A bipartisan group of four members of Congress is asking the Biden administration to punish South Africa over its relationship with Russia.
South Africa’s neutral stance on the war in Ukraine and its continued ties with Russia has angered the US. The African nation has been accused of loading a Russian ship with military equipment that docked at a naval base near Cape Town in December 2022, but the US has offered no evidence to back up the claim.
In a letter to President Biden’s top aides, lawmakers claimed that “intelligence suggests that the South African government used this opportunity to covertly supply Russia with arms and ammunition that could be used in its illegal war in Ukraine.”
The letter listed examples of actions by South Africa that the US is unhappy about, including joint military exercises with Russia and China, and allowing a Russian plane to land at a South African military base. South Africa is also hosting an upcoming BRICS summit and is looking to facilitate Russian President Vladimir Putin’s participation despite the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.
The lawmakers want Biden to take action against South Africa’s participation in a forum for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a law that provides duty-free access to markets in the US for dozens of African nations. South Africa is set to host the AGOA forum this year, but the lawmakers want that to change.
“We are seriously concerned that hosting the 2023 AGOA Forum in South Africa would serve as an implicit endorsement of South Africa’s damaging support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and possible violation of US sanctions law,” the letter reads.
The letter was signed by Senators Chris Coons (D-DE), James Risch (R-ID), and the top Republican and Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Reps. Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Gregory Meeks (D-NY).
So US is going after the weakest BRICS member. Not surprising at all.but after august when new members join their club, you better hold on to your butts.
Yes going after a BRICS member by removing its preferential access to the US market – that is really harsh – removing preferential treatment would seem to the natural consequence of actively working against US foreign policy goals.
All good things must come to an end. You didn’t think US was going to rule forever did you?
No but then I’m not even remotely sure that we are approaching the end of US dominance – seeing as most of the rest of the nations in the developed world are on very shaky grounds demographically as well as economically I would not invest in the current alternatives.
Wow Michael… you haven’t noticed that China has taken Amerikkka’s place as #1?
China has a disciplined and productive population as well as the fact that their nation has spent the last decades investing in THEMSELVES rather than pointless, murderous wars. The average Chinese is now more prosperous than the average Amerikkan. Does that not indicate anything to you?
I purchase all of my clothing and shoes from a Chinese website that bypasses the middleman; they come directly from the country of origin.
They are incredibly well-made and AFFORDABLE compared to what one would spend here. This website is what keeps me dressed! Thank you CHINA!
A fair reply, I have, but then I also know their demographic situation – China is peaking probably as we speak – i.e. the Chinese giant is, like the Japanese before it, standing on clay feet.
Yes that is actually part of the problem for the Chinese – i.e. they are very dependent of export led growth/demand and many of their markets are far away and thus dependent on freedom of the seas – an arrangement largely upheld by the US fleet.
Replacing the US is a much more expensive and problematic proposal than just replacing the dollar as the currency of exchange, there is the issue of replacing the dollar also as a value storage – this requires trust which a new currency will use years to achieve.
We will see how the BRICS plan for an alternative to the dollar as a currency for exchange works out – the fact that neither China nor Russia (or likely Brazil) will allow their own population to full access to this new currency does not auger well for many others trusting it very fast.
It’s gotten to a point that US entertainment industry is calling Chinese racist for not watching their “equity” movies. Now that’s what I call power of the purse.
Just hang around a little bit longer. And you’ll see a true shaky grounds.
Sure.
There some 140 plus countries who are not toeing the US line on Russia that tells you all you need to know really how out of touch the US is when it comes to world affairs , they have got so used to do as i say not as i do policy to wards other countries .
Very few of them are however supporting Russia in the UN or elsewhere that includes several of Russia’s CSTO partners – all the US’s NATO partners are supporting the hard line on Russia.
They don`t openly support Putin because of the threats of Sanctions
You then must believe that the sanctions are crippling the Russian economy much more than most others here!?
Because most of the CSTO members have not supported Russia – that corresponds to none of the NATO members supporting the US.
https://nationalinterest.org/feature/has-russia%E2%80%99s-war-ukraine-killed-csto-205466
It would seem that they are avoiding even looking like they are supporting Russia.
Just listen to it: “punish South Africa for relationship with Russia” … two sovereign states having a relationship and we think we have some say on this. Americans should ask, why?
The US has the say that it can remove South Africa from the list of countries enjoying preferential treatment – that is a punishment too and most certainly a thing Americans should have a say in.
Here we go again…!
The letter asks for AGOA meeting not to be held in South Africa due to the ambiguity of US foreign policy. In other words the US would be embarrassed to hold a meeting promoting investing in South Africa while at the same time telling South Africa not to provide opportunities for Russia , a member of BRICS. Who is being punished, S.A. or U.S.?
They are going to be really upset if that competitor to the dollar is announced at that meeting in Durban.
So I guess it wasn’t enough that we supported the apartheid regime until 1986…