TNAG-1117-FCO40-1391-Future-of-the-Dependent-Territories-1982 — Page 165

1

CONFIDENTIAL

4

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DSR 11C

Advantages and disadvantages of the Commonwealth to Britain

8. The advantages of the Commonwealth to Britain are easy to

assert, hard to prove. It is also hard to distinguish the

effects of relations with countries with whom we have had

long and close historical ties, of which Commonwealth member-

ship is an expression, from the effects of the Commonwealth

organisation itself.

9.

i)

a)

Nonetheless the advantages include the following:

The Commonwealth has played a useful role in the

following areas where Britain has an interest:

Zimbabwe; a Commonwealth monitoring force and a

Commonwealth observer group played an important role

in the run up to independence;

b) Uganda; a Commonwealth observer group monitored the

elections of December 1980; and the Commonwealth

Secretary-General, with our encouragement, is trying to

put together a Commonwealth military training team to

go to Uganda;

c) Belize; the Commonwealth drummed up support for Belize

in the UN, and the Commonwealth Declaration on Belize

(though nearly undermined at the last moment by Canada)

gave some reassurance to the people of Belize in their

dispute with Guatemala.

ii)

There may be occasions in the future when the Common-

wealth will have a similar role, for example if problems

were to occur in the Caribbean or the Pacific, or with

some of the remaining Dependencies.

Membership of the Commonwealth, as an organisation in

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