angolan Are Bent that Way ideologically or is this their Only Way to survive against rebels bought and armed by South Africa and the United slates is Ortega realty another duplicitous communist like Castro or is he caught in that bind of fearing to share Power with countrymen who Are being paid by evil gringos to drive him out of Power or even kill him and tils sandinista allies have . Officials and leaders tried hard enough to establish relationships of Mutual respect with people Tike Ortega to the Point where we can determine they Are nicaraguan Palm Iris however misguide a or dedicated soviet appointed enemies of the United states i dont know the answers to Alt Hose questions. I do know Hal our Clandestine military another hostile approaches to Nicaragua Angola and other third world countries so far Nave been tragically counterproductive. I Hope thai in this showdown Between Congress and the White House All our leaders will go Back Toi heir strategy boards and see if America can t find a smarter set of policies. North an Synod tug. He soviet sugar buying helps dominican producers As Congress solemnly debates the supposed soviet penetration of Cen trial America though there is Little or no evidence Hal Nicaragua is a soviet puppet Moscow actually has made a bold new move into the Caribbean thanks to that same Congress. In february the russians contracted with the dominican Republic to buy 50,000 Short ions of sugar in each of the next three years at s cents a Pound just above the depressed world Price. There by hangs a tale of american protectionism and shortsightedness that could generate a More dangerous hemispheric problem than the sandinista Ever have posed. The Story took a drastic turn in 1985, when to protect this country s 15,000 Cane and Bocci sugar producers. Congress established a support Price of 18 Cen i a Pound about triple the world Market Price. That Means Hal the . Govern ment is ram mined u pay Hal much Tor surplus Domestic production. But Congress Alto stipulated that this extravagant support program not Cost the Fink Rul Treasury any Money. The Reagan administration Hod no alternative but to assure that in arc would be no surplus a feat it accomplished by fix ing restrictive quotas on imported sugar. Among other sorry consequences . Consumers pay about 21 cents a Pound for Domestic sugar that will run up to about $3 billion in fiscal 1987 for sugar and processed sweeteners that they would not have had to pay were there no sugar support Price. But m a Rich coun try that s a relatively minor matter com pared to the economic and political dam age in other sugar producing countries most of them in this hemisphere. On Jan. 1, us. Sugar imports for 1987 were Cut to a million Short tons the least in this Century. The Lota quota in 1986 was 1.72 million for 13 month Sand As recently As 1983-84 the 12-month import quota was 3,2 million Short ions. That s Why the dominican re Public turned to the soviet Union and vice versa. The dominican Auola for 1987 had been Cut by a brutal 48 per cent. 10 160,200 Short tons from 3d2.0do in 1986 and from 800,000 in 1981. That Means a six year drop from $333 million to $60.9 million this year in the dominican Republic s sugar earnings from the uni cd states last year those taming were $112 million. So the soviet Purchase was Welcome to president Joaquin Balaguer who had appealed in vain for no further cuts in the dominican quota the hardest hit of any in the Caribbean. Moscow had bought dominican sugar in earlier years but through brokers this year s was the first direct govern Cal to govern Mcnol Sale. Twelve Caribbean ambassadors have made a Sharp protest against the new . Sugar quota terming them Catas  figures from the organization of american states suggest Hal latin american and Caribbean Basin countries will earn this year less than 20 percent of the 11.2 billion their sugar exports to the . Brought them in 1981. About 425,000 jobs have been lost in the Hemi sphere s sugar exporting countries. Nor is the damage All in this Hemi sphere. Among other hard hit countries is the Philippines where a newly demo cratic government is caught Between a lagging Economy and a communist insurrection reduced sugar exports is one of the task things president Corazon Aquino needs. Dominican spokesmen say the i pub Lic s contract with the soviet Union had no political importance. Bui Al the least the russians who could have got most of the sugar they needed from East bloc beet sugar producers Wilt get credit for providing dominicans with needed for eign earnings if Light american quotas remain in Force the opening for the rus sians and or marxism in the Caribbean and perhaps in the Philippines could be significant. In Hopes of increasing import quo tas the administration plans to ask con Gress for a new sugar program with Price supports Cut to 12 cents a Pound and . Farmers paid to reduce Cane and beet production the payments would total about $1 billion a year on lop of the swollen costs of other farm programs. Bui in j 981 and 1985 Congress rejected similar proposals and not even mos cow s opportunism in the Caribbean is Likely to change things this year. Even aside from soviet sugar purchases the Minimi consequences for the United Stales in that Region of poverty and High unemployment obviously will be severe perhaps As threatening us. Say. 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