Word: kgb
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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There have been signs in the glasnost-era press that the security empire is no longer exempt from criticism. Last year Soviet readers were shocked by reports that Ukrainian KGB officers had been dismissed for falsely arresting a muckraking Soviet journalist. That news seems almost tame compared with a recent scandal in Odessa. A senior KGB officer and a public prosecutor reportedly trumped up corruption charges that led to the false arrest of as many as 60 local officials. When the story broke in the press, the accused officials sued for libel -- and lost...
...line with the mounting pressure for greater openness, the KGB has launched a public relations campaign. During an interview with Pravda last month, Chebrikov asserted that his personnel were now emphasizing "new attitudes." He acknowleged there had been "grave violations" of legality during Stalin's days and stressed his support for "broader democracy and greater openness...
Perhaps the most striking example of the agency's "new thinking" was an article last month in the ideological journal Kommunist by Vladimir Rubanov, a department head in the KGB research institute. Rubanov argued for an end to "the cult of secrecy," which was preventing the Soviet Union from becoming an "information" society. He pointed out that although foreign specialists were allowed to visit military sites, Soviet journalists often could not even visit factories and economic institutions...
Only three days after the change of KGB chiefs, the leadership was reshuffled in the most populous of the country's 15 republics. Vitali Vorotnikov, 62, premier of the Russian Republic (population: 144 million), was kicked upstairs into the presidency, making way for Alexander Vlasov, 56, a Gorbachev protege, to succeed him. As Interior Minister of the U.S.S.R., Vlasov had overseen a massive clean-up of the corruption-riddled police force. Now, with changes under way in the KGB, Gorbachev must decide who will replace Vlasov...
After 15 years of authoritarian rule, Pinochet agrees to uphold results of a plebiscite. While the vote is a turning point, it will not transform the country overnight, and the future is far from certain. -- Perestroika brings intriguing changes to the KGB. -- Why South Africa is so eagerly courting its black neighbors. -- Foreign troops are leaving, but Angola still bleeds...