
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, November 20, 1993                   TAG: 9311200123
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

U.S. CUTS DICTATORS' FOREIGN AID

The U.S. foreign aid agency, declaring itself spread too thin, said Friday it is phasing out 21 missions serving 35 countries and territories as part of an ambitious reform program.

Seven of the targeted countries are wasting U.S. taxpayers' money because they are run by dictatorial governments, officials said. Twenty-six others are considered to be too prosperous to warrant continued U.S. assistance - at least at the same levels.

The remaining two will lose their bilateral aid programs, but the Agency for International Development will maintain a presence in them through regional programs.

The cutbacks are part of a long-range overhaul that eventually will reduce the number of recipient countries from 108 to about 50.

"We were just spread too thin," said J. Brian Atwood, administrator of AID. "We were an agency on the road to mediocrity or worse."

The announcement does not mean the countries and territories on the list will be cut off from all U.S. assistance. As an example, officials said humanitarian assistance to some countries, channeled through charitable groups, may continue.

The cutbacks will be spread out over three years and will save AID $26 million out of its total $500 million in operational costs. Almost 1,100 jobs are being eliminated, including those of 185 Americans.

David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, criticized the cutbacks, saying most affect very poor countries. He said the problems of hunger, poverty and environmental degradation are not priorities for the Clinton administration.

by CNB