President Joe Biden announced this week that he will remove four nations from the African Growth and Opportunity Act, a U.S. initiative designed to make it easier for under-developed countries to access American aid and to improve their relations with the U.S.
Biden said the countries are being removed for "gross violations" of human rights – but in the case of Uganda there may be an underlying motive. Biden in May warned that Uganda could face sanctions if a strict "anti-gay" law that he did not prefer was not repealed:
"In total, the U.S. Government invests nearly $1 billion annually in Uganda's people, business, institutions, and military to advance our common agenda. The scale of our commitments speaks to the value we place on this partnership – and our faith in the people of Uganda to build for themselves a better future. It is my sincere hope that we can continue to build on this progress, together, and strengthen protections for the human rights of people everywhere," Biden said in a White House news release.
As noted by Arielle Del Turco, the reality is the far-left social agenda pushed by the Biden administration in the military and other walks of American life doesn't stop at America's loosely protected borders.
"We've spoken with leaders who say the State Department goes to their embassies, meets with them regularly, and their top agenda item is LGBTQ issues," Del Turco, the Family Research Council's director of the Center for Religious Liberty, shared on Washington Watch Thursday.
"With everything going on in the world right now, it is absurd that this would be a number-one priority for the State Department. But we even heard Secretary of State Antony Blinken says this himself a month ago that LGBTQ issues are a top foreign policy priority."
Blinken's arrival as Secretary of State was celebrated by the LGBTQ community. In his confirmation he told Sen. Edward Markey (D-Massachusetts), an LGBTQ ally, that one of his first acts would be to fill important diplomatic vacancies with staffers in line with LGBTQ interests.
Biden's push for LGBTQ policy advancement overseas is not new, Peter St Onge, a research fellow in economic policy study for The Heritage Foundation, told American Family Radio in June.
Keen interest on advancing the cause in Africa
U.S. aid and influence are important in many parts of the world, but right now the influence is questionable, Del Turco told show host Tony Perkins.
"There's a role for the U.S. government to advance human rights abroad, widely recognized human rights that are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that we would all agree on – the right to life, the right to religious freedom, the right to free speech, to the absence of slavery," Del Turco said.
But Biden's LGBTQ interest is especially strong for African nations who traditionally oppose such measures, she explained.
"So, they will pick on these smaller, weaker African countries that have conservative cultures and are often dependent on foreign aid from Western countries," said Del Turco, "and they'll apply a great deal of pressure about advancing pro-LGBTQ policies in these countries.
"It's really a shame that the Biden administration is using their leverage in this way."
