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take 19329 Smathers. Here in your nation's capital is Senator George Smathers reporting to the people of Florida. This takes the form of an informal discussion. Let's join the discussion, Senator Spatters. I'd first like to ask you a little bit about this Dominican Republic situation. Do you go along with the State Department in denying recognition to this new group that have taken over?

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I do. I think that we should not give recognition until this new military hooter demonstrates that they're going to re establish constitutional rights or the people in the Dominican Republic. I've observed that they have now stated they're going to have elections within two years, but they have not yet reestablished individual rights.

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I don't believe that we should support in any fashion this sort of a military coup until that military coup moves out of the way and once again reestablishes civilian constitutional government. But don't they claim to be very strongly anti communist? They are anti communist. I'm sure actually try Helio as anti communist.

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That's an easy way to get a lot of sympathy, states. But the fact the matter is that you can still be anti Communist and Democratic. And the time's come in those Latin American countries, particularly our Central American neighbors, where we should have been strived to have democratic governments that are anti communist but nevertheless democratic.

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Recognizing the rights of their individual citizens, many of our allies are shipping foodstuffs such as wheat and other things to communist countries including, of course, Russia. There's a move on foot here in Washington and across the country by some of our big businessmen to resume trade in wheat and staple products with these Communists.

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You go with that. But I wouldn't say that it's just limited to our big businessman. Has been interesting to me to observe on the Senate floor that for many years most of those senators who have spoken and declaimed most loudly against the great Communist menace of the Soviet Union and the red threat If those fellows who come from that area who grow a great deal of wheat brain, they're the ones who are now in the forefront of warning to sell this week to the Soviet Union now, it is the fact that we are selling large sums of large, large bushels and amounts of grain to West Germany and West Germany today is re processing that and selling it to the Soviet Union.

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And the Soviet Union, in turn, is meeting some of its commitments in Czechoslovakia some in Cuba and some of the other satellite countries with the result that the West Germans are making, so to speak. I'm gonna need a tape on them because I thought all that Hey, we were doing so tonight.

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Mhm.