P a g e 2 P o rtla n d O b s e rv e r M a y 1. 1980
EDITORIAL/ OPINION
Namibia: Sitting in limbo
by N. f-ungat Kumbuta
Was Iran venture coup attempt?
On April 17, 1961, the United States landed
Did the United States attem pt to join w ith
a force of Cuban exiles - financed, trained and
elements of the Iranian m ilitary who are still
directed by the CIA on the coast of Cuba.
loyal to the shah, or w ho oppose the current
The plan was to establish a beachead and to
government, m an attem pt to overthrow the
declare a provisional government which would
government of Iran?
ask the United States for military aid. Together
We predict that w ithin the next few weeks,
the exnes, the Cubans who would join them
a shakeup in Iran's m ilitary w ill indicate the
against Castro, and the U.S. m ilitary would
conspirators have been identified. Eventually
O ve rth ro w the C astro g o v e rn m e n t and a
we will know the truth.
government which the U.S. considered frien
dly to its interests would be established.
Of course it is now history that the plan
failed. The Cuban people did not join the a t
A few m onths ago the Canadian go ve rn
tem pt to o ve rth ro w their gove rn m en t, but
ment rescued employees of the U.S. Embassy
fo u g h t and defeated th e ir a tta cke rs in 72
m Iran by providing false Canadian passports
hours.
and hiding them in the Canadian Embassy.
Nineteen years later, on April 24, 1980, the
Every since, there has been an outpouring of
U.S. military landed in Iran, its stated purpose
gratitude to the Canadian people and their
to free the American hostages. Again the o u t
government and justly so. Not only has our
come is history - everything went wrong and
government heaped praises on the Canadians,
another campaign failed.
but just recently a busload of Portland talk
Lhe parallels between these tw o invasions
show listeners travelled to Vancouver to ex
are interesing. Following the Iranian excursion
press their thanks.
the government has revealed that an air base
This week the Cuban governm ent rescued
was established in the desert; many of the
the U S Am bassador to C olum bia, Diego
men were Farsi speaking (Iranian exiles?); CIA
Asencio and fifteen other hostages w ho had
operatives had infiltrated the country; aid was
been held captive fo r 61 days. The Cuban
expected from w ithin Iran.
government not only negotiated the capatives'
Iranian sources have said many more men
release and transported them from Columbia
were involved than the U.S. adm itted and
to Cuba, but sent Asencio home to the United
many spoke Farsi; much m ilitary equipm ent
States the same day.
was left behind. Since the operation, there
W e have n o t heard any o u tp o u rin g of
have been bombings and sporadic shooting in
g ra titu d e to the people of Cuba and th e ir
Tehran. An Assassination attem pt was made
g o ve rn m e n t. We have not even been told
on the Foreign M in is te r d u rin g a v is it to
w h e th e r our g o ve rn m e n t has fo rm e rly e x
Kuwait.
pressed its gratitude.
Thank you, Fidel!
Carter economics + Black apathy =
President Reagan
By Norman H ill, President
A Phillip Randolph Institute
level ot his Black support is not the
crucial factor. Instead, the Reagan
forces are tar more interested in the
Blacks who won’ t vote on election
day. To put it another way, Reagan
has a vested interest in Black apathy
and disenchantment.
Ronald Reagan, who just a lew
weeks ago »as being written oft as a
sure loser to President Jimmy Car
ter, has become a real threat.
A lready talk ot a Reagan ad
m in is tra tio n is circu la tin g in
W ashington, and several recent
polls have shown that Carter’ s once
huge lead over Reagan has dwindled
to nothing Some polls even show
reagan beating the President
For Black people and workers,
this unexpected surge in Reagan's
p o litic a l strength poses serious
dangers It elected, Reagan would
seek to transform his archaic and
simplistic conservatism into policy.
Among other things, Reagan has
already promised to abolish the
minimum wage, to slash the tederal
budget, and to support measures
that w ill fu rth e r weaken the
bargaining power of workers. With
Reagan and his triends comfortably
entrenched in the W hite House,
Black people can expect nothing
more than four years of economic
setbacks and political disappoint
ments.
In an ironic way, the political
behavior o f Black voters in Novem
ber may be the single most impor
tant factor leading to a Reagan vic
tory Reagan, an outspoken and
consistent opponent o f the
economic and social policies sup
ported by the civil rights and labor
movements, can hardly expect to
receive anything more than a
sprinkling of Black votes. But the
Looking at the arithmetic ot the
1976 presidential race, Reagan's
dependence on Black apathy
becomes all too apparent: it just a
tew thousand Blacks had remained
at home in 1976, Gerald Ford, not
Jimmy Carter, would be sitting in
the Rose Garden. W ithout strong
Black support, Carter would have
certaintly lost the closely fought
contests in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and
New Y o rk, states that were in
dispensable for his electoral vote
majority.
In 1976, Carter did exceptionally
well w ithin the Black community
because Black people understood
that he was offering the country a
set of economic policies that differs
dramatically from the conservative
policies espoused by Gerald Ford.
Whereas Ford argued for a stark
version o f the jobs vs. in fla tio n
trade-off, Carter strongly backed
the H um phrey-H aw kins b ill and
com m itted him self to fu ll em
ployment, meaningful tax reform,
and greater economic security for
the poor and elderly. In short, Car
ter ran as an economic liberal, an
heir to the tradition o f Roosevelt,
Kennedy, and H um phrey. Black
people responded to Carter’ s cam
paign program ; they responded
overwhelmingly.
p’ *
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individual writer or submitter and does not neces
sarily reflect the opinion of the Portland Observer
ALFRED L HEND ER SO N
E ditor/P ublisher
By Charles Jordan
Commissioner o f Public Safety
Sometimes there are unforeseen
problems with getting your property
back once you’ ve been arrested. The
reasons vary with every situation,
however, procedures do exist to
make this effort easier for you.
AA ith that in mind you may want
to know, W H A T H APPENS TO
YOUR PROPERTY AFTER YOU
HAVE BEEN ARRESTED BY AN
O F F IC E R , BO O KED IN TH E
C O U N TY F A C IL IT Y and IT IS
DECIDED T H A T YOU MUST BE
HELD AT THE COUNTY JAIL?
It you have anything on your per
son the officer feels could be used as
On the surface at least. Carter's evidence, the officer w ill seize it and
strategy o f co-opting Reagan makes hold it at the police station’s prop
erty room . You w ill be given a
some sense, but it fails to recognize
the key lesson o f 1976 - Black receipt for your property. A ll other
voters will turnout for elections only personal property will be held by the
when the choice is absolutely clear. County Corrections officers when
Moreover, the choice must be based you are processed into jail.
Each item you turn over to the
on more than just superficial d if
County
Corrections officer w ill be
ferences; it must be based on
significant differences in economic identified and listed on a receipt.
You sign this receipt and receive a
policy.
copy for your records.
Il a Reagan-Carter race becomes
Upon release fro m ja il, your
as close as the Ford-Carter contest
receipted personal property will be
four years ago, the outcome may
returned to you. I f you should
very well be determined by Black
discover that an item listed on this
votes. But it Blacks are forced to
receipt is missing, alert the person
choose between tw o versions o f
on duty, so that an initial search for
Ronald Reagan, the votes that
your property can be conducted.
allowed Carter to squeak through in
I f your belongings are not found,
1976 may be missing this tim e
you w ill be asked to complete a
around.
PORTLAND OBSERVER
3rd Place
B Community
Leadership
IS SB Association
Publishers
II
V
ONPA 1978
South A fric a reportedly » ill,
resuscitate the nation ot Lganda
through various intermediaries, sell
Amin’s bandits mentioned above
some 100,000 tons ot maize to
have been raiding northeastern
Kenya.
Uganda among the Karam ajor..
Kenya’s problems also stem from
people, killing people, livestock am
poor government planning. Just last
destroying »hat they cannot carr
year, she exchanged some 20,000
back to Sudan. As if that »ere m
tons o f maize for 10,000 tons of
enough, the area is the last to recei
»heat through the W orld Food
any international relief that come
Program. Food production mean-
to Uganda because ot the securit
»hile has fallen 11*» bet»een 1969 situation, lack ot transportatio
and 1977: the country only
facilities (trom trucks to gasoline)
produced 2.6 million tons ot maize poor communications, impassable
in 1979 even though national needs roads and the central government’s
»ere in excess o f 7 m illion tons.
preoccupation
with
’ ’ more
To encourage production , the pleasing" problems.
government has raised consumer
In the urban areas, stores are
and producer food prices and is also critically short of supplies. Where
subsidizing farmers by o ffe rin g
available, the food is prohibitively
loans. This plan has backfired
expensive: beyond the reach ot the
though, as a result ot middlemen
average Ugandan. Sugar, which
hoaiding supplies in anticipation of
should sell tor $2.(kJ per kilo (2.2
higher prices tor the goods in the lbs) sells tor as much as 510.00 per
very near future. So far tw enty
kilo . Gasoline costs as much as
people have been taken to court in $2.00 per gallon, though that is
N airobi on charges ot hoarding
somewhat ot an improvement from
The country’ s situation does not
the $3.00 per gallon during the days
look good.
ot Am in. Bread cost as much as
It's been »ell over a year no» -
$5.00 per loaf! At these prices, who
since the overthrow o f Idi Amin
can afford to eat? Smuggling has
Dada o f Uganda, but the country
become a very thriving business.
has yet to return to normal. Gangs
The average citizen sinks further
o f A m in loyalists s till make oc
and further into despair.
casional raids from across the bor
A ll of East Africa is in dire need
der in Sudan. Tanzania soldiers still
ot food aid and, unless something is
p a trol the countryside but the
done and done last, there will be a
security situation is s till very
»hole lot o f starvation going on. In
precarious.
Uganda, the flow of international
By the time Amin tied the coun aid needs to be closely monitored
try , he had lite ra lly drained the
too, because local bandits con
treasury dry, food production had
tinually disrupt shipments of food.
ground to a halt, the economy was The ghost o f Idi Amin Dada stalks
in shambles and Uganda »as, to all the land.
intents and purposes, dead. The in
NOTE: Across the border in
coming a d m in is tra tio n ’ s firs t o f Sudan, thousands ot refugees lace
Yusufu K. Lule and then of Godfrey
starvation too, as do thousands
Binaisa have been grappling with
more in Somalia but, that is another
the mammoth task o f tryin g to long story.
Notes from City Hall
A lthough the vast m a jo rity ot
Blacks saw a clear choice between
Ford and Carter, I now tear that"
many Blacks believe that the d if
ferences between Reagan and Carter
are so slight and so uncertain as to
make a choice meaningless. This is
not to say that real differences don’t
exist (they most certaintly do) But,
Carter, who is playing to the con
servative mood o f the country has
set out purposely to obscure his d if
ferences w ith Reagan, apparently
w ith the hope o f neutralizing
Reagan’s attack from the right. In
deed, with Carter's deep cuts in the
tederal budget, and w ith his
growing devotion to conservative
economic doctrines, one m ight
think that Reagan’ s advisers have
already arrived in Washington.
The Portland O bterver IU S PS 96S 680) is published every Thur,
S n ^
Starvation looms in East Africa,
unless massive infusions of foreign
lood aid reach the countries o f
Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania very
soon, thousands of people face star
vation.
The reasons for the acute food
stortages range from poor govern
ment planning to severe drought to
lingering fallout from the overthrow
of Idi Amin. Only five months after
Tanzania shipped 70.000 tons o f
maize (corn) to Mozambique and
Zambia to ease their shortages, she
(Tanzania) »as requesting 100,000
tons of »heat, 50.000 tons of maize
and 25,000 tons o f sorghum grits
from the Lnited States. Tanzania
had exported her maize because the
planners thought they had a surplus.
Instead, they no» find they have
only enough supplies to last to the
end of April.
C om plicating Tanzania's food
problem is the ever soaring bill for
oil currently consuming 45r « o f her
export earnings. The »ar Tanzania
»aged against Idi Am in cost the
country over $560 m illio n and
falling production of export crops
are all adding up to a very serious
budget deficit. Consequently, there
are no reserves with »hich to pur
chase the needed food. Outside
nations have pledged assistance but
it is uncertain if this aid » ill arrive in
time to avoid a major crisis.
Kenya s drought problems are not
as serious as those of her neighbors
but she too faces some very trying
times ahead. Shortages have already
produced some very long queues
and there have been reports o f
violence. When Kenya's president,
Daniel Arap Moi, visited the U.S.
recently, he arranged to purchase
15,000 tons ol rice, 30,000 tons o f
»heat and 60,000 tons ot maize.
Property Claim Form. This form
w ill be reviewed by supervisory
staff, and a full search will be con
ducted in all possible property
storage areas.
At this point, your claim will be
forwarded to the investigative o f
ficer who will make a determination
as to the validity o f your claim.
Inquiries are then made to ascer
tain the circumstances leading to the
loss o f your property.
If your property is still not found,
your claim is submitted to an ad
justing firm, and you will be reim
bursed tor an equitable amount o f
the lost item.
Those items the police o ffic e r
seized for evidence when you were
arrested w ill remain in the police
station’ s property room until your
case is adjudicated, or a judge
releases the property to you. This
evidence can include anything from
your clothing to weapons or coun-
traband. The officer w ill give you a
receipt for all items seized.
Upon fin a l disposition o f the
case, the property will be returned
to you if you are the legal owner.
The police bureau will give notice
that the property can be released to
you and that it must be claimed
within 30 days ot the nonce. Other
wise, your property will be delivered
to the property control officer, who
will dispose o f it.
When you are released from
police custody, your personal
property will be returned to you. All
property will be held, free of charge,
during
your
incarceration.
However, if for some reason, you
are unable to claim your property
when you are released, no charge
will be made prov ided you remove it
within 15 days after being released
from custody. Thereafter, your
property can be held at a storage
rate of JOC per day per item.
You can request that someone
else claim your belongings for you.
This person must present a signed
authorization from you, as well as
your property receipt.
It the property is not picked up by
the designated date, it may be
disposed of.
Incidentally, all contraband and
illegal weapons will be destroyed.
DO YOU REALLY WANT TO SAVE
ON YOUR FOOD BILL?
We offer savings of up to 40% and more on fine quality wonder and Hostess
products, plus large discounts on other baked goods Besides our every
day low prices we feature in store specials daily Just look for the bar
gam signs on the displays in our store Discover for yourself what thou
sands of smart shoppers in the area have found
Ockley Green
(Continued from P I Co| 3)
is scheduled for Kennedy school.
A lternatives o ffered fo r Ockley
Green’ s apporximately 750 children
are Multnomah, or a split between
Terrwilleger and Collins Viein, all in
Southwest Portland.
Gawthorne and Steve Buel
proposed, as they did during the
desegregation discussions, that the
E lio t children go to Kennedy;
Ockley Green go to Monroe; and
another space be found fo r
Beaumont. The Board hopes to
make that decision at its next
meeting.
S L a
I
II.
aO
|r->
€
You'll be amazed at the savings you
make at our Wonder Thrift Shop!
gl»dly accepted ]
SATISFACTION
GUARANTEED
You must be complefelv Mtisfied with
•very purchase or we wet cheerfully
refund your purchase price
WONDER-HOSTESS THRIFTSHOP
115 N. Cook St
Corner of Vancouver ft Cook St
Open M on thru Sat 9am 6pm
Portland. Oregon
Closed Sundays
U S Department of E nerqy
.. . •
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