WASHINGTON: The bill which contains President Reagan’s $100 million in aid for Nicaraguan rebels also would divert another $300 million from international food aid programs — including Ethiopian famine relief — for economic aid to Central America, critics charged Thursday.
While the legislation i still working its way through Congress, the administration already has put a freeze on new allocations under the Food for Peace program to ensure that enough money re- ‘mains to fill the expected Central America aid demand, say congressional and agriculture industry sources speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Instead of utilizing it for food assistance in many areas of the world, this $300 million may be diverted to for Central American countries neither for other needs which are described nor under stood,” Sen. John Melcher, D. Mont, told a meeting of agribusiness leaders who were worried about the decline in U.S. farm exports.
But the administration, while it said it would decide soon how much food for Peace money to use for Central America, denied that had cut off new allocations, An official of the Agency for Inter- national Development, which ad- ‘ministers food aid programs, said a new $25 million package for India Was approved on Thursday,
But the official, who spoke only on condition that he not be named said African famine relief money ‘was considered available for transfer to Central America because all emergency food requests this year have already been taken care of.
Both Melcher and Sen, Tom Harkin, D-Towa, wrote letters this week to President Reagan objecting to any freeze on food aid money at the time of year when it is in peak demand and on the heels of the first U.S. monthly agricultural trade deficit in 30 years. The House on June 25 passed its version of the aid package, which includes $100 million in military help for the Nicaraguan Contra rebels and $300 in economic assistance for Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Costa Rica. The Senate is expected to take up the measure sometime after it returns from recess next week. The economic aid was a key element in winning passage for the House package. Backers promoted the bill as a regional development and aid – package that contained economic and humanitarian help as well as military aid. The House-passed bill specifies that of the $300 million in economic development money, – $225 million should come from the un-spent African relief fund and $75 million from Food for Peace.
Food for Peace is one of the government’s principal foreign aid tools, offering surplus U.S. farm commodities to needy countries around the world either on concessional sales terms or as outright give ways.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 18, 1986
