Word: czechoslovakia
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Gustav Husak came to power in extraordinary circumstances. He was installed as leader of Czechoslovakia's Communist Party in 1969, during the tumult of "normalization" that followed the Soviet-led invasion of his country the previous summer. Last week Husak, 74, exited under conditions that were even more extraordinary. By asking to step down as party chief and nominating fellow Politburo Member Milos Jakes, 65, to replace him, he became the first leader in Soviet-dominated East bloc history to give up power voluntarily...
...Central Committee's economic council, Jakes had responsibility for drafting the modest program of economic reforms permitted under Husak. The first clue to his leadership style will be whether he maintains a tightly centralized economy or launches more ambitious innovations. A nation that was once an industrial powerhouse, Czechoslovakia is a potential showcase for reform in Eastern Europe. But will its leaders countenance a new Prague Spring as the price of attaining that status...
Glimpses of daily life like this invite comparisons to Poland or Czechoslovakia, Angola or Ethiopia, Libya or Iran. It is a question of style as much as of substance, and the style is apparent upon arrival at Managua's Sandino Airport. The traveler is confronted by immigration officers in high, completely enclosed wooden booths with thick glass windows and heavy curtains. Out of sight, the officer rustles mysteriously through what seems to be a thick book. Then he appears to scribble furiously for a minute or two. After a final scrutiny of the traveler's face, the passport is pushed...
...look at the past. While it was clear that the party would continue to set the ground rules for historical research, the scholars agreed that the veil was being lifted on many subjects. One member of the panel even called for a reconsideration of the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia...
...foreign delegates two days later, renouncing the "arrogance of omniscience" that he said had formerly governed Moscow's ties with its Communist allies. Gorbachev's statements appeared to rescind the so-called Brezhnev Doctrine, proposing intervention in defense of socialist regimes, that was used to justify the invasion of Czechoslovakia...