U.S. congress staffers here to improve ties
U.S. congress staffers here to improve ties
JAKARTA (JP): A delegation of six key Congressional staffers
are currently in Jakarta to study the economic and political
relations between Jakarta and Washington, amid mounting U.S.
criticism towards Indonesia's human rights record.
Consisting of senior aides to members of the United States
Senate and House of Representatives, the delegation, which
arrived on Sunday, will embark on a week-long educational tour.
The visit is sponsored by the U.S.-Indonesia Society (USINDO)
which boasts such luminaries as former minister of finance
Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, former minister of environment Emil
Salim and former U.S. secretary of state George Shultz as its
members.
Congressional criticism has been growing in the past year
against Indonesia's labor record and alleged human rights abuses
in East Timor.
The mounting anti-Indonesian sentiment in Congress has
resulted in last year's blockage of Indonesia's intended purchase
of American made F-5 jet fighters from Jordan and the recent
cancellation of a U.S. military training program.
Just last week the United States inflamed relations even
further by linking the arrest of an Indonesian dissident labor
leader to the renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences.
Lobbying groups
USINDO, established in 1993, is one of the foremost lobbying
groups in promoting better relations between the two countries,
especially since it involves persons close to the government
circle.
During a private, informal coffee gathering hosted by the
United States Information Service director Wesley Struat here
yesterday evening, he seemed to play down the significance of the
visit by calling it as a mere "educational" tour.
Despite being described as a private, non-government "holiday"
trip, the delegation is scheduled to meet with a surprisingly
large number of key government officials including Minister of
Manpower Abdul Latief, Minister of National Development
Planning/Chairman of the National Development Planning Board
(Bappenas) Ginandjar Kartasasmita and the Vice-Chairman of the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) J.A. Katili.
The delegation will also journey to East Timor and call on the
province's military commander Col. Johny Lumintang, Governor
Abilio Soares and the vocal Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo.
A trip to Yogyakarta and Bali is also planned where they will
inspect various development projects such as the Integrated Post
Management near Borobudur, the world's largest Buddhist shrine,
in Central Java. (mds)