Word: rhodesia
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...Jimmy Carter, as for any politician, it is a happy issue that combines both moral principle and political calculation. The President believes the elections that installed a black majority government in Zimbabwe-Rhodesia could not be called "either fair or free," largely because they were held under a constitution that reserves a disproportionate share of power for the white minority. Carter thus had a moral reason when he decided not to lift the economic sanctions that prevent the U.S. from buying Rhodesian chrome. Politically, moreover, the maintaining of sanctions puts the U.S. on the side of black Africa...
...fact, Congress is unlikely to push the issue that far. The Administration's position has more support in the House, which will soon vote on a bill to let the President continue sanctions until he has determined that genuine majority rule exists in Zimbabwe-Rhodesia. The measure has a good chance of passage. Even if that proposal is defeated, the House Armed Services Committee has proposed a weapons-procurement bill that says nothing about sanctions. Odds are that a HouseSenate conference called to reconcile the two versions of the arms bill would drop the Senate's rider, rather...
...that, the question of how long the U.S. will maintain sanctions remains open, and Carter left himself a conspicuous out: he promised to watch the Zimbabwe-Rhodesia government's "progress toward . . . more legitimate and genuine majority rule," send a U.S. diplomat to Salisbury to monitor that effort and consult monthly with Congress on the issue...
Essentially, that formula tosses the ball to the new British government of Tory Margaret Thatcher. The British, who began the imposition of economic sanctions against their former colony, are trying to set up a conference that would bring together the government of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia and its black guerrilla opponents. If such a conference makes some progress, or the British decide to lift their sanctions, Carter could gracefully follow London's lead...
Meanwhile, the sanctions began breaking down in an unlikely place: the neighboring black African nation of Zambia, a sanctuary for one of the guerrilla groups, which last week held talks with the government of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia about opening their borders. Zambia's motive was one of desperate self-interest...