European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 26, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes thursday. March 28,1687 columns Carl Rowan some questions americans should be asking As Congress goes to the my with president Reagan again Over arms Tor the Contra rebels in Nicaragua americans ought to be asking these question Why docs the  always gel in the bind of hav ing to support a scoundrel dictator or fight some one who it a marxist or outright communist it Here no policy that would permit proper an successful support of someone or something be tween i Fulgencio Batista and a Fidel Castro i Cuba a fascist dictator Anastasio Somoza and a leftist dictator Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua an irritating leftist Salvador Allende and a ruthless Cau dillo Augusto Pinochet in Chile whether we speak of Dwight 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 an economic warfare against its neighbor 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 Issue 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 latin America that May in the Longrun 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 settling ahead with diplomacy and Trade. Congressional quarterly reported Early this month that bythe end of the issus 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 base of opera Lions in nearly All the important latin american  the soviets have instituted cultural and educational exchanges that would have been unheard of in i960. 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 Trilling 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 inter rates and unfair Trade policies through which u. Banks and multinational corporations Are piling Tom Wicker a i n about b0m6 russian?,b0ms. The in trips and keeping most lat by. Res the debts of their ins in economics the sort by also Are making Hay with some thing most Abb scans Don t want to talk about a Point a Woro Pul this Way on a talk show recently r Why is Ijlal All the countries that . Attacks militarily Jpe non White countries Grenada Libya we Ragga Angora arabs in Lebanon ,7 to sep has got to be Happy to see the . Fall into 10 posture of violent enemy to the third work Jimd armed to the Teeth protector of an in jus plus quo. Be will answer that the , is attacking these ments because they Are marxist or com Nisi or pro terrorist. But someone in America has to be Brave enough no 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 ,wow." United states is Ortega really 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 Dower or even kill him and his sandinista allies have . Officials and leaders tried hard enough to establish relationships of Mutual respect with people like Ortega to the Point where we can determine they Are nicaraguan patriots however misguided or dedicated soviet appointed enemies of the United states dont know the answers to All those questions. I do know that our Clandestine military and other hostile approaches to Nicaragua Angola another third world countries so far have been tragically counterproductive. I Hope that in this showdown Between Congress and the White House All our leaders will go Back to their strategy boards and see if America can t find smarter set of policies. Nikul few Stu by Mictl. Inc. Soviet sugar buying helps dominican producers As Congress solemnly debates the supposed soviet penetration of Cen a trial America though there is Little to evidence that Nicaragua is a Sovy puppet Moscow actually has Ibold new move into the carib thanks to that same Congress. In february the russians Conti with the dominican Republic of buy 50,000 Short ions of sugar in  three years at 8 cents a Pom id just above the depressed world Pride there by hangs a talc of american Ati Tentio Mem and shortsightedness Fai could generate a More dangerous Kris Pharic problem than the Sandi Nisja Ever have posed. The Story took a drastic Ilburn in 1985,when, to protect this pm nary s 15,000 Cane and beet sugar producers Congress established a support Pace of 18 cents a Pound about Trifil he world Market Price. That Means that the . Govern ment is committed to pay that much for surplus Domestic production. Bui Congress also stipulated that this extravagant support program not Cost the Federal Treasury any Money. The Reagan administration had no alternative but to assure that litre 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 thai will run up to about $3 billion in fiscal 1987 for sugar and processed sweeteners that the would no have had to pay were there no sugar support Price. But in a Rich coun try Ihas a relatively minor matter com pared to the economic and political dam age in other sugar product in countries most of them mints hemisphere. On Jan 1, . Sugar imports for 1987were Cut to a million Short tons the least in this Century. The total quota in 1986was 1.72 million for 13 month Sand As recently As 1983-84 the 12-month import quota was 3.2 million Short tons. That s Why the dominican re Public turned to the soviet Union and vice versa. The dominican quota for1987 had been Cut by a brutal 48 per cent to 160,200 Short tons from302,000 in 19s6 and from  in 1981. That Means a six year drop from$333 million to s60.9 million this year in the dominican Republic s sugar earning from the United states ibs year those earnings were $ 112 million. So the soviet Purchase was Welcome to president Joaquin Balaguer who had appealed in vain for no further cuts inthe 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 mint to govt Mienl Sale. Twelve Caribbean ambassadors have made a Sharp protest against Ibe new . Sugar quotas terming them  figures from the organization of american Stales suggest that latin american and Caribbean Basin countries Wil earn this year less than 20 percent of the s1.2 billion their sugar exports to the . Brought them in 1981. About425,000 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 tagging Economy and a communist insurrection reduced sugar exports is one of the East things president Corazon Aquino needs. Dominican spokesmen say the Republic s contract with the soviet Union had no political importance. But at the least the russians who could have got most of the sugar they needed from East bloc beet sugar producers will 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 wit Price supports Cut to 12 cents a Pound and . Farmers paid to reduce can and beet production the payments would total about $1 billion a year onto of the swollen costs of other farm programs. But in 1981 and 1985 Congress rejected similar proposals and not even mos cow s opportunism in the Caribbean i Likely to change things this year. Even aside from soviet sugar purchases the political consequences for the United slates in that Region of poverty and High unemployment obviously will be severe perhaps As Loire atoning As say marxist regime an Liny Grenada. New Yolk Tunas be i Fluce