Belarus Democracy

Reporter: Julie Masis

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Script

JULIE MASIS: In October of 2004, the United States Congress unanimously passed the Belarus Democracy Act, which was promptly signed into law by President Bush. The stated purpose of the Act is to -quote- "provide for the promotion of democracy and human rights in the Republic of Belarus and for the consolidation and strengthening of Belarus sovereignty and independence." The Act provides funds for radio broadcasting and support of some political groups in Belarus, while prohibiting the extension of any loans or investment to the Belarusian Government.

Valentin Rybakov, a diplomat at the Belarusian Embassy, is skeptical about Washington's intentions.

VELNTIN RYBAKOV: It's a little bit funny that the United States is so much concerned about the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Belarus.

JM: So why does the United States care about Belarus?

The Belarus Democracy Act itself provides the official explanation and President Bush refers to the Belarussian President, Alexander Lukashenko, as the last dictator in Europe. The United States sites the disappearance of three leaders of the Belarusian opposition, closure of some independent publications, and widespread election fraud.

David Marples is a history professor at the University of Alberta in Canada. He says that the Belarus Democracy Act is about ideology.

DAVID MARPLES: The current administration in the US, people like Donald Rumsfeld, seriously object to governments like this and believe that by being aggressive, by being very active, they can bring about change.

JM: (But) Belarus is not the only former Soviet republic with dictatorial tendencies. The results of Ukrainian elections were annulled recently because of alleged fraud. Russian President Vladimir Putin has abandoned the practice of electing regional governors. And, worse still, the President of Turkmenistan, who has been the leader of the c ountry since independence has outlawed all opposition parties, proclaimed himself President for Life and made a book that he wrote himself a compulsory text in primary and secondary schools. So why single out Belarus?

Ethan Burger is a law professor at American University who has also served as a referendum observer in Belarus. He suggests that the United States might be concerned about the extension of Russian power Westward.

ETHAN BURGER: Belarus is now on the radar screen of the US government. The United States has a major interest in Belarus remaining an independent country, and ideally a country that will evolve to a benign country, as opposed to a country that might be absorbed by Russia, in a reconstituted successor state of the Soviet Union, or simply being a country that is merely a pawn of Moscow. "(38 sec) JM: In fact Belarus has very close relations with the Russian Federation. Since 1999, the two states have been toying with the idea of a political union. So perhaps what concerns the United States about President Lukashenko is not so much his dictatorial tendencies but his close relations to Russian President Vladimir Putin. And this concern might be behind Washington's foreign policy not only in Belarus, but also in the recent Ukrainian elections.

For Intern Edition, I'm Julie Masis in Washington.

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