Word: botha
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...public relations windfall for South Africa, which had been pointedly excluded from the Pope's five-nation tour. While John Paul did not kiss the ground at the airport, as is his custom on first visiting a country, he spent two hours with Foreign Minister Roelof ("Pik") Botha, who greeted him and led him through throngs of astonished passengers to the VIP lounge...
...Botha ordered 100 lunches and several bottles of South African wine for the papal entourage and settled back to discuss the latest developments in southern Africa. While he and the Pope chatted, government officials hastily arranged for a motorcade to take the papal party on the 300-mile journey to Lesotho, a black-ruled kingdom entirely surrounded by South Africa. "We consider it a privilege to assist the Holy Father," said an obviously elated Botha. "We are known for our hospitality...
...impasse dimmed some of the luster of a rare episode of diplomacy in the region: State President P.W. Botha's first official visit to neighboring black African states. Even as the Pope was in nearby Zimbabwe, Botha journeyed to Mozambique and Malawi with peace proposals of his own last week. After meeting with Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, Botha gave assurances that Pretoria would no longer aid rebels of the Mozambique National Resistance, also known as Renamo. The right-wing guerrillas have been trying for 13 years to topple the Marxist government, cutting rail lines, sacking villages and driving farmers...
...Botha also pledged South Africa's help in restarting Mozambique's giant Cahora Bassa hydroelectric-power dam project, whose transmission lines have been repeatedly sabotaged by the Renamo insurgents since the facility was built in 1975. That promise showed both neighborliness and self-interest, since the dam's chief customer will be South Africa. Altogether, the encounter may have reflected a new willingness on the part of Pretoria to pursue conciliatory policies toward its black neighbors abroad while continuing to crack down on opponents of apartheid at home...
...moved from Tygerberg Hospital, where he has been receiving treatment for tuberculosis, to a private nursing home outside Cape Town. The news rekindled speculation that the government was inching toward releasing Mandela, despite his refusal to renounce violence as a political tool. Whatever the reason for Mandela's transfer, Botha is unlikely to make any move that would risk the wrath of right-wing white voters until after the October elections...