European Union calls U.S. action on bananas illegal

It is beginning to resemble a battle of the press releases. First the Chamber of Commerce used the printed word to lambast the United States Government for its alleged attempts to kill off the Caribbean Banana Industry in favor of its own giant multinational corporations. The U.S. Embassy then fired back a salvo of its own which said that its intentions were strictly honorable, and that while it was challenging the cozy banana arrangement between Europe and its former colonies, America only had Belize’s best interests at heart. Today the European Union “licked shot” at Uncle Sam in the form of a press release from its office in Belize. In language, which stretches the envelope of diplomacy, the release quoted several E.U. spokesmen, who made it clear that the party violating the rules wasn’t Europe, but the United States. The main problem, in the European view, seems to be the Clinton administration’s insistence that it will invoke sanctions if it doesn’t get its way. The view was summed up by Sir Leon Brittan, vice president of the European Commission. “My message to the U.S.”, said Sir Leon, “Is a simple one: use the W.T.O. system, but do not expect us to bend it to suit a timetable that you are seeking to impose by means of illegal unilateral action. If you have a case, prove it in the proper way. You cannot enter the courtroom pointing a pistol at the other side. We are in as much of a hurry as you are to settle this. Just drop the pistol and we can get on with it.”