European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 9, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns the stars and stripes Tom Wicker third world debt Ozone depletion top threats the world will Lillic note nor Long remember whether John Tower becomes Secretary of defense. Nor in the Long run perhaps even in the Short will it much Mailer whether Eastern airlines lives or Dies. But As these questions dominated the headlines and broadcasts of a journalism thai in Rivas on today More than 100 nations met in Lon Don to pursue a Challenge set them by the european Community and the Bush administration to Dir indic by the end of the Century Industrial chemicals threat ening the vital Ozone layer " to the Backwash of ant i austerity rioting that left about 300 dead and 2,000 injured in Venezuela., president Carlos Andres pure said though he Lair tried in retract it that his country might have to suspend All debt payments to foreign nations significantly including the . There s a pair of stories that really matter and will far years to come one p Sigri oxime National cooperation on an imminent environmental problem the other a warning signal about the dear arid present danger or third world debt. Birr even while they were hauling the bodies o t he streets of Caracas the hush  was focused like its predecessor on the tired old question of the contraband the sandinista in Nicaragua. That Reagan generated conflict never did Rise and certainly docs l now to the High level of importance implied by Ilic controversy it has aroused. When Secretary of stale james1 Baker a is Treasury secretary1, he developed a plan largely unsuccessful to ease i he third world debt. Problem which Husn i gone away1 hut has grown in sever ii new instead of ackling it anew he asks Congress for More Aid to the con ims 1 hat s a slap in it face 10 in e Cen trial american presidents who recently  new ,  sad commentary on the new administration s regional priorities. I Cre pro Bahlev won t actually suspend no cd All pm Gnu nit on Vene be it i $33 billion foreign debt although Michael Gordon principal payments already have been halted. Default would Loo critically damage his nation s International credit stand ing Bui the rioting thai followed his imposition of relatively mild anti inflation measures suggests that latin populations Venezuela a is one of the most demo cratic cannot be Iwuc Ezrd forever to pay foreign debts. The danger is twofold tightening a us k Rily measures to enable latin govern ments to make huge payments inflated by High interest rates Sel a decade ago. 10 . And european banker ultimately will produce so much popular unrest that default May be forced and democracy could be overthrown Mexico Brazil Argentina Peru Venezuela All Bear virtually unbearable debts. Default and upheaval in one could Lead to More of he same in the others. T or the United staks latin default might threaten the banking system and the overthrow of democracy obviously would damage hemispheric stability. Even if. Neither happens forced austerity in latin America prevents its nations from importing . Goods a heavy Bur Den on the . Trade imbalance. The Noces Sajiv response the Only effective Ripon so is debt Relief including the stretch out of terms the reduction of interest rates even in some cases the forgiveness of Loans the Lalin nations were pressured into accepting together with the necessary legislation to make it possible for . Commercial Banks to Lake these Steps. If any of thai is to happen. Bush and Hafer will have to take the Ivad. They already provide such leadership on important environmental questions. Acid rain prevention is High on Bush s Agenda and. Baler s. First official pronouncement was a commitment to net re in 3 the level against global warming now William k it Eilly. The director of the Epa has been Scollo  important administration commitment to the world wide elimination of Ozone threatening chemicals by the  2000. 0/onu depiction allows More ultraviolet radiation from the Sun to reach the Earth s  increases Lite risk of skin cancer and Eye cataracts causes ill effects in crops and aquatic life and May contribute to global warming. Even after the offending chemicals Are eliminated  inc strato sphere will continue for decades to attack the Ozone layer. The hush administration has moved strongly and none lob soon against these dangers. A similarly Alert response to the dbl crisis would make More sense than another dreary round of bal la for the contras or even for poor old battered John Tower. Arms concepts similar but key conflicts remain the soviet bloc and Western Amis proposals unveiled in Vienna on monday agree on several important principles boding Welt for the new talks to Cui Cotic Nikon in wcapoti4 in Continental Europe,1 the areas of agreement include setting equal Lim Iii on key weapons. He general it of reductions, for intensive verification measures. There arc important similarities in the new so met approach and Western objectives Lor the negotiations said stank a Sloan an expert on con u Lional arms Silks at Lite congressional research  the proposal announced lad by the so Viii or catch the Prospect for serious  but Sloan and  said the two sides differ on a number of significant issues. These in clude the Somcy proposal for partially demilitarized font s along the Liast Wust Border Lim ils on aircraft and the relationship of Nofal weapons to the talks. Another area of disagree men to Moscow s Sugges Tion that an initial agreement be followed by broader reductions in conventional arms and troops. Under the approach outlined by the West in re cent months the soviet bloc would be compelled to Togo its advantages in tanks artillery and armoured Fig filing vehicles. The North Atlantic treaty organisation would make relatively Small cuts under the plan which would Sci ceilings at Levels slightly below the number of weapons c " Nutly possessed b the West. Tactical aircraft would of excluded. While the main elements of the West s plan have been known for months the soviet Side  presented an authoritative account of its plan until monday the three stage plan announced by foreign min ister. Eduard a Shevardnadze coincides with some key tenets of nato s position. The soviet plan would eliminate asymmetries in important weapons categories by setting equal limits As demanded by the Vesi Slie Varnad a said imbalances and asymmetries should be eliminated at part of the first Phosie of reductions Over two to three years. This aspect of the soviet plan is significant since Moscow acknowledges that it a ii an Over whelming advantage in ground equipment such As tanks. By soviet calculations the plan would re quire them to eliminate about 10 tanks for each tank eliminated by nato. Another important feature of the soviet plan that approaches the Western position is the extent of the weapons cuts projected by Moscow for the first phase of its plan Shevardnadze said Moscow favored equal col Lclive ceilings which would be 10 percent to i percent lower than the lowest level possessed by either of the Politico military  such Ceil Ings would be slightly below the ceilings envisioned by the West. Nato is suggesting equal limits Art weapons that would be i percent to id percent below current Western Levels nato officials my that Alliance forces Are stretched to thin that deeper cuts might interfere with the ability to defend All nato Terri tory. Another promising Arva of convergence is the need for extensive verification  adze said on monday that the soviet bloc would insist ,011 the most stringent and rigorous verification including inspections without right of Refu Sal " despite these three Broad areas of agreement there arc Mill major differences. One Kcjr difference is the t  of the soviet plan to reduce tactical aircraft and combat helicopters to areas where Moscow insist thai the West has a numerical advantage. Nato Mitoses limits on aircraft and is not proposing limits on helicopters the Western Alliance opposes limits on aircraft because it says aircraft can easily be rein Traduce in Europe and because some planes could carry nuclear bomb which nato wants excluded from the talks nato disputes soviet calculations that nato has the Lead in these weapons. The soviet Side h also proposing direct reductions in the number of troops allowed in Europe which the West says would be difficult to verify Tew vhf k Luis