Smith.

INDONESIA:

The Yanks may be crowing too soon.

HE Indonesian bloodbath
4 which killed a million or
more Communists, trade
unionists, peasant leaders and

democrats following the abortive

uprising of September last year
raised American hopes that this
Southeast Asia giant with its
population of 100 million could
be brought into a Washington-
Tokyo-Djakarta axis.

Time magazine, in a recent
(July 5) five-page feature on In-
donesia called the slaughter “the
West’s best news for years in
Asia.”

Perhaps the Americans are
crowing too soon, Though Presi-
dent Sukarno has been stripped
of much of his pevver, he re-
Mains an immensely popular
figure with the people, and in
his speech at a mass. rally in
Djakarta’s Merdeka Square on
Aug. 17, the 21st anniversary of
Indonesia’s independence, he
Courageously outlined a foreign
policy that hit hard at Washing-
ton’s criminal aggression in Viet-
nam.

“By what right does imperial- .

ism kill, burn, bomb, use poison
Bas, and destroy everything

beautiful in Vietnam?” he asked. °

“If the peace-loving. countries
do not come out together against
the crimes which are being com-
mitted in that country, then an
even greater calamity will un-
questionably be visited on the
entire world.” ;

Sukarno condemned the war
Waged by the U.S. in Vietnam
and urged a return to the Gene-

va Agreements. Indonesia, he
stressed, could not be neutral
in respect to imperialism, colo-
nialism and rieo-colonialism.

Malaysia, he continued, was
a neo-colonialist creation of Bri-
tain. His country would recog-
nize Malaysia only after a gener-
al election was held in both
Sabah and Sarawak. And before
returning to the United Nations
Indonesia will press for a reor-
ganization of that body.

This is a crucial year for In-
donesia, he. said. His country-
men must not destroy each
other; all true revolutionaries
should ‘“‘carry forward our strug-
gle and move ahead in the name
of our goal proclaimed in the
Declaration of Aug. 17, 1945.”

Brave words, and not the
stand of a man who feels him-
self a helpless captive of the
army-controlled People’s Provi-
sional Consultative Congress
(MPRS). For example:

e The fourth session of the
MPRS approved a decision to
“prohibit the spreading of com-
munism, Marxism-Leninism in
all forms and manifestations.”

e The MPRS revoked the
“Mahaputra” (Great Son) Star
awarded to D. N. Aidit, former
chairman of the Indonesian
Communist Party (PKI) who was
killed by reactionaries following
the September uprising. It label-
ed Aidit “first schemer in the
counter-revolutionary Sept. 30
movement.” :

e Suharto said that Sukarno

demonstrated “the greatness of
his soul” by accepting the MPRS
decisions. He boasted of a ‘‘Pre-
sident - people - Armed Forces
axis’” which “political guerrillas
inside and outside the country
have been trying to shatter in
Vans

Despite the anti-Communist,
anti-democratic drive which the
Army and certain fanatical reli-
gious groups have conducted

President Sukarno has wea-—
thered critical situations before.
As the man who led his country _
to independence in 1945, he re-
mains a hero to millions of In-
donesians. Much as Suharto and
the MPRS might like to write
him off, they find it impossible
to do so at this time. And if
the economic. situation contin-
ues to deteriorate, the Army is
likely to bear the brunt. of popu-

BERT WHYTE

Tribue Staff Correspondent

BY

MOSCOW

over the past year, the people
of Indonesia as a whole remain
in the ranks of anti-colonialist
fighters for freedom. Progressive
ideas cannot be killed by guns.

Lieut.-General Suharto has no
definite program to restore In-
donesia’s_ shattered economy.
Neither has his incompetent
Deputy Premier for Economic
Affairs, the Sultan of Jogjakarta
—except a patchwork plan to
get huge loans from Japan and
the United States, for which the
country would pay a heavy poli-
tical price.

lar dissatisfaction. In an effort
to escape this, the MPRS has
fixed the date of the next gener-
al elections. as July 5, 1968 at
the latest.

Time magazine and other
American publications have tried -
to destroy Sukarno politically
by describing him as a playboy,
a promiscuous man who has six
wives. Indonesians, however,
tend to admire Sukarno’s ex-
ploits in all fields,

So this below-the-belt cam-
paign is likely to backfire in the

" same way a Similar smear cam-

paign against Indalecio Priesto

backfired in Spain in the Thir-

ties. Priesto later became a min-
ister in the Republican govern-
ment. The story was recently
retold in the magazine Interna-
tional Affairs by N. G. Kuznet-
sov, Hero of the Soviet Union,
who served in Spain:

“Don Indalecio, as he was
often called, was an experienced
politician with 30 years of poli-
tical activity behind him, having
been repeatedly elected to the
Cortes. Everyone knew that he
was a crafty and businesslike
man. There were various rumors
about his private life. Women
were known to be his weakness,
and this had led to all sorts of

_ incidents. It was said that at a

Socialist. Party conference. hé
was asked about this point
blank. He stood up, ran his hand
in a theatrical gesture across his
ample chest, and said: ‘Every-
thing from here up is for the
Party, the rest, for myself.” .

During his years of unques-
tioned leadership, President Su-
karno made many mistakes—
such as, for instance, his hasty
and ill-considered decision to
withdraw Indonesia from che
United Nations. But at all times
he was a patriot and fought for
his : country’s. full sovereignty
and independence. In their long
and arduous struggle with arms
in hand the Indonesian people
learned lessons which they are
not likely to forget, and this

‘fighting experience remains In-

donesia’s hope for the future.

RHODESIA: clever words of deceit

By JACK WODDIS

RITISH Prime Minister
Harold Wilson’s Rhodesia
Strategy has been consis-

tent from the very day of the
unilateral declaration of inde-
pendence (UDI) of the Jan Smith
regime. :

He will not use force against
He will not support
Complete mandatory sanctions.

‘He will not break off talks with

the illegal Smith regime, because
he wants to do a deal with it.
He will not give a pledge of “no
Pe emaence before majority
Tule.” 5

This was the policy he was
Pursuing before and throughout
the Commonwealth Conference.
And this is the policy he intends
to follow—and which nothing in

the conference communique pre--

vents him from following.

The communique has been
hailed by some newspapers as
4 masterpiece of prose” and “a
triumph of drafting.” In short, it
S a swindle and a deception.

Owing to the spirited fight put

up by most of the Common-
wealth representatives, who
were expressing the powerful
feelings of their own peoples,
the communique had to set. out
what they demanded.

Thus, it states that ‘most
heads of government” demand-
ed force as “the only sure means
of bringing down the illegal re-
gime.” —

They urged Britain to “make a

categorical declaration that in-—

dependence should not be grant-
ed before majority rule is estab-
lished on the basis of universal
adult franchise.”

They urged that Britain
“should refuse to resume dis-
cussions or to negotiate with the
illegal regime.”

They further demanded that
the political leaders should be
“immediately and uncondition-
ally released before an interim
representative government was
formed, in which they should be
adequately represented.”

They called for the wishes of
the people to be ascertained

through a referendum based on
‘one man, one vote.

And they pressed for compre-
hensive mandatory sanctions.

Wilson flatly rejected all these
demands. He refused to do what
the majority of Commonwealth
premiers demanded, because his
aim is to carry forward the ne-
gotiations with the illegal Smith
regime and to ensure the con-
tinuity of white minority rule.

The communique states that
Britain’s aim is a settlement di-
rected to “achieving the objec-
tive’ of majority rule on the
basis of the Six Principles.”

The key phrase here is “the
objective of majority rule,” not
majority rule itself. For there is
nothing in the “six principles”
which pledges majority rule —
only “unimpeded progress _to-
ward majority rule.”

- Wilson himself has refused to

attach any time limit to this
objective. So it could take 10,
20, or even 100 years.

The final trick in the offer to
Smith is that the constitutional

settlement will be “submitted
for acceptance to the people of
Rhodesia as a whole by appro-
priate democratic means.” _

But how to ascertain the views
of the people? Wilson rejects a
referendum based on one man,
One vote. Instead he favors a
Royal Commission.

Smith has really nothing to
lose if he accepts this offer. But -
what if he declines? The impres-
sion has. been created that then
Wilson will get tough. Nothing
of the sort.

All the communique says is
that if the illegal regime is “not
prepared to take the initial and
indispensable steps whereby the
rebellion is brought to an end”.
(and Smith could give a mere
hint in this direction), then: (a)
Britain will withdraw her offers
and (b) “given the full support
of Commonwealth representa-
tives at the United Nations” will
be “prepared to join in sponsor-
ing in the Security Council” a
resolution for “selective” sanc-

tions, before the end of the year.

This

is the second major
trick. .

Wilson has since revealed that
(a) and (b) are linked. In other
words, if some Commonwealth
countries were not prepared to
go along with selective sanc-
tions, but wanted complete
sanctions, or if countries like
Australia or New Zealand were ©
against any extension of sanc-
tions, then. Wilson could argue
that he was released from his
obligations to carry out any of
the threats made.

Trickery and _ deceit

could
hardly go any further.

A storm of protest should go
up against this deception. All
talks with Smith should be
broken off. Complete mandatory
sanctions against Rhodesia
should be imposed.

Britain, in consultation with
the African states, must be pre-
pared to use armed force to end
the illegal Smith regime, release’
the political prisoners and open

“the way to democratic majority

rule.

September 30, 1966—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 5