THE POOREST countries in Africa could be among the losers from last autumn's Republican gains in the US Congressional elections.
Huge cuts in aid to Africa as well as cash for Boris Yeltsin's Russian economy are among the key proposals from the new chair of the Senate's subcommittee on foreign operations.
Republican Mitch McConnell, who takes over this month, has called for a 20% across-the board cut in spending abroad, with aid payments restricted to countries which assist US security and economic interests.
Lined up the chop is the Development Fund for Africa, which has had a budget of $800 million a year. McConnell's justififying argument is brutally frank:
"In the past, development assistance has focused on relieving the symptoms of poverty and despair. But by any standard the fact is that most poor countries are still poor.
McConnell is echoing the views of foreign relations committee chair Jesse Helms, who describes foreign aid as 'throwing money down a rathole'.
The prospects of the 'new world order and the capitalist market system improving life for the African masses seem further away than ever.