Mugabe Visit to Harvard

To the Editors of The Crimson:

In her article describing Zimbabwe Prime Minister Robert Mugabe's Law School Forum speech, entitled "Mugabe Hits West For Limited Perspective," (9/24/83). Crimson editor Carla Williams defined incorrectly the dispute between Zimbabwe and the United States over the question of Namibia, a South Africa-controlled region since 1920.

Williams described the conflict between the United States and Zimbabwe as stemming from the United States's disapproval of "Namibia's accepting aid from Marxist Cuba" Contrary to what Williams writes, Namibia does not receive aid from Cuba. It is, instead, controlled militarily and economically by South Africa.

The Cuban aid Williams writes about in directed toward Namibia's northern neighbor, Angola. What Williams should have written is that Zimbabwe does not believe that the United States should insist that the withdrawal of the 20,000 Cuban troops that currently reside in Angola can be a condition of any plan for Namibian independence. Expected by President Reagan, this policy is an example of what Mugabe calls "the United States's tendency to view African political struggles strictly in East-West terms."

Since the Reagan policy deviates from the position of Jimmy Carter, it has helped sour the United States's relations with many Black African nations, and has been exploited by South Africa. Whenever questions of Namibian independence has been discussed, facts pertaining to the policy and the dispute should not be presented inaccurately by any newspaper, school daily or otherwise. The next time Williams or any Crimson editor writes a story that mentions the Namibia dispute they should first research the facts. The Western countries have, then far, failed to convince South Africa to relinquish its control over Namibia is due, in part, to misconceptions about the Namibia dispute among leaders in the West. Let's not contribute to the confusion in the future. Ari Fitzgerald '84