Page 2 Portland Observer, June 30, 1962
Conflict of interest complaint hits Clay Myers
The People for Southern African
Freedom has filed a complaint with
the State Ethics Commission, charg
ing that State Treasurer Clay Myers
has violated state law by accepting an
expense-paid trip to South Africa.
Oregon law prohibits state officials
from accepting gifts worth more
than $100 from any source having
an economic interest in that o f f i
cial’s actions.
Myers’ recent two-week trip was
funded by the Southern A frican
Forum , a business group. Forum
board members represent large f i
nancial, mining, industrial and re
tail corporations in South Africa.
As State Treasurer, Myers is the
state’s Chief Investment Officer, re
sponsible for supervising the invest
ment o f state monies and trust
funds. Myers has testified before the
Legislature twice, in 1979 and in
1981, opposing disvestment of state
funds from corporations doing busi
ness in South Africa.
The People for Southern African
Freedom (PSAF) charged that the
Forum sponsored Myers’ trip be
cause of his official actions against
disvestment and because of the ex
pectation that his official opposition
to disvestment will continue.
The Southern African Forum, es
tablished in 1980, represents the
white big-business community. Its
members come chiefly from A f r i
kaner-dominated firms; Afrikaners
constitute the m ajority o f whites
and the conservative backbone of
the apartheid system of racial domi
nation. The Forum also shares a
number o f trustees with older pri
vate foundations whose purpose,
like the Forum’s, is to spread propa
ganda favoring investment in South
Africa.
The Forum’s white trustees repre
sent the largest Afrikaner industrial
and gold-m ining conglomerate
(Federale Volksbeleggings/Federale
M ynbou/General Mining Union),
South A frica’s third-largest chemi
cal firm (Sentrachem), its second
largest private, locally-controlled
bank (Nedbank), a large insurance
firm (S.A. M utual), and two large
retailing chains (Pick *n* Pay and
Beares). The trustees also represent
the Afrikaners* national chamber of
commerce, the Afrikaanse Handels-
instituut, as well as South A frica’s
most important private propaganda
and lobbying group, the South A f
rica Foundation, and another active
propaganda outlet, the South Africa
Freedom Foundation.
Black and progressive organiza
tions have long encouraged disvest
ment of U.S. funds from South A f
rica, a move that would destroy the
economy and bring down the apart
heid government. South A frican
blacks also support disvestment,
which, although it would bring im
mediate economic hardship, would
topple the current government and
allow an opportunity for eliminat
ing the apartheid system.
U.S. corporations supply 20 per
Mayor Ivancie
discusses
conference
cent o f direct foreign investment,
and the South African Reserve Bank
admits that the country “ has to a
large extent been dependent on for
eign capital for developmental pur
poses [and] is still highly dependent
on foreign capital___ " U.S. banks
supply one-third o f the loans to
South Africa. U.S. investors control
70 per cent of the computer market,
supply one-third of the vehicles and
44 per cent of the oil products, and
provide crucial technology and in
vestment in energy, electronics, nu
clear capability, rubber, heavy
equipment and others.
PSAF states that the South A fri
ca Forum board members have a di
rect stake in U .S. investment and
therefore their financing Myers’ trip
is contrary to Oregon law. Among
the U.S. corporations involved with
the business interests o f Forum
board members are: Dun & Brad-
street, Union Carbide, U.S. Steel.
Kennecott (owned by Standard Oil
of Ohio), and Gulf and Western.
STATE TREASURER CLAY MYERS
Mayor Frank Ivancie, who
attended the U.S. Conference of
Mayors in Minneapolis, sale
Portland was praised for its excel
lence in international economic
development efforts. Leslie Dennis
o f D .C . Associates, Inc. told one
workshop that during the 1981
economic development exhibition in
Zurich, Portland's display attracted
more interest and accolades than
any other.
Ivanice was impressed with a
Coping with Urban Crime
seminar where several mayors
voiced
support
for
strong,
comprehensive city programs to
fight crime. He was most impressed
by M ayor Diane Feinstein o f San
Francisco, who cited the success of
the crime program in her city, where
crime rates have recently gone
down.
“ W h a t’s worked
for
San
Francisco has a lot in common with
what we're trying to do in
Portland," he said. “ San Francisco
has added 350 officers. They've
beefed up the street presence of
police - added foot patrolmen and
mounted officers. They’ve learned
to concentrate police efforts where
the worst problems are — like
Portland’s Street Crimes U nit."
Economic, social injustice root of El Salvadore war
by Norma de la Cruz
Concerns over the effects of "last
m inute” U .S . foreign policy was
one of the key issues addressed in a
conference on "Central America in
Revolution," held last Saturday at
Lewis and Clark College.
Speakers presented in two panels
were Sister Antone Schedlo, Fran
ciscan Sister o f Perpetual A d o ra
tion, who worked in El Salvador
from 1971 to 1981; Roy Proster-
man, law professor at the University
o f Washington and a specialist in
land reform movements in El Salva
dor and other C entral American
countries; and Richard Clinton, po
litical science professor at the Ore
gon State University and a consul
tant for UNESCO in El Salvador in
1977.
Felix Kury, the West Coast
spokesperson for the Revolutionary
Front, the El Salvador political or
ganization andDavid Pierce, U.S.
Foreign Service Officer for the State
Departm ent, spoke in the second
panel.
“ There is a constant tension, a
clash between initial and recent re
ports regarding plans and agendas
set up for Central A m erica," said
Pierce, who discussed the problems
associated with each U.S. adminis
tration. “ There are variations on
the central theme. The fundamental
question that should be raised here
is, ’Is incremental change possible?
Can the U.S. encourage that kind of
change short o f violent destruction
of the people in Central America,
particularly when forces are blocked
to make the change?’ "
Pierce said he thought the U.S.
reacted too slow and too late when it
comes to serious and critical events
involving social, economic and poli
tical interests for both Central Am
erica and the U.S.
Kury, who was born in El Salva
dor and active in the Young Chris
tian movement in his parish (same
as Archbishop Oscar Romero)
agreed with Pierce. Compounding
the problems with U.S. foreign pol
icy in C entral America is that
“ those who sign for foreign and in
ternational programs don’t really
know our nation. They live and
work in W ashington, D .C .,” he
said.
“ I t ’s important for the U .S. to
stop economic and military aid to
our nation and try to negotiate be
tween our countries,” he said. “ We
want to bring an end to this war.
There are no conditions that w ill
provide support for this goal, but
the willingness is there,” said Kury.
Given the social injustice and po
litical and economic warfare that
have continued in the nation, C lin
ton expressed the in evitab ility o f
revolution in the area and stated
that revolution was the viable form
of self-defense among the people.
violence is the only way to respond
to the government, then the people
must respond by violence.”
Prosterman, on the other hand,
felt revolution was not that simple a
solution to the nation’s woes. Issues
regarding land reform, for example,
must be dealt with in order to search
for a viable alternative to democ
racy.
As a result of portions o f a U.S.-
aided land reform program sus
pended in May, hundreds of subsist
ence farmers from tiny plots have
been ousted by landowners, some
backed by military forces.
Prosterman said the only remain
ing opportunity for the U .S. is to
suspend all military and economic
aid until “ land reformation sustains
its fu n ctio n ." T rad itio n ally, land
was earned by a communal tenure
until 1980. "Afterward it was ’land
grabbing,’ with a view to growing
export crops.” He said overpopula
tion is one of the roots of violence in
Central America.
Sister Schedlo, who did pastoral
work, teaching and working with
women prisoners and youths in
refugee camps for 9 years, said pro
grams for land reforms were good
until the takeover by powerful fam
ilies. Urged on by such families, the
military responded by using massive
fraud to deny moderate and left-
wing organizations any fair play in
elections.
The government has encouraged
the rise of right-wing groups, terror
izing peasant and labor organiza
tions, destroying the Christian Dem
ocratic Party’s infrastructure and
murdering socially active priests.
“ The m ilitary sees no value in
lif e ," she said. “ Everyone is sus
pected o f being subversive." In
Central America there are two main
groups; the government and the
people. “ The Church is with the
people, thus, we too suffer.”
In the words of Archbishop
Romero, a heroic spokesperson for
justice for most Salvadorians,
Schedlo described the view that the
Church took after four American
churchwomen were raped and mur
dered. “ One who is committed to
the poor must meet the fate of the
poor. One is to be captured, tortur
ed, to be found dead.”
According to refugees Schedlo
worked with before leaving the na
tion, the general feeling towards
U.S. aid was summed up as follows:
"Tell them (the U.S. government)
to leave us alone. Then when the
war is over, you can come and help
us reconstruct.”
Ivancie said the San Francisco
city government has met with
neighborhood groups and listened
to the problems of the people. They
also constantly review their statistics
so they can pin down problem areas.
I saw many mayors at the
Conference reaching the conclusion
San Francisco did - that a lot of
crime requires a lot of support for a
city’s police."
Ivancie credited the Zurich
mission’s success with extensive
preparation and follow up, which
he said is yielding a “ strong level of
response” from potential investors.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors,
attended by 250 mayors, was held
lune 19th to 23rd in Minneapolis.
“ In trying to create a just society,
any kind o f revolution that tries to
change the basic structure in govern
ment will be opposed by m iddle-
class elites who see their opposers as
trying to eradicate the concentration
of power,” said Clinton.
“ I t ’s necessary and im perative
that the countries in Central Amer
ica are in a revolution. People who
have more (the fourteen families
who own most of El Salvador, for
example) won’t give up their privil
eges; thus the emergence o f right-
wing death squads.”
He said the government of El Sal
vador refuses to acknowledge its
most important resource— the peo
ple. “ Any government that cannot
provide at least employment first to
its people is not to be tolerated. I f
The next time you get all
lathered and steamed up
at the amount of your
electric bill, ask yourself
this:
How much energy, hot water
and money is going down
the drain?
•
<
Change a habit. Conserve
your current and your
currency. ’
£
Vivian Whitley
has a dream.
It’s Anheuser-Busch’s
dream, too.
V ivian W h itle y has always done
good work in her com m unity. G iving
people encouragem ent, helping them
to fight for the things they want But
V ivia n wanted to d o more. She had
dreams o f being a social worker. She
also had four child re n to raise. A nd that
had to take p rio rity .
But V ivian never forgot her dream.
A nd when three o f her fo ur children
were in college. Viv ian went to college,
too. Gn an Anheuser-Busch Urban
League C om m unity Scholarship. These
scholarships are for people like Vivian
who had to miss going to college for one
reason or another. But they don't have
to miss out now. I hey have a second
chance fo r an education and a career.
V ivian got her degree. She made
straight A s, w hile w orking at tw o to
three jobs and raising a fam ily. Yet she
still found tim e to use her hard-earned
skills to help the people in her com
m unity. as president of her F I A . as a
teacher in ner local church, and as the
first woman chairm an o f the board of
the Hum an Developm ent C orp loday.
V ivian is still going to school, getting
her master s degree ami the credentials
she needs to feel q ualified to do the
w ork she always wanted io d o .
Vivian's taking her dream and
m aking a future. < )ne we can all share in.
A nd that's o u r dream A future we
can all live w ith.
Building a future.
Dream by dream.
ANHEUSER-BUSCH COMFANII.S
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