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South Africa is accused of aiding Russia with weapons for the war in Ukraine, a rate South Africa denies.
By John Eligon
A bipartisan organization of U. S. lawmakers has called on Biden’s administration to punish South Africa for what it sees as pro-Russia’s war in Ukraine by moving a planned primary industry convention in South Africa this year to another country.
The request, made in a letter sent last week, is the first concrete retaliatory effort through members of the U. S. government. U. S. officials who oppose the developing view in Washington that South Africa and Russia are moving in a direction that threatens U. S. national interests are moving in a direction that threatens U. S. national interests. U. S.
The letter, received through The New York Times, focuses on an annual forum for the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA. The continent’s most evolved economies are its biggest beneficiary, exporting about $3 billion in goods to the United States through AGOA last year.
U. S. officials said intelligence suggests South Africa may have helped supply weapons to Russia for the war. South African officials say the country is “not aligned” with the confrontation and deny promoting weapons to Russia.
U. S. lawmakers and Biden’s management disagree on how to respond to suspicions.
While Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have said it’s time for South Africa, a strong U. S. ally, to deal with the fallout, the White House has adopted a wait-and-see technique to allow President Cyril Ramaphosa to make good on his promise to investigate. . if weapons have been supplied.
The AGOA Forum, which alternates the year between the United States and an African country, is designed to deepen diplomatic and economic ties between the Americas and the continent.
Beyond the forum, the ultimate serious fear for South Africa is that it could lose its standing with AGOA, which would be a blow to a country that relies on the United States as its second-largest trading partner. Africa as “in danger of squandering the benefits of AGOA. “
Situations for joining AGOA, whose primary target is low-income countries, are established through Congress. Federal regulations allow the president to load or countries from AGOA, a procedure administered through the Office of the U. S. Trade Representative. U. S. The sales representative also coordinates the forum.
Relations between South Africa and the United States have become increasingly tense since Russia started the war in Ukraine.
U. S. officials say they do not blame South Africa for the right to maintain a friendship with Russia or refuse to condemn the invasion. But they say South Africa would possibly have crossed a line and provided clothing for the war. They point to a Russian shipment under U. S. sanctions, the Lady R, which docked at a naval base near Cape Town last December.
“The intelligence services recommend that the South African government seize this opportunity to secretly supply Russia with weapons and ammunition that can be used in its illegal war in Ukraine,” the lawmakers’ letter said.
As evidence that South Africa is not impartial in the war, U. S. lawmakers also pointed to joint military training they conducted with Russia and China in February; a U. S. -authorized Russian shipping plane that landed at a South African Air Force base in April; and South Africa’s plan to host a foreign summit known as BRICS in August that Russian President Vladimir V. Putin could attend.
“We are seriously involved in whether hosting the 2023 AGOA Forum in South Africa can serve as an implicit endorsement of South Africa’s refusal to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” the letter said.
The letter was signed by Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the committee’s most sensible Republican. It was also signed by the most sensible Republican and Democratic lawmakers on the House Foreign Relations Committee. .
In a matrix, a State Department spokesperson reiterated the importance of AGOA and the forum, but did not specify how the administration planned to respond to lawmakers’ request. .
Vincent Magwenya, a spokesman for Ramaphosa, said his workplace would comment once the United States made a resolution at the AGOA forum. Magwenya noted that Ramaphosa hoped to lead a delegation of African heads of state seeking to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Even before tensions erupted over the war in Ukraine, questions arose about whether South Africa still has free access to the U. S. industrial market. The U. S. is based on the complex state of its economy, according to South African and U. S. officials.
The dispute over Russia has a more fueled hypothesis that South Africa could be excluded from AGOA when the law is renewed in 2025.
Last year, the United States withdrew Ethiopia, Guinea and Mali from AGOA, exposing human rights abuses and violations of the program’s terms.
John Eligon is the head of the Johannesburg office and covers Southern Africa. In the past, he painted as a reporter on the National, Sports and Metro desks. His paintings took him from the streets of Minneapolis after George Floyd’s death to South Africa for the funeral. by Nelson Mandela. Learn more about John Eligon
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