Word: brezhnevs
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...Declared Brezhnev, toasting his visitors at a formal banquet in the Great Kremlin Palace: "We helped socialist Poland the best we could, and we shall continue helping it." In his reply, Jaruzelski called the Soviet Union "our chief, invaluable economic partner and our closest ally." Both sides blamed Western economic sanctions and propaganda for exacerbating Poland's crisis...
Polish officials argued that Jaruzelski won a few points in his talks with Brezhnev. For example, he got Soviet backing for "the line of the Ninth [Polish Communist Party] Congress," which had adopted a number of reforms last July. But on the key issue of free labor unions, the final communique made it clear that the Soviets would tolerate only their style of union in Poland-the kind that takes orders from the Communist leadership. The Moscow meeting, said the U.S. State Department, produced "nothing that gives grounds for optimism that the Polish regime intends to ease the current repression...
...Kremlinologists scrutinized the lineup of Politburo members waiting to greet Poland's General Wojciech Jaruzelski, they noticed a subtle, but possibly important, change. Konstantin Chernenko, 70, a burly, longtime crony of Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev's, occupied the No. 3 position in the receiving line. Only Premier Nikolai Tikhonov, whose presence was required by protocol, stood closer to the ailing Soviet leader. The white-maned Chernenko's commanding position set off speculation that he had won a round or two in the behind-the-scenes struggle to succeed the 75-year-old Brezhnev. At the same time...
...battle for the succession entered a new, uncharacteristically visible phase last month with the death of Party Ideologue Mikhail Suslov, whose influence in the Kremlin had been second only to Brezhnev's. Says an experienced diplomat in Moscow: "While Suslov was alive, he kept the lid on pretty strongly." Alexei Shibaev, 67, a protégé of both Suslov and Brezhnev, lost his job as head of the Central Council of Trade Unions last week. According to rumors, as many as 4,000 Suslov-backed officials may have been fired since his death. Chernenko has moved aggressively...
...Kremlinologists mulled over the implication of the pecking order, Moscow was abuzz with rumors that contenders for Brezhnev's job, weary of waiting for their leader's demise, were attempting to force his resignation by impugning members of his family. These stories were fueled by a series of scandals that have erupted in Moscow involving extortion and illicitly obtained diamonds. One centered on Boris Buriatov, a sometime singer known as Boris the Gypsy, who reportedly made himself conspicuous among the drably dressed denizens of Moscow by wearing a long sable coat, mink tie and diamond neckpin...