As the United States seeks to deepen its relations with African countries and counter the influence of rivals like Russia and China, it faces a tricky question: How does it respond when countries do things that will against Washington’s declared commitment to democracy and human rights?
That tension loomed over a major trade conference between the United States and African countries that began in Johannesburg this week, after President Biden announced he suspend four nations of a vital trade program aimed at promoting economic development in Africa.
One of the suspended countries, Uganda, which this year passed a law calling for life imprisonment for anyone engaging in homosexual sex, sent a delegation to the conference to advocate for its reinstatement in the program, the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA. . Mr. Biden wrote to Congress that Uganda was excluded because it “engaged in egregious violations of internationally recognized human rights.”
Susan Muhwezi, trade advisor to the Ugandan president, rejected this statement, describing Uganda as “an island of peace”.
“If we’re supposed to be friends and interact with each other,” she said in an interview at the conference, “I think there are better ways to express our concerns than to say : “I’m the boss and I have to strike.” ” She added that removing Uganda from the program would harm the livelihoods of traders of cotton, coffee, vanilla and other products that accounted for the $12.3 million in exports that this African country the East achieved last year thanks to the American trade program.
“Isn’t this also a violation of human rights in another way?” she said, referring to the US decision to suspend Uganda from the program.
Once the suspensions take effect on January 1, 31 countries will participate in the trade program. It was signed into law in 2000 and is open to sub-Saharan African countries, allowing them to export certain goods to the United States without having to pay customs duties. Last year, the United States absorbed approximately $30 billion in goods through AGOA.
The tension between promoting democracy and human rights, on the one hand, and maintaining influence abroad is not new for the United States. It is very much alive today in Africa, with competition between the United States, Russia and China, where Moscow and Beijing are promising aid. and unconditional security. But for the United States, the pro-democracy campaign is, among other things, a key selling point to a domestic audience that has become increasingly isolationist in recent years.
Gabon and Niger were suspended by Mr Biden following coups contrary to the trade program’s eligibility requirements. The president of the Central African Republic, who was also suspended, pushed through a measure this year to remove presidential term limits. Wagner, the Russian mercenary group, manages the country’s security.
To maintain eligibility for the program, countries must respect certain conditionsincluding supporting democracy, protecting human rights, and not acting against the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.
They can be suspended for committing “gross violations of internationally recognized human rights” or for supporting terrorism and efforts to eliminate human rights. Implementing these requirements comes with difficult calculations for the United States.
The Biden administration has emphasized the importance of engaging African nations on an equal footing. But by taking punitive measures, Washington risks being seen as interpreting or attempting to impose its values on countries that have a painful and not-so-distant experience of colonial rule.
Although these suspensions are the result of violations that the White House has deemed egregious, Biden administration officials say they are trying to be sensitive to these concerns. Judd Devermont, a top White House adviser on African affairs, said the administration’s priority is to “inject a little more complexity into our relationship” in Africa and accept that it is disagree with countries on certain issues.
“When we have differences, we should read them and talk about them,” he said. “This is what we are doing with other countries in other regions of the world.”
Even some U.S. lawmakers have argued that the United States should be careful when revoking privileges granted to African countries that might violate the standards it has set. They say it could result in ordinary people being punished for the actions of their governments, and it could cause the continent’s African nations to drift toward rival countries, posing an even greater threat to U.S. interests.
Beyond “blatant violations of principles or attacks on core U.S. interests,” keeping countries on the trade agenda is important for “the country’s entrepreneurs and small business owners as well as the overall relationship,” Sen said . Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland.
At the same time, the Biden administration faces pressure from lawmakers, particularly Republicans, to take a closer look at countries that benefit from AGOA.
They cite the conference’s host country, South Africa, which just six months ago was in a tense standoff with Washington over the U.S. ambassador’s allegations that South Africa provided weapons to Russia for the war in Ukraine.
Republican Senators James Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Tim Scott of South Carolina issued separate statements this week criticizing the Biden administration’s decision to continue the conference in South Africa. South while issues surrounding South Africa’s support for Russia remain. unresolved.
They also criticized South Africa’s response to the war in Gaza, noting that South Africa’s foreign minister spoke on the phone with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and visited Iran , where she met President Ebrahim Raisi. Hamas, which controls Gaza and orchestrated the attack on Israel on October 7, is a proxy for Iran.
“The administration’s decision to host the AGOA forum in South Africa and maintain South Africa’s eligibility for AGOA benefits in 2024 undermines the integrity of the program and our trade preferences “, wrote Mr. Risch.
The trade program is set to expire in 2025, at which point Congress will have to decide whether to reauthorize it. Although Mr. Risch said he favored its renewal, he suggested that lawmakers could require significant changes to the program, which could lead to a difficult reauthorization process.
The White House likely concluded that whatever sins South Africa may have committed, imploding relations over them was not worth it, several analysts said in recent interviews.
South Africa is the biggest beneficiary of the trade deal, with $3 billion in exports last year. It is one of the most advanced economies on the continent, and the United States considers it an important ally with influence over other African countries.
South Africa has played a mediating role in peace efforts in several conflicts across Africa, helping to create a stability that the United States sees as vital to its own interests, in part because it can prevent the spread of extremist groups.
Teddy Ruge, a Ugandan business owner, was on a plane en route to Johannesburg when Mr. Biden announced the suspensions. Mr. Ruge is the founder of Raintree Farms, which exports to the United States moringa, an herbal plant powder used in many health products.
Sitting at the conference behind a booth draped in the Ugandan flag, he said he felt embarrassed that everyone looked at him like he was “the bad kid.”
