Word: rhodesians
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...RHODESIAN PRIME MINISTER Ian Smith's recent rejection of British proposals to establish black majority rule has all but precluded possibilities for the peaceful settlement of the country's racial power struggle. Smith's rejection of British mediation and last month's collapse of talks between Smith and Joshua Nkomo, the leader of the black African National Council's "internal faction" have brought Rhodesia to the brink of civil war. Moreover, the recent unification of the efforts of the presidents of Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania and Botswana to form a strategy to end white rule in Rhodesia represents a new solidification...
Smith's vacillating policies, repudiation of agreements and stubborn reluctance to establish a definite date for enfranchisement of the black majority is consistent with both his present political position in the white community and his past history. As leader of the country's ruling Rhodesian Front party, Smith must obstinately forestall majority rule in order to prevent the dissolution of his political base which is composed of factory owners and large landholders. Faced with increasing pressure from the African majority to set a definite schedule for their enfranchisement, Smith has opposed the growth and solidification of black opposition...
...RENEGADE Prime Minister became prominent in Rhodesian politics through opposing British attempts to promote majority government in the early 1960s. He helped form the Rhodesian Front and led the country's secession from the British empire in 1966. Following independence, Smith sponsored the legislative reversal of the trend toward a majority rule in Rhodesia...
...Britain would be glad to come through the front door, but only on certain conditions. Among them: prior acceptance by Smith's regime of the principle of majority rule and a pledge of open elections within two years. Britain would then help negotiate the terms of a new Rhodesian constitution that would guarantee both majority rule for Rhodesia's blacks and minority rights for the Europeans who want to stay...
...which has no air force. Rhodesia's Canberras, Hunters and Vampire attack aircraft would have little trouble taking out guerrilla camps and breaking up concentrations of ground forces. The danger is that Moscow might reply by approving the use of Cuban-flown MIG 17s and 21s against the Rhodesian heartland. That would mean the end of all lingering hopes for a peaceful solution of Rhodesia's future...