Dukakis Would Consider Aiding South Africa Foes

Accusing South Africa of sponsoring “terrorism” and engaging in “blatant aggression” against its neighbors, Michael S. Dukakis said Monday that if elected President he “would not rule out” giving military aid to the “front-line” states bordering the white-ruled nation.

Military aid, the Massachusetts governor said at a press conference, would be a last resort that he would consider if economic aid to the front-line states and an international boycott of South Africa did not force change in that nation’s policies.

Dukakis’ stand would be a dramatic reversal of current U.S. policy. Under the Reagan Administration, the United States has supported South African-backed rebel groups seeking to overthrow the government of at least one of the front-line nations, Angola, which the Administration considers to be Marxist. And the Administration has provided only minimal aid to a second front-line state, Mozambique, which is also under attack from a South African-backed guerrilla group.

Dukakis’ statements are politically significant as well. Aid to the front-line states has been one of the chief foreign policy goals of the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaign. Although Dukakis insists that he, too, has opposed South Africa all along, the issue did not have a high priority in his campaign until recently.

On Sunday, aides to Dukakis and Jackson agreed on a strong anti-South Africa plank for the Democratic Party’s platform, calling South Africa a “terrorist” nation because of its attacks on neighboring countries as well as its apartheid policies at home.

Party strategists believe that the Administration’s reluctance to oppose South Africa will create trouble for Vice President George Bush during the election. On Monday, Bush said that while he does not consider South Africa “terrorist,” he does consider it “racist,” a departure from statements by President Reagan, who in the past has asserted that South Africa had eliminated many forms of racial discrimination.

Asked at a press conference about Bush’s statement, Dukakis said that South Africa “not only is engaged in blatant racism and terrorism, it is engaging in naked aggression, military aggression against its neighbors.”

Dukakis will outline his foreign policy positions further in a speech today that his aides are billing as a major foreign policy address focusing on arms control and U.S. relations with NATO.

At the same time, Paul Brountas, Dukakis’ national campaign chairman, will also be in Washington, beginning his consultations with senior Democrats about Dukakis’ choice of a running mate. Brountas will meet with members of Congress for two or three days during this first round of meetings, according to Dukakis Press Secretary Mark Gearan.

Process Faces Complications

The process of picking a running mate has been complicated for Dukakis by Jackson’s statements last week that he wants to be considered for the job. But more recently, Jackson has seemed to be backing off somewhat from that position, and Sunday, after meeting with Dukakis, a group of black mayors, who have been leading Jackson supporters, appeared to play down the issue as well.

“We want him to treat Jesse fairly,” said Washington Mayor Marion S. Barry Jr. But Barry then declined to specify any steps Dukakis should take.

And Newark, N.J., Mayor Sharpe James, asked about the vice presidential slot, said: “I don’t want to get to that point because they haven’t reached that point.”

The mayors met with Dukakis at his request in Salt Lake City, where he had traveled to address the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ annual meeting.

Dukakis’ aides hope that his statements on South Africa will help solidify relations with the black community, which, Barry noted, still “doesn’t know Dukakis well.”

Many blacks have been angered by the Administration’s “constructive engagement” policy toward South Africa and for its failure to combat South African attempts to destabilize neighboring black-ruled nations that harbor foes of apartheid.