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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1982)
> Page 2 Portland Observer, September 1, 1982 VALUABLE C O U PO N »1.00 OFF 0 PACK SOFT PRINKS ) V t •* ~ t t Reagan rule threatens European economy Ronald Reagan has broadened economic sanctions against the So viet U nion and in so doing has caused serious conflict with the gov ernments o f France, West Germany, Italy. England and Japan by order ing that US companies and compa nies selling US technology not hon- ‘ or their contracts in the Siberia- Europe gas line. The gas line not only offers bene fits to the European and Japanese firms and their workers but prom ises economic independence for the OPEC nations. The action was supposedly to punish the Soviet Union for events in Poland, but is also an attempt to head o ff closer economic ties be tween the Soviet Union and western Europe. Despite the fact that Rea gan’s economic war against the USSR was not well received at Ver sailles, he is forging ahead. In the five year period ending in 1985, the USSR plans to build seven extra-long gas pipelines from west ern Siberia to the central part o f the country. The Siberia-Europe pipe line is 5800 kilometers long and can provide at least 1000 trillio n cubic feet o f gas in 20 years. By 1984, if construction goals are met, it can deliver at least 40 billion cubic me ters o f gas to seven western Eur opean nations. As for their participation in the construction, the European nations w ill receive guaranteed shipments o f gas and oil. There are also possibil ities o f increased trade w ith the So viet Union, which could provide a much needed economic boost. This development would be o f decided benefit to Europe in light o f the US refusal to lower interest rates which are devastating to the foreign rate o f exchange and the continuing market battles between US corporations, the steel industry in Europe and the textile and auto industries in Japan. Firms in western Europe and Japan w ill provide nearly SI m illion worth o f material for the pipeline. The USSR is the w orld’s largest im porter o f steel tubes, which benefits the nations o f western Europe. T h ir ty percent o f the steel tubes pro duced in West Germany are ex ported to the socialist block, partic ularly to the USSR, and the USSR w ill also purchase the special tu r bines needed. Since 1973 the world has been aware o f its dependence on OPEC oil, and the high prices o f oil have devastated the economics o f much o f the world. Even the current oil glut, which has forced crude oil sales at lower costs, has not forced down the cost o f oil and gasoline. Although the oil sources are owned by the OPEC nations, the transpor tation, refining and marketing re main in the hands o f transnational corporations, chiefly those based in the US. The Siberian pipeline offers a new source o f oil for Europe and Japan. Geologists agree that Siberia has one o f the w orld’s richest deposits. The Tiumen region alone contains one-fifth o f the w orld’s known gas reserves. In the last ten years there has been a ten-fold increase in gas and oil ex traction, w ith a total o f over 300 m illion tons in 1980. Gas produc tion reached 156 billion cubic meters in 1980, with a 1990 goal o f 500 m il lion tons o f oil and more than 500 billion cubic meters o f natural gas. The USSR also has large coal re serves. The new pipeline w ill provide 30 percent o f the energy needs o f the seven participating nations. This guarantee o f a stable fuel supply is what Reagan wants those nations to reject in the interest o f the US cold- war build-up. Japanese Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki said his government w ill con tinue the Sakhalin project and that he considers it to be a matter o f national importance. The European nations have ordered the companies licensed in their countries to honor their commitments and contracts on the pipeline — France being the first to ship products to the USSR. Boom tow n U.S.A. COUPON EXPIRES 10-182 • OFF 4 I 8 PACK ONLY OPEN 24 hrs I OFF! 5022 N INTERSTATE AVE unlimited Resale Clothing fir s t Q u ality The Set ond 1 mie Around Men s. VS omen \ C hildren’s ( lothing and Household Items AI L S IZIS A V A Il AHI I Belle W ilson. O w ner Consignments Ai t epled (Q uality Merc bandi*«* i >nlyi By A ppointm ent Pledge Tues. Sat, 10 am 5 pm 281-9418 Visa b Master Charge 2406 N.E. Union Ave Parking On N f Sacram entoSt World's longest reigning monarch dies King Sobhuza II o f Swaziland, the w orld’s longest-reigning ruler, died Saturday at the age o f 83. Swaziland, a land-locked nation about the size o f New Jersey, is sur rounded on three sides by South A f rica and on the other by Mozam bique. Rich with natural resources, the nation exports asbestos and iron. Sobhuza II was born on July 22, 1899, during the Boer War. His father, King Kgwane V, died sud denly the following year and the tri bal council selected Sobhuza II to succeed him. He was sent to the country’ s first primary school and then to South Africa to receive a western educa tion. U ntil he was 22 years old, his grandmother and uncle acted as re gents. He became ruler in 1921 but it was largely a ceremonial office be cause the country — a British col ony — was administered by the B rit ish High Commissioner. His first task was an attempt to persuade the British government that contracts giving huge tracts o f land to white farmers were not valid since tribal law allows the king to grant use o f land, not ownership. He wanted the British government to allow him to buy back the land. When the British finally left in 1969 they left a parliamentary form o f government, but after four years Sobhuza II abolished the constitu tion as “ un-Swazi” and turned to an absolute monarchy. He adminis tered the country closely and put his sons and relatives in important posts. Sobhuza actively supported fo r eign investment and management, much o f which remained in the con trol o f a few whites, hoping it would benefit the 600,000 inhabitants, many o f whom were living in rural poverty. When he took office only 37 percent o f the land was in Swazi hands, while 73 percent was owned by Swazis when he died. Sobhuza stayed on good terms with apartheid South A frica and Marxist Mozambique, using the sea ports o f both nations. He repeatedly hosted Mozambique leaders and gave shelter to South A frican exiles. A t the same time, South African whites came on tourists to enjoy gambling casinos not available in their country. Earlier this year the king had opened negotiations with South Af rica in an attempt to annex a part of South A fric a ’ s so-called tribal homeland where 700,000 Swazis live. This annexation would give Swaziland access to the sea. He urged his people to learn west ern ways without losing tribal cus toms. Although the Declaration of Independence was adopted July 4, 1776, Congress waited until Sept. 9 that year to officially change the name of the country from "United Colonies" to "United States." • Contrary to popular opinion, bats are not blind. Dallas, Tex., oddly enough, was named after a may or of Philadelphia, Pa., George Dallas. Sobhuza preferred to live a simple life in a village outside the capital, where he generally wore a leopard- skin loincloth and led the many tr i bal festivals and ceremonials. He claimed approximately 100 wives and 600 children. Sobhuza was popularly referred to as the Great M ountain, the Bull, the Son o f the She-Elephant, and the Inexplicable. In his western role, in which he moved at ease, he was a Knight o f the British Empire. • The state of Maine has towns named China, Nor way, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Peru and Mexico. W e d o ^ o n lo business w ith South A frlce. KINO SOBHUZA II * J • 1 American State lian/i an independent bank Head Office 2737 N. E. Union Portland, Oregon 97212 Saharan question threatens African unity (Continued fro m page 1 col 6) A t independence, the existing boundaries in Africa seemed the only reasonable thing to go by. Even Kwame Nkrumah, who was the O A U ’s moving spirit, could argue that to redraw the boundaries in ac cordance with ethnic affinities would logically culminate in the bal kanization o f Africa into puny and unviable “ trib a l” states. Nevertheless, it remains true that what emerged from the debris o f colonialism were not “ nations” but unwieldy conglomerations o f na tions, nationalities and tribes. They left such divided peoples as the Ewe o f Ghana and Togo, the Yoruba o f Nigeria and Benin, the Hausa o f Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Camer oon, and the Somalis o f Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and D jibouti. It is from such divisions that border claims and counter-claims occur. Another result o f the colonial border formations — the lumping together o f two or more entire na tional civilizations into one colony — has led not to border claims, but to secessionist movements. The most famous o f these are Eritrea in Ethiopia, Biafra in Nigeria, Katan ga in the Congo (now Zaire), etc. There are simmering cases which threaten to take volcanic forms in almost every country. The point about the present bor der system — the split nations and the lumped together nations — is that the states naturally behave like « eggshells. Being artificial, political instability is built into the very state structure handed over by colonial ism. Some are states without na tions; others are nations without states; none are true nation-states. The question o f “ tribalism ” thus is a colonial question, and there is nothing particularly African about it. It is a question which still plagues European countries like Spain, which has its Basque, Andalusian and Catalan nationalist movements; and Britain, with its Scottish, Welsh and Cornish movements. The basic illness o f the modern African state, then, is that it is a structure which has been imposed on ethnic groups which do not have a single cultural root, are disparate numerically, have different levels o f economic development, do not en joy proportionate shares in the state machinery, but yet are expected to benefit equally. The only common denominator is that the economic basis o f the A fr i can states is foreign. Since an indig- Y's Buys Shop #1 $ I DEWALK $ALEI! enous economic basis is absent in every case it follows that any alli ance o f such states w ill also be base less economically. That is why the various contradictions in the OAU so faithfully reflect the foreign pow ers that vie fo r favor w ithin indivi dual states. I f the O A U falls to pieces it will be to a great extent a result o f the delusion o f "national indepen dence” which Africans entertained in the early sixties. But it w ill also be an auspicious time for all thinking Africans to come out with new blue prints for laying foundation stones fo r new and more genuine nation states. e with that Original New Orleans Flavor C atering prices are pretty standard all over town. But so are the services. Except at The Westin Benson. W ith crystal chandeliers, d e lic a te c h in a , gleaming silver and remarkably good food served hy top notch professionals, we set a higher standard. ( altering costs about the same everywhere. But only The Westin Bens< in iiffers you so many priceless extras for parties of 20 to 500. Ad donated by friend» of Y'» Buy» Shop 1 T h l W fstin B enson norttorwf ( ME ( M Tl IE EEW REMAINING '»CLASSIC HOTELS. I ¿II 29$ 4140 i<*iay. evening Ó* *• » k» nJ parking. e TVE GOT GREAT LEGS! 3 Locations To Serve You: 5949 N.E. 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