Word: andropov
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...thought that Imre Nagy had gone too far in declaring Hungary's withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact and his attempt at disrupting that nation's socialist system. Still, I was shaken by the brutality of the reprisals. It was in this context that I first heard of Yuri Andropov, our Ambassador to Hungary. A classmate at our embassy in Budapest described how Andropov handled the erupting crisis: "He was so calm, even while the bullets were flying--when everyone else at the embassy felt as if we were in a besieged fortress...
...friend also told me that before and during the critical days of the uprising Moscow's instructions were sometimes confusing and occasionally betrayed a lack of understanding of what was really going on. Andropov's advice to Moscow, however, was extensive and served as a basis for swift decisions, including the decision to crush the rebellion with tanks...
...Veteran observers in Moscow quickly decided that Chernenko's purported answers were probably the work of Leonid Zamyatin, head of the Central Committee's international information department. But Lomeiko's bland suggestion concerning Chernenko's whereabouts was eerily similar to the explanations given out about Chernenko's predecessor, Yuri Andropov, who died last February after being out of public view for six months. Just a few weeks before his death, Andropov was said to be recuperating from a slight ailment. A similar denial was issued shortly before Defense Minister Dmitri Ustinov died from a heart attack...
There was no substantiation for any of these stories. However, in private, a few Soviet officials have been freely admitting for quite some time that Chernenko has been "quite seriously" ill. Last week they also began to admit the possibility that Chernenko, like Andropov, might reappear only at his funeral in Red Square. The unofficial grapevine is increasingly specific about the nature of Chernenko's illness. According to both Soviet and East European officials, he is suffering from a heart ailment resulting from emphysema, a pulmonary condition that has possibly been aggravated by pneumonia...
President Yuri Andropov, too, was hospitalized for the final six months of his tenure. There was no inkling during that time that Chernenko, a member of the Politburo old guard who had already been passed over once for the leadership, would emerge as the next choice. Many senior diplomats in Moscow, however, think that this time the Politburo may already have made up its mind in favor of the amiable, polished Gorbachev, the youngest member of that organization's young guard, who made a favorable impression on the West during his seven-day trip to Britain last December. Along with...