Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 31, 1975, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press monday March 31, 1975 ii ideological balance of Power shifts what has happened in Portugal has outflanked a 30-year-old Assumption about the ideological balance of Power in Europe according to the British weekly the economist. The following editorial appeared in a recent Issue of the economist under the heading the change in Europe s map London pc Oil the economist Portugal has crossed the watershed Between last year s release from a right Wing dictatorship and this year s Prospect of a left Wing one. The events of the past two weeks have left the curious Alliance Between its communist party and the marxist officers who Lead its armed forces movement in Al m o s t undisputed control of the country. The effects of what has happened Are already being Felt by the portuguese themselves. They May also be Felt by the rest of Western Europe before Long. The same mixture of economic need ideology and fear of isolation that led Cuba into increasing dependence on the russians after its rather similar revolution 16 years ago May now have the same effect on Portugal. The re port that the soviet merchant Fleet May be allowed refuelling facilities at Madeira is not particularly alarming. But it is unlikely to be confined to that. The recent statement by Aluaro Cun Hal the communist Leader that he did not intend to press for Portal s with drawl from nato for the time being is a singularly qualified com fort. If Portugal continues on its present course the break with nato seems bound to come. Many people who Are now worried by this Prospect failed to take it very seriously before the events of March 11 because they did not believe that the armed forces movement would allow it to come about and because they doubted whether the russians them selves would want it to come about. These two arguments need some examination. First it is Clear that a pow Erful element within the afm perhaps a majority was never entirely in sym Pathy with the communist parly and certainly did not want a break with nato. But the pro communist faction grouped around the prime minister brigadier Vasco Goncalves has extended its Power through a series of confrontations and is now in a position to make a thorough clearance of its opponents. Second it May indeed be True that the russians were not anxious to see a violent lurch to the left in Portugal which might endanger their relations with Western Europe and the United states and in particular the benefits they want from economic co operation with the West. The russians must also have taken into account the effects that a marxist seizure of Power in Portugal might have on the electoral chances of the marxist left in places like France and Italy. But there is an argument on the other Side that is in danger of being overlooked. It is that what has happened in Portugal will be taken As Evi Dence that the old division of Europe into a communist and a non communist half no longer applies. The effect of that on the morale of the european democracies could be Large. The strategic importance of Den Ying the air base in the azores to the americans an the event of another mid dle East War cannot be ignored. The existence of a marxist military regime in Lisbon is certain to influence Spain s political future after Franco. But the consequences for the balance of Power in Europe Are potentially More pro found a measurable step May have been taken towards the Fin Landeza Tion of Western Europe for the rus sians this is a gain that might justify taking a risk in their relations with the . Particularly since they will argue that the afm not Portugal s communist party was the real mover of events. There is still room for debate Over just How much def hence Portugal s communists will have in what is Likely to remain a political dictatorship in in form. But the recent Cabinet changes confirmed that Alvaro Cuthal the communist is Iby far the most powerful civilian figure in Lisbon today. His party s attitude towards its remaining political Juies was made Clear in an interview that one of his colleagues Aurelio Sajtos gave to the Indian communist paper new age ear liver this month. Or. Santos declared that the socialist party was Dispensa ble because it did represent the people and that the apis of the revolutionary process in Portugal was a permanent Alliance Between the communists and the afm. In the Long run if the communists have their Way Portugal s social democrats and liberals Are liable to share the present Fate of Spinola s sup porters j what really happened in the botched attempt at a counter coup on March 11 May never be fully in oven. The present evidence suggests that1 Gen. Spinola and has friends walked wide eyed into a trap. Whatever the truth of the mat Ter their Folly provided the left with the occasion it needed to remove its potential rivals from key positions and to ensure that the election for a constituent Assembly next month will be at Best an irrelevance at worse the rubber stamping of a dictatorship. The new supreme revolutionary Council has Given itself apparently limitless Powers and it is dominated by the action of afm Allied to thie communist party. Assassin s Bullet brings uncertainty to open by Peter Hillmore London special the guardian there Are three holy places in the deserts of Arabia Mecca Medina and the vast Oil Fields All symbols of an ancient heritage and a new global Power. King Faisal has died without Ful filling his great ambition of using the Oil Fields to re store Jerusalem to the list. Saudi Arabia is virtually floating on Oil. In spite of the new Oil discoveries made around the world Alaska the North sea Asia the Blunt fact re Mains that these Are All puddles in the Ocean com pared with what lies under the Sands and in the sur rounding Waters of saudi Arabia. Even on proven reserves the. Kingdom has Over 25 per cent of sup ply of the precious liquid and if one also makes an estimate for the still Undis covered Oil Fields the total goes up from about 140 Bil lion barrels to nearly 600 billion. With the Oil discoveries has come immense Politi Cal Power. King Faisal s father Abdel Aziz Rode out of a Small desert town at the head of a band of armed horsemen impaled the. Rule of Riyadh with his sword the steel Point remains imbedded in a doorway and is the main sightseeing Point for Visi tors and called the country his. Faisal used to Fly out of a Large desert country with a Small but trusted band of advisers for six months impaled the West Over a barrel and for a time looked As if he could Call the world his. One of the great ironies of the Oil crisis although the shortage has abated the Price problem remains has been that in spite of widespread beliefs to the contrary the world was not being held to Ransom by a Bunch of left Wing Oil producers. It is hard to think of countries More conserva Tive More capitalist Cally inclined and More reaction Ary than saudi Arabia with no parliament and a Feudal system Kuwait where the Enir has the Power although there is a parliament and Iran where the Shah is in com plete control. Yet these friends of the West have More than quadrupled the Price of Oil reduced production to make sure that oversupply does not push prices Down and nationalized the foreign Oil companies. It was saudi Arabia that turned the potential of the Oil weapon into reality in october 1973. Previous attempts by Arab Oil producers to Wield the weapon such As after the 1967 War were ineffective be cause of disagreements Over Aims among the Arab states and the aloofness of King Faisal. 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It was not Deci Sion forced upon Faisal by the suddenness of the october War. A few months before fighting broke out he had embarked upon a Long term policy of bringing about a gradual change in . Foreign policy by sending his foreign min ister to see president Rich Ard Nixon who angered Faisal by announcing Only a few Days later increased Aid for Israel. Thus the Middle. East War was not a turning Point in pro Western Fai Sal s Oil policy rather it was a catalyst speeding up a political process that had already begun. The Oil embargo and pro d u c t i o n cutbacks would have failed if King Faisal had not taken part. While some of the left Wing pro d u c e r s like Libya and Iraq hardly halted production the ruler of saudi Arabia caused the most trouble cutting Back output initially by 10 per cent when the plan was for five per cent. In Many ways the organization of Petroleum exporting countries open is the world s most improbable Cartel. Its members Are nearly always feuding Over something except Oil. Iran and Iraq had Border disputes. Kuwait and saudi Arabia were also in Dis agreement. Saudi Arabia and Iran had offshore Dis Putes and Libya and saudi Arabia Are strange ideological bedfellows. Yet while foreign min i s t e r s harangued each other the Oil ministers met with formal regularity. There was however always an element of in consistency in King Faisal s attitude towards the West s Oil supplies. On the one hand his Oil Minster sheikh Ahmed Zakiya Mani would Tell Western diplomats of saudi Ara Bia s desire to bring prices Down and to maintain sup plies and would hint at his opposition to the policies of some fellow open coun tries. On the other hand saudi Arabia was determined not to weaken open agreed to Price rises and at times last year itself introduced complicated formulas that pushed up the Cost and has Cut its production Back from nine million barrels a Day to just Over six million barrels to Slop prices from coming Down. Although there is no doubt that saudi Arabia was a moderating influence on Middle East Oil Power it has still been pretty Force Ful in its dealings wifi the West. Faisal for example May have stopped the Shah of Iran from pushing Oil prices up six fold butt Fai Sal still allowed them to go up nearly five fold. An Assassin s Bullet has brought both a new King to saudi Arabia and a new unknown Force to open. This has happened More Over at a time when with the breakdown of Middle East peace negotiations the Arab members of the open can play a dominant role in world politics. The Council s first moves have demolished the remaining Hopes of an Experiment in democracy. First it ordered the state takeover of the Banks and insurance companies reversing the policy Laid Down by the three year economic plan announced last month. This is the sort of decision that Only an elected parliament should have taken but the parliament if one is Ever elected has been preempted. The political control of credit will have far reaching effects. It will mean for instance that the democratic parties in dependent newspapers and so Cial reactionaries will find it hard to Lay hands on funds to maintain their opposition to the new regime. Some people Are even being prevented from deposits. The takeover of the Banks will not help to revive Portugal s econ omy especially if otherwise profitable firms will be starved of credit in order to provide Cash to cover the Cost of state run companies. But the supreme Council not a Parlia ment decides these things now. The most telling action of the new regime is the Way it has dictated its terms for the coming elections. These would not have altered the shape of the government because this has now been taken beyond the Power of elections to affect. But the sweeping victories for the non communist parties that the opinion polls had predicted would have had a moral effect. This is Why the communists whose own opinion Survey showed that they would be Lucky to win a tenth of the votes were so worried about he elections. Now with sever Al parties banned the Media firmly under control and the counting of the ballot papers Eft to local authorities heavily influenced by the communists no one is counting on a clean election. It is not impossible liven the present degree of in imitation that the communists May even manage to Reg Ster a spurious plurality in an artificially Low poll. But Portugal is still in year one of its revolution and the country is not Cuba yet. There Are still democrats in Many parties and in the afm itself who will continue to fight Back against the pressures on them. And there Are still1 Many things hat their friends in Western countries can do to encourage hem not least by identifying the enemies of democracy in Portugal today and by pressing or honest and open elections. In these conditions the foreign press is a kind of psychological lifeline for Many portuguese and the recent at tack on Western reporting by the present minister of social communications shows How much Portugal s new rulers would like to Cut that lifeline. The democrats of Western Surope have a powerful inter est of their own in showing Bat they have not forgotten Portugal. Us Fol Bacon onions a tasty dish stronger action urged stronger action by the Feder Al government against illegal Public service strikes was urged by w. H. Gray pres ident of the Winnipeg chamber of Commerce in a letter last week to prime minister tru Deau. When illegal Public service strikes continue with impunity the private sector is encouraged also to flout labor or. Gray said. The chamber respected the right to strike As a Basic free Dom As Long As this did not impinge on the freedoms of others and society As a whole the letter said. Strikes by a handful of workers which adversely affect the whole Economy should in some Way also be made Ille Gal. We fear illegal strikes and work stoppages which Wield a frightening amount of Power and cripple our Economy. We have observed postal service and transportation system interruptions and shutdowns Al critical times which have caused hardships to individuals businesses and the reputation of Canada As a reliable supplier to world joint venture proposed Tokyo up Japan s Nyk line Nippon Yusen a Ushiki the world s biggest shipping company has announced a plan to establish a joint shipping firm in saudi Arabia a once France press reports. Nyk president Shojiro Kikuc Lii said recently his company has applied to the saudi arabian government for permission for the venture the new shipping company would be owned 40 per cent by the japanese and 60 per cent by the saudis. J beef liver 7q select Quality sliced. In. Bacon Sweet pickled Peame aled in the piece end cuts in. Port chops 0 family pack combination end Centre Cut. In. Cod breakfast vets sausage Ono bum share bet pork catch weight pack in. Q pork choppers orc chips my ii Fram Vale or turbot Frozen pk9 0 chopped. Formed Frozen in. Sliced beets Canada Choice of 4 to f i v a f a. F so Vav to i i i Grapefruit 5 it nor Arizona Pink celery stalks imported Canada no. 1 Grade Cantalope a 1 fir Arlo Al m in. Bag each Canada no. 1 Grade 45 s each prices effective monday . To wednesday March 31-april 2 in All greater mpg. And Selkirk Safeway stores. Sales in retail quantities Only. Copyright 1960, Canada Safeway limited ;