Word: husak
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Those who probably took the dimmest view of the trip were Czechoslovakia's Communist Party officials. Under their heavy hands, the Prague Spring of 1968 quickly gave way to sullen winter as the country became one of the most rigidly orthodox in the East bloc. Party Leader Gustav Husak, 74, installed by former Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev as Dubcek's replacement, has symbolized the backward-looking government's unimaginative face...
...public, of course, Husak had effusive praise last week for Gorbachev's policies, and promised his "full support" for the Soviet leader's "bold ideas, profound reforms and resolute deeds." But behind closed doors the Gorbachev policies have been causing serious troubles within the Czechoslovak party. In fact, there were rumors that Gorbachev's visit was delayed for three days because local leaders could not agree on their own policy toward reform. Last February a Soviet delegation led by Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze visited Prague to try to smooth over the differences. The Czechoslovak party has been split between hard...
...until last month did Husak finally concede in an address to the party Central Committee that the leadership must consider moves toward greater internal democracy, such as secret party elections. Cautiously using words that had been taboo in Prague's political lexicon for 19 years, Husak spoke of the need "for new economic and social mechanisms or, if you like, reforms." He noted that developments in the Soviet Union were "drawing an extraordinary response in the whole Czechoslovak party and people...
While standing alongside Husak last week, Gorbachev neatly illustrated the generational and political problems that face all the Soviet satellites in Eastern Europe. Gorbachev can blame his predecessors, especially Brezhnev, for economic stagnation and the resulting political and social ills because, except for a brief period, Gorbachev was not part of the inner circle responsible for the mess. The older Husak, who was installed by Brezhnev , largely to put down changes much like those Gorbachev is promoting, does not have that option. If Husak denounces the bad old days and encourages reforms within his country, he will in effect...
Czechoslovakia's Premier Lubomir Strougal, a longtime advocate of reform, has taken the lead in attacking orthodoxy in what Western diplomats believe is shaping up as a power struggle. Strougal recently denounced the economic policies of the Husak years, saying, "The reforms of 1968 were politically misused . . . but after that, our economy was managed with the methods of the 1950s...