US - Fiji, Air Not Yet Clear
posted
30th August 2000
SUVA:
The United States government has suspended more than $1 million
in security and other assistance to Fiji, cancelled a number of
ship visits to Suva and banned more than 130 people from entering
the US because it did not support the hostage-taking in Parliament.
The US Embassy in Suva said the US government had taken these actions
in strongly condemning the overthrow of the elected People's Coalition
government on May 19.
The embassy was reacting to a media report which quoted [deposed
Prime Minister Mahendra] Chaudhry telling the Times of India that
the US Embassy had put indirect pressure on his government and was
"pushy" about the American firm Timber Resource Management (TRM)
being awarded the mahogany contract. Chaudhry reportedly said the
coup was triggered by his government's decision to award the contract
to British government-owned Commonwealth Development Corporation
(CDC) over TRM and the game plan was to remove his government. But
the embassy said insinuations attributed to Chaudhry regarding the
alleged backing of the US government in the attempted May 19 coup
was "completely unfounded, untrue and unfortunate". It said Chaudhry
should know better than anyone else the straightforward role it
played in advocating on behalf of a US company's bid on Fiji's public
tender for mahogany resources.
The embassy said an important role of all nations' embassies and
high commissions was to promote their countries' commercial interests
and that it would continue to promote American businesses and commercial
interests in the future. "In that regard we helped arrange a meeting
between Mr Chaudhry and State Department officials during a visit
by Mr Chaudhry to New York," it said. The embassy said it also sponsored
an orientation visit to New York of two cabinet ministers and two
of Chaudhry's key advisers who met with senior financial experts
in Wall Street to discuss how the US bond market would be involved
in financial aspects of the US company's bid. It said any notion
that the US supported the demise of constitutional democracy in
Fiji was ludicrous, pernicious and completely false. "
n end to poverty. These foot-soldiers are mobilisi
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