ae a’ WORLD Will U.S. government scuttle | test ban monitoring project? — A group of four Soviet scientists who were to have arrived in the United States September 14 to continue work on a pro- ject related to verification of nuclear weapons tests have found their visa ap- plications stalled by the Reagan admin- istration. The Soviet scientists were to have gone to Nevada to set up seismic detec- tion equipment near the major U.S. nu- clear proving grounds. This was agreed last May between the Soviet Academy of Sciences’ and the U.S. Natural Re- sources Defence Council (NRDC), a privately-funded environmental protec- tion group. American seismologists, invited under the agreement, have already been in the USSR for three months. Early in Sep- tember, they set up the last of three seis- mic detection stations near Semipala- tinsk, in eastern Kazakhstan. Reached by the Tribune at the group’s headquarters in Washington, NRDC re- search associate Ann Schonfield said that she was hopeful visas would even- American and Soviet scientists, together in Kazakhstan, pose for a photo. neWS Analysis Fred Weir tually be provided, but noted that the normal processing time for such docu- ments has already elapsed. The American scientists who have gone to the USSR to set up seismic sta- tions there, she said, “‘have encountered no such difficulties.” Reagan View Challenged The mutual agreement provides for Soviet and American scientists to monitor nuclear explosiens from the immediate vicinity of both sides proving grounds. Its purpose, according to NRDC physicist Tom Cochran, is \ ‘‘simply to demonstrate that Soviet and American scientists can work together to establish these stations in their respec- tive countries’. The results so far, he says, ‘‘demonstrate that verification is no obstacle to a nuclear test ban, and that the United States and the Soviet Union can co-operate in that objective.” The installation of the three American seismic posts in Soviet Kazakhstan, and the broad success that has been achieved in tracing and detecting nuclear explo- sions, has handed a stinging rebuke to the Reagan administration. The U.S. walked out of compre- hensive test ban talks in 1982, charging that an agreement to halt nuclear tests would be ‘‘unverifiable.”’ The Soviet declaration of a unilateral testing moratorium, in August 1986, pro- foundly challenged the White House pos- ition. Added to this, the success of scien- tists in establishing the means of monitor- ing tests, even in the absence of a mutual test ban treaty, has demonstrated that the primary obstacle to resolving this critical problem of the arms race has nothing to do with ‘‘verification difficul- ties.” Not Blocked ... So Far The Reagan administration has eyed © the scientists’ initiative with undisguised hostility since it was announced last May. At one point a White House spokesman charged that NRDC was ‘playing into the Russians’ hands,”’ by — participating in the joint effort. However, says Schonfield, ‘‘up until now they have not actually done any- clear test site in southwest USA. ~ thing to block the project.” Ifthe admin: |" istration denies visas for the Soviet part: }) cipants, she admits, it would be a serious }) | setback and an acute embarassmen for I}. the American scientists who have spon sored the enterprise. a Meanwhile, in Kazakhstan, the joint U.S.-Soviet team have been boring holes deep into rock outcroppings in order to position seismic detectors in subter- ranean vaults. This will eliminate inter ference from surfaces sources, and vas tly increase the ability of the equipme to pick up seismic waves. tee, From their location in‘ Soviet Centra Asia, NRDC scientists have been able to detect, measure and trace seismic di ig | latest being caused by a U.S. nuclear tes) in Nevada on September 4. wr The fate of this imaginative project ©} now at the mercy of the Reagan admilr) istration. Will they scuttle it altogether’ If Soviet scientists are not permitted 10) come to the U-S. to set up their monitor) ing equipment, then the White House }) claim that a test ban is ‘‘unverifiab will become a self-fulfilled prophesy: a Caribbean churches speak for peace Growing militarization in the Caribbean Basin and how this affects the peace of the region is increasingly on the agendas of Church leaders these days. In Barbados, delegates at the recently concluded Fourth Assembly of the Caribbean Conference of Churches spent half a day of their four-day parley discussing peace. The issue surfaced repeatedly in speeches during the assembly as well. The meeting, which took place between Sept. 4-9, was attended by over 300 delegates, including those from Cuba. Several speakers, such as the CCC’s General Secretary Rev. Allan Kirton, called for maintaining the Caribbean as a zone of peace. In an interview with the Tribune, Catholic Ar- chibishop of Kingston, Jamaica, Rev. Samuel Carter, termed the peace campaign ‘‘a pressing need’’ and one which is an integral part of efforts to bring about justice for all the islanders. Delivering the opening services, Archbishop Carter had earlier urged regional political leaders to ‘‘gird their loins’’ to struggle on the issue of peace. “We must seek to minister to our own politicians ... for they too must work for the cause of justice and peace,” he said. Significantly, during the Assembly, the CCC insti- tuted Caribbean Prize for Peace was jointly awarded to Barbadian Dame Nita Barrow, a member of the Eminent Persons Group recently returned from South Africa, and to the late Dr. Robert Cuthbert, a Jamaican clergyman and former CCC official who was assassinated in Jamaica last year. A study guide for delegates strongly criticized the October 1983 U.S.-led invasion of Grenada, suggest- ing that the action was partly designed to save face after Washington’s disastrous failure in Lebanon. “Tf you cannot save United States lives in Beirut, you canat least pretend that you are saving U.S. lives in St. George’s (Grenada),’’ the document said in art. The Assembly, which took place at modest facilities on the Barbados campus of University of the West Indies, got under way shortly after a Puerto Rican-based human rights group, the Caribbean Pro- ject for Justice and Peace, released a 28-page pam- phiet on U.S. military involvement in the region. The group charged that some of the island states are tar- geted by U.S. military manufacturers, who plan to set up plants to produce such items as missile systems, electronic circuits and other equipment which is ‘important strategically and security-wise’’. When these charges were publicized by the Barbados-based Caribbean News Agency (CANA), both Barbadian and Trinidadian governments said they knew of no plans to set up armaments plants in their respective islands. Political observers in the region are watching the statement by Barbados’ Prime Minister Mr. Errol Barrow to the effect that he is very concerned about From the Caribbean Norman Faria ° Washington’s involvement with Caribbean armed forces, and also the Regional Security System (RSS), a four-year arrangement through which several east ern Caribbean nations co-ordinate their military. A source close to the Barbadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs disclosed to the Tribune that the government has no intention if withdrawing from the RSS. The Barrow administration, which maintains a fleet of | three gunboats, will also not slash its 1,300-member U.S. and British-trained standing army — although this was a key Barrow election promise — the source told the Tribune. Nevertheless, the commitment of the delegates to the just concluded CCC Assembly points to the necessity of translating strong sentiments for peace into meaningful action, which would lead to re- channeling of military funds into housing and employment programs for the islanders. 8 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 1, 1986 '