WASHINGTON — A year ago, when Sudan was trying to fight off the imposition of economic sanctions by the Clinton administration, it found a willing ally in Mervyn M. Dymally, a former six-term congressman and onetime lieutenant governor of California.
Records show that the Sudanese regime--which rules one of the poorest countries on Earth, a nation of 32 million beset by famine and disease--paid Dymally's lobbying firm $100,000 to help it win friends in Washington.
Sudan wanted to counteract administration complaints that terrorist groups operate on its territory and that Sudanese citizens who are not Muslims are subject to religious persecution.
"They knew I know my way around the Hill, and I know what to do and how to do it," explained Dymally (formerly D-Compton), who once chaired the Congressional Black Caucus and a House subcommittee on Africa and now maintains offices in Los Angeles and Washington. "I'm not a traditional lobbyist. I tell them what is in the nature of Congress and what is taking place."
Dymally was not alone. During the same period, Sudan covered its bases with other constituencies by hiring a conservative commentator and a humanitarian activist who worked in the George Bush administration.
The campaign illustrates how even the poorest governments in the world obtain hired help in dealing with Congress, the White House and the State Department. Their desire for representation has created a niche market for a small cadre of professional lobbyists in Washington.
Several other African governments, including Angola, Togo and Mauritania, also hire lobbyists, consultants or advisors who, they hope or dream, can steer them through the Washington power maze. Although their ability to change the course of U.S. policy is debatable, as demonstrated by Sudan's experience, it hasn't stopped them from trying.
"A lot of embassies in Washington do this because Washington is a hard place to do business, and they don't have a lot of staff," said Constance Freeman, head of Africa programs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Lobbyists can be useful in negotiating the labyrinth on the Hill."
Within Washington, those who do the lucrative work of lobbying for foreign governments are an obscure subculture--a tiny network of people whose names often are passed on from one embassy to another.
Dymally, for example, was retained by Sudan after he had done work for the government of Mauritania.
