Right and Left: Reagan takes on tyranny

When Ronald Reagan approvingly cited former U.N. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick's argument that "authoritarian" right-wing regimes were not as insidious as "totalitarian" Communist ones, many observers assumed that he was making the distinction a central tenet of his foreign policy. Authoritarian governments, however repressive, could be tolerated as long as they supported U.S. interests; besides, by their nature they were more susceptible to change than totalitarian governments, as Haiti and the Philippines were to prove. But last week the Administration sought to clarify its views on dictatorships and in the process seemed to depart, albeit slightly, from the Kirkpatrick doctrine. "The American people believe in human rights," said Reagan in a message to Congress, "and oppose tyranny in whatever form, whether of the left or the right."

The Administration denied that the President had adopted a new attitude. "There has been no change in our human rights policy toward dictatorships of any kind," said a State Department official. Explained another Administration aide: "There is now public recognition of what has been our policy all along."

The Administration's attentiveness to abuses in friendly regimes was underscored last week when it presented a resolution at the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva condemning violent acts of repression by Augusto Pinochet's military junta in Chile. It was the Administration's strongest stand to date against the regime, which came to power 13 years ago. The same day, Assistant Secretary of State Chester Crocker implied that the U.S. favored black "majority rule" in South Africa and called guerrillas in the African National Congress "freedom fighters," a term Reagan has used only for anti-Communist insurgents. But when Crocker's statements made headlines, officials insisted they represented no change in long-standing policy.

Whatever shifts of nuance may be occurring, the Administration is clearly trying to create a framework that links U.S. support for democratic opponents of the recently toppled right-wing regimes in Haiti and the Philippines with its support for contra rebels fighting the left-wing regime in Nicaragua. A House vote on Reagan's $ 100 million aid package for the contras is scheduled for this week (see ESSAY). "Important choices now rest with the Congress," said Reagan last week, "to betray those struggling against tyranny . . . or to join in a bipartisan national endeavor to strengthen both freedom and peace."