Letter from US president Jimmy Carter to South African prime minister PW Botha. Carter died on Sunday aged 100.

Dear Mr Prime Minister:

Your government now faces a crucial decision regarding Namibia as you consider the proposals developed during the recent Proximity Talks in New York.

As you make the historic decision about what course your government will take, I wanted to offer to you my observations.

In my letter, which secretary [of state Cyrus] Vance gave you on 16 October 1978, I stressed the importance which the United States attached to an internationally acceptable settlement in Namibia and the beneficial consequences which would flow from such a settlement for all parties. Events since that letter have only served to re-confirm my belief.

At the beginning of my Administration, I decided that the United States would make a major diplomatic effort to resolve peacefully two burning problems – the Middle East conflict and the mounting violence in southern Africa.

My purpose in both cases was to demonstrate that peaceful change and accommodation were possible. In both cases, my efforts were designed to reverse policy trends that were very adverse to all of us in favour of stability, development and security for the two regions.

In this context, I believe that an objective weighing of the benefits of the UN plan confirms that it offers the best solution for the people of Namibia and for all of the countries of the area, including South Africa.

Through the UN plan, the continuing pressure of international and economic isolation or the threat of continuing guerrilla warfare can end for the new government of Namibia. Granted international recognition, it can turn to the major problems of Namibia’s internal development.

Without international recognition, none of this will take place and nothing will be solved. The continuing violence inside Namibia will feed on the escalating violence in Rhodesia.

The long, permeable borders of Namibia will increasingly be crossed. International involvement and opportunism will increase.

None of this need happen with the acceptance of the UN plan. While no one could promise that your acceptance of the plan offers an absolutely risk-free solution to the problem of Namibia, I believe this course of action is far and away the best for all concerned.

In your review of the situation, I urge you and your colleagues to reflect on how far we have come. In a situation of mounting guerrilla warfare and total mistrust, we have built on two years of painstaking negotiations, and we have developed a plan which Swapo now completely accepts.

This plan requires a guerrilla organisation to test its strength at the ballot box in competition with other parties in Namibia.

We have the firm commitment of the Front Line states to support the process.

For our part, as in the Middle East, my Administration is determined to press ahead, to insist on scrupulous adherence to the terms of the agreement by all sides, and to use favourable developments in Namibia to strengthen the forces of order, accommodation and regional peace.

The positive experience of cooperation in solving the Namibian problem can create a new atmosphere in your country’s relations with your neighbors and with the outside world, including the United States.

I want very much to see such a development and I urge your government to join us in working towards this objective.

Sincerely,

Jimmy Carter

Washington, 31 March 1979