Angola: U.S. Firms Play "Dunk Diplomacy," Schedule Basketball Tour

Seven American corporations and a U.S. subsidiary of a German company are attempting to dribble their way into the hearts - and eventually, pocketbooks - of the people of Angola.

At a cost of $50,000, the companies are sponsoring a basketball team of U.S. college stars to go on a two week tour July 24-August 9 to Angola, a socialist country in southwest Africa, which won independence in 1975.

Gulf Oil, Texaco, Bankers Trust, Chase Manhattan, Carnation Seafood, Lockheed-Georgia (a division of Lockheed Corp.), and Adidas U.S.A. (a division of Adidas Germany) are sponsoring the tour.

"All the corporations, except Adidas, are actively involved in Angola or would like to be actively involved," says Richard Lapchick, administrator of the tour, and director of the southern African program of the Phelps-Stokes Fund. The companies are hoping that the tour will help in "easing tensions between the two countries," explains Lapchick.

The tour, which the companies are calling "Dunk Diplomacy," was announced at a press conference on June 28 held by the Organization of African Unity at the United Nations. An OAU spokesperson said the sports contact was the first of its kind between the two countries.

"Sports has always been a great vehicle for the dissemination of good will," said Lou Carnesecca, the tour team coach and coach of St. John's University basketball squad, at the press conference. "There is no doubt that both the Angolans and the Americans will gain tremendously from this tour," Carnesecca said.

The U.S. government, one of only three countries in the world not to recognize the government of Angola, has cited Angola's acceptance of military and other aid from Cuba and the Soviet Union as the primary obstacle to normalizing relations.

Despite the lack of diplomatic ties, U.S. corporations have continued doing business in Angola, particularly in the oil industry. Gulf is the largest investor, and has a new pipeline in the works there; Texaco has a commercial agreement to explore for oil along the southern coastline; and Getty is negotiating for offshore drilling rights. Chase Manhattan has taken the lead in the banking sector, participating in a consortium which lent $50 million to Angola in 1981 for gas equipment.

Chase Manhattan's David Rockefeller, former chairman and member of the board, toured Angola in the spring and gave it his full vote of confidence.

The presence of Russian advisors and Cuban troops, Rockefeller said, "has no direct bearing on American business operations. Clearly, it has not interfered with our own banking relations." Dealing with socialist countries, explained Rockefeller, "really does not cause us, at Chase Manhattan, any problems at all," adding, "we can deal with just about any kind of government, provided they are orderly and responsible."

- Todd Bartimole