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Czechoslovakia 1990 [OA 8486]
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26
23
2
7
02/07/90 09:55
PRESS C202 647 0244 PA/PRS FILED
DEPARTMENT OF STAT
0671-862
FOR RELEASE:
6:01 a.m. LOCAL TIME
12:01 a.m. EST
"FROM REVOLUTION TO DEMOCRACY:
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
IN THE NEW EUROPE"
ADDRESS BY
SECRETARY OF STATE JAMES A. BAKER, III
CHARLES UNIVERSITY
PRAGUE, CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Wednesday, February 7, 1990
For further information contact:
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003
On an autumn day in Washington, D.C., seventy-two years
ago, a messenger brought an envelope to the White House. A
clerk stamped the enclosed letter, "Received, October 18, 1918.'
The letter was sent by an elderly former professor from
Prague to his friend, a former professor from Princeton.
The letter was timely, for on that very day, October 18,
the Princeton professor, Woodrow Wilson, President of the
United States, was considering a recent proposal from the
Austro-Hungarian Empire.
That letter to the White House was the Declaration of
Independence of the Czechoslovak Nation. Thomas Masaryk had
sent it.
As our twenty-eighth President read the document from the
man who would be your first President, he must have been
stirred by the words that recalled our own declaration of
independence from an empire. He must have been moved by the
closing passage:
"The forces of darkness have served the victory of light,
-- the longed-for age of humanity is dawning. We believe
in democracy, we believe in liberty, - and liberty ever
more."
That same day, October 18, Woodrow Wilson sent his reply to
the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He recognized the Czecho-Slovak
National Council as a "government clothed with proper
authority.' And he insisted that Czechs and Slovaks, not an
emperor in Vienna, should be the judges of their own destiny.
But the wisdom of Masaryk and Wilson, the rationality of
democracy and self-determination, did not last.
The days of reason of 1918 yielded to the unreasoning
darkness of 1938 and 1948. Czechoslovakia witnessed -- and
endured -- frightening totalitarian power and the breakdown of
the European order. The United States returned to Europe, and
America's young men died, resisting Nazi and Fascist
expansionism. aggression. Then America stayed in Europe to contain Stalinist
Now the revolutions of 1989 have revived an age of reason
for Czechoslovakia and Eastern and Central Europe.
That is what brings us together in this special place.
Twenty-two years ago, students just like you -- students
like Jan Palach - joined during a fateful Prague Spring to
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restore the vibrant democratic society that once stood at the
of "normalization," w by the unreason of the era of stagnation.
heart of Europe -- only to be crushed by the twisted normality
Now you -- the students of this great university -- have
revolution. taken part, heroically and responsibly, in your velvet
So it is especially fitting for me to come here, to
Czechoslovakia, to Prague, to this university, to talk with you
democratic revolutions.
about how we might promote, perpetuate, and protect Europe's
Never again should you -- or any other people -- have
totalitarianism steal away your freedom.
Never again should you be just the objects of history,
unable to effect, much less shape, your own destiny. Unable to
do anything but cry out: "o nas, bez nas, proti nam" -- about
us, without us, against us.
From Revolution to Lasting Democracy
In December in Berlin, I discussed four key features of the
new European architecture: NATO, the EC, CSCE, and a
continuing American role in Europe.
Here in Prague, I want to resume that discussion. I want
to share my thoughts on how Czechoslovakia and its neighbors in
democracies that draw strength from the new architecture.
Central and Eastern Europe can move from revolutions to lasting
across Europe - here in Prague and in Bratislava, in Warsaw
The historic, democratic movements that we are witnessing
and Budapest, in Berlin, Sofia, Belgrade, and Bucharest -- hold
can achieve what President Havel has called "the era of
great promise for all of us. They hold the promise that Europe
free." freedom." What President Bush has called a "Europe whole and
We must work to fulfill that promise and to protect it.
be Indeed, we all know that initial impulses for democracy not
become the year of building anew.
enough. If 1989 was the year of sweeping away, 1990 must may
this region.
Four challenges confront the newly emerging democracies of
First, the spirit of revolution needs to move from the
with way fair and free elections that establish open parliaments
streets to into the government. Transitional regimes need to give
a place for opposition. The new democratic political
systems need to respect the rule of law and fundamental
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individual rights and liberties --- including freedom of speech,
minority rights.
assembly, religion, and the press. Majority rule must respect
Second, the spirit of the New Europe needs to be reflected
in security arrangements that remove the threat of military
aggression or intimidation and promote the peaceful settlement
of disputes. Elections and new security treaties will be
mutually reinforcing, for only freely-elected governments can
legitimize the security arrangements the treaties will codify.
Third, the spirit of economic reform needs to move forward
to allow free men and women to enjoy economic liberty --
including the rights to private ownership and to work alone or
collectively in markets where prices are set by individual
choices, not centralized diktat. The improved performance and
freedom of market economies will be necessary to help sustain
popular support for the new democracies.
also be a fourth: Some of the new democracies of the region
Following from these three challenges, I suggest there may
may determine that they can better support and sustain their
form of regional cooperation.
common effort if they do so in concert, perhaps through some
In each of these efforts, the evolving institutions of
New Europe -- NATO, the EC, CSCE -- will play important roles. a
So will America. For as you make progress toward
democratic ideals, so do we, for that is the essence of
America. Both Wilson and Masaryk understood that.
ahead. But neither should we underestimate the great
None of us should underestimate the difficulty of the work
opportunity presented all of us by your courage.
both ourselves and others that politics does not have to be the
As President Havel said on New Year's Day, "Let us teach
art of the possible, especially if this means the art of
speculating, calculating, intrigues, secret agreements and
pragmatic maneuvering, but that it also can be the art of the
world better."
impossible, that is the art of making both ourselves and the
Free Elections -- The First Challenge
Two months ago in Berlin, I emphasized that
based for on the consent of the governed are the first governments requirement
an enduring peace in Europe. Americans value
the self-determination because we value the dignity and freedom of
self-determination is the only basis upon which legitimate
individual. We value it, too, because the principle of
governments can stand.
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The steps you take are not just your own. They are also
steps forward for all states that have a stake in a legitimate
European order, including the United States and the Soviet
Union. Only through the legitimacy of democracy will we
achieve a resilient and lasting stability.
Governments accountable to their peoples, and more
concerned with the livelihood of their citizens than with their
apparats, armies, or secret police, will secure a Europe whole
and free in a way armies of tanks never could. Democratic
governments are far more likely to promote the well-being of
their citizens than to pursue expansionist, aggressive aims.
President Gorbachev also appears to have understood this
opportunity. By word and deed, this new Soviet leadership
seems to agree that legitimacy, not force, is the only way to
ensure European stability. As Foreign Minister Shevardnadze
said just last month, "We are emerging from a difficult past.
We are emerging from it, having learned well its main lesson:
Only an advanced democracy can give guarantees against the
violence. abuse of power and can secure a nation against repression and
Since self-determination through a free and fair election
is the right that secures all others, President Bush has called
for adding free elections to CSCE nations' human rights
obligations. This proposal would commit all 35 CSCE
participating states to hold periodic and genuine elections,
permit free party activity, and require that elections be open
to foreign observers. Between now and the Copenhagen CSCE
conference, the United States will propose new provisions to
support, monitor, and carry out a free elections regime within
the CSCE process.
Indeed, I propose that all CSCE member states join with the
United States in sending observer delegations to ensure that
- the people power elections of 1990 genuinely represent the will
of the people.
No proposal could be more timely. Last month, Romania said
it would invite U.N. observers to its elections. Now I hope
being the first nation to invite CSCE observers.
Romania will give our CSCE observer proposal greater impetus by
1989 was the year the people took to the streets. 1990
should be the year the people move into their parliaments.
I would like to add one cautionary note. We are troubled
by indications that some of the governments in the region have
engaged in practices that will obstruct truly free and fair
elections. Let me be clear: The peaceful transition to
democracy now under way in Central and Eastern Europe will not
tolerate rear guard maneuvers from any quarter. As we have
seen in the GDR and Romania, such actions will only undercut
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the legitimacy of this vital process. And any steps that
undercut the creation of legitimate governments will increase,
not decrease, instability. That is in no one's interest.
We will proceed on the basis of a new democratic
differentiation: any backsliding in the movement to create
legitimate governments will isolate a nation from the support
we can provide.
Consolidating Changes in Europe's Security: The Second
Challenge
The democratic imperative is the first and most basic
challenge. But the second challenge is no less important. I
want to state our objective as clearly as possible: We must
leave behind not only the Cold War but also the conflicts that
preceded it.
After 1918, you built a strong democracy and a vibrant
economy, but 1938 and 1948 proved the necessity for enduring,
effective security.
The lesson is clear: Military changes must keep pace with
political ones. And CFE is a critical step toward an agreed
and codified security system. Last week President Bush made a
new proposal that should bring an effective CFE Treaty to a
rapid conclusion.
The United States is confident that such an agreement will
promote a stable strategic relationship in Europe. That
relationship should minimize and deter the threat of any army
occupation. of invasion and end the unjust presence of any army of
We also believe that enduring security necessitates a
continued U.S. military role on the continent -- for as long as
our allies desire it -- to reassure the nations of Europe,
large and small, that we will stand by them to resist invasion,
intimidation, or coercion.
We can make the European strategic situation more
predictable and perhaps less threatening by encouraging greater
openness and transparency in military affairs. Next week, for
example, Canada will host the Open Skies Conference in Ottawa,
where we hope to begin negotiations toward implementing
President Bush's proposal to overcome the suspicions of secrecy
through a system of overflights on short notice.
The negotiations on Confidence and Security Building
Measures within CSCE offer a vehicle for ongoing efforts to
reduce tensions on the continent. Yet our present proposals
are oriented primarily toward the danger of Eastern offensive
action against the West. We also need to develop measures that
would impede an assertion of military might by any European
nation against any other.
02/07/90
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So today I propose that we start exploring the expansion of
the confidence and security building measures agenda. For
example, we should consider new proposals to promote greater
military transparency between neighboring states, especially
along border areas, and to open the military budgets of all 35
CSCE nations to public scrutiny.
NATO will continue to play an important role in ensuring
strategic stability and predictability in Europe -- West and
East -- but NATO must also evolve to assume new missions. As a
political alliance, NATO offers a cohesive structure that can
help address old and new European animosities and fears --
outside and inside NATO. As a security alliance among sixteen
like-minded democracies, NATO should consider how it might
facilitate collective action against non-traditional threats --
such as proliferation and regional conflicts. As a political
and a security alliance, NATO can assist in the verification of
Europeans. arms control and security agreements to the benefit of all
Challenge Economic Requirements for the New Democracies: The Third
Free elections and treaties on conventional forces and
confidence building measures will help advance and consolidate
your people power revolutions. But if steps are not taken to
promote economic vitality, then the stability of Europe may be
threatened again. This is one of the painful lessons of the
inter-war years. The newly emancipated peoples of this region
now face the long and trying labor of regenerating societies
devastated by half a century of totalitarian rule.
A major part of this effort must clean up your rivers,
lakes, forests, soil, and air - damaged just as badly by
central-planning as were your economies themselves.
Because the circumstances of each nation differ
considerably, it would be a mistake to apply a mechanistic
assistance formula. I believe, however, we can, identify
stages of economic reform to which the United States, the EC,
and the other nations of the Group of 24 should tailor support.
First, some nations will need short-term emergency aid to
medicine, and disaster relief. We will be there to break the
cope with severe shortages of necessities - for example, food,
fall. But we will seek to do so in a way that does not
undercut the revitalization of homegrown solutions --
especially in agriculture.
the American organization, AmeriCares, has sent over $80
The private sector can play a key role here. For instance,
million in medical supplies since 1982 to aid the people of
American pharmaceutical companies -- over 800 of them.
this region. And their supplies are donated primarily from
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Second, all the new democracies will need help in the
transition from broken down Stalinist command economies to
market systems driven by the engine of private enterprise.
Your new Finance Minister, Vaclav Klaus, recently made a
succinct statement at an international meeting that went to the
heart of the problem: We don't need the old types of
cooperation, he reminded an old thinking Eastern colleague, we
need business!
Businesses need market prices and an opportunity to
compete. It is up to you to provide a conducive legal
environment, to turn over or sell factories to private owners,
and to lift the heavy hand of excessive government
intervention. It is up to us to help draw foreign investors,
offering incentives where appropriate, and even at times to
supply seed money for local private ventures. It is up to all
of us to lend a hand -- especially through multilateral
financial support - to democratic economies struggling to
manage such difficult transition problems as debt payments,
stabilization of currency values, and currency convertibility.
That is exactly what we are doing for Poland and Hungary,
where the United States alone has offered about $1 billion in
various assistance measures. And just last week, President
Bush asked Congress for $300 million for assistance to Eastern
Europe. While some of our assistance will be available to all,
the progress a government makes in meeting the challenges I
have outlined will influence the availability of the full range
of aid.
Third, we must integrate the new market democracies into
the international economic system. You need access to IMP and
World Bank resources. You need barriers to trade removed
bilaterally and through GATT, so potential investors will know
they can export to other markets. You need access to high
technology. To meet this need, the United States is
considering with its allies adjustments in the COCOM system
that could enable you to have access to technology, provided
you will protect it and forego industrial espionage.
We have been pleased the European Community has assumed a
major role in coordinating economic assistance, because the
availability of the EC market for the nations of Central and
Eastern Europe is vital. We recognize, as well, that others --
including the United States, Japan, and the EFTA nations --
should also play significant roles so the new market
democracies can assume their proper independent place within
the whole of Europe and the larger international system.
Czechoslovakia and other nations of Eastern Europe warrant
special recognition at this historic time. Therefore, I am
pleased to announce that we will support the offer of
the government of Czechoslovakia to locate the new European
Development Bank for Reconstruction and Development here in
Prague, in the center and heart of Europe.
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I also look forward to the Bonn CSCE economic conference as
an opportunity to establish European-wide adherence to market
principles. If CSCE is to fulfill its potential, it needs a
better developed economic component that will aid the
transition. to market economies and promote ongoing respect for
economic liberty and open markets.
CSCE Summit
Free elections. CFE and security. Dynamic market
economies.
Standing alone, each of these is important. But together
they are mutually reinforcing. Together they offer an agenda
for the United States and others that want to ensure that the
revolutions of 1989 become the democracies of the 1990s.
Together they can help build governments that answer to only
one power: the people.
This agenda draws from and builds on the CSCE framework.
It should be the agenda of a CSCE Summit.
Therefore, the United States stands ready to participate in
points. a 35-nation CSCE Summit this year if the Summit addresses three
One, we need to make substantial progress on the U.S. and
U.K. proposal to establish a CSCE commitment to hold periodic
and genuine elections. Free elections should be a human right
and are the baseline requirement for establishing a new,
legitimate European political order.
Two, we must complete the CFE Treaty -- so it can be signed
at arrangements. the Summit -- establishing new, legitimate security
Three, we should clearly define the Summit agenda based on
substantive progress and possible proposals in other areas as
well, including economics. This way, it can prepare for, not
replace, the 1992 Helsinki Review Meeting and demonstrate
CSCE's potential for advancing reform in a New Europe. For
example, we might consider how CSCE can gradually develop
FRG has suggested.
institutions to support its work in the three baskets, as the
U.S. Bilateral Programs for Czechoslovakia
for Czechoslovakia. Under the sure guidance of the Civic Forum
Let me say a word about our bilateral assistance program
and the Public Against Violence, Czechs and Slovaks together
have shown that no change is too rapid when it is peaceful,
consolidates democratic gains, and leads to a legitimate
government. revolution. Our assistance can help you continue your
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In recognition of your country's dramatically changed human
rights situation, I am pleased to announce that the President
will notify the Congress that he is waiving the Jackson-Vanik
Amendment. This waiver will open the way for Most Favored
Nation status for Czechoslovakia after we negotiate a trade
agreement. And when Czechoslovakia's parliament passes new,
liberal legislation on free emigration, the United States will
declare Czechoslovakia in full compliance with Jackson-Vanik,
as we have done with Hungary, so that Czechoslovakia can enjoy
MFN status without the requirement of an annual waiver.
The President will also request authority for the U.S.
Overseas Private Investment Corporation to operate in
Czechoslovakia to encourage and offer financial support to
private U.S. investors.
And we will support your recent request to rejoin the IMF.
The United States will also:
Support you economically by making Czechoslovakia eligible
for the export-credit guarantees of our Export-Import Bank
and Commodity Credit Corporation; by seeking legislation to
promote technical assistance; by negotiating a bilateral
investment treaty; and by coordinating this assistance with
the multilateral efforts of the Group of 24.
Support you ecologically by proposing a joint
U.S.-Czechoslovak study to determine the most cost
effective way to deal with your serious air pollution
Regional Environmental Center announced by President Bush
problems; by encouraging you to participate in the Budapest
last July; and by intensifying our dialogue on all
trafficking, and terrorism.
transnational issues, including the environment, drug
Support closer ties between our peoples by increasing
cultural and educational exchange programs; by beginning
USIA cultural centers in Bratislava and in Prague; and
Peace Corps English language program here: by establishing a
above all, by reopening our consulate in Bratislava. These
with both the Slovak and Czech peoples.
steps will go far toward reestablishing our historical ties
of idea specially suited to safeguarding your democracy and those an
I also have one more U.S. initiative to announce today,
you have won your own freedom, so too will well informed
your neighbors. It starts from the assumption that just as
citizens protect freedom by setting wrong to right. As
Jefferson and wrote almost 200 years ago, "Where the press is Thomas free,
every man able to read, all is safe."
These were and are wise words.
The United States proposes, therefore, the establishment
a Fund for Independent Broadcasting and a Free Press. Our goal of
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is to support cooperative development of commercial and
non-profit radio and television broadcasting and free press in
CzechosIovakia and the rest of Central and Eastern Europe. The
Fund would solicit participation and contributions from Western
private corporations and institutions. This Fund's principal
purpose would be to assist groups in the region that wish to
start independent radio, television, and print enterprises.
The Fund could provide seed money for start-up costs as well as
technical assistance. It would also provide training in the
United States and other Western countries in the use of
equipment and development of professional broadcast and print
standards.
New Associations in the Region and Europe: The Fourth Challenge
In a region that has suffered so greatly from the
distortion of national interest and from international
isolation, I am encouraged by the first signs of coordination
and possible new association among newly democratic states.
President Havel and others have opened the discussion. We
recognize that the growth of legitimate multilateral
organizations that reflect the economic political and security
interests of this region will develop as they are needed, but
permit me, if you will, to think out loud for a few moments.
The United States has supported voluntary associations of
independent nations in every other region in the world. As in
Western Europe after World War II, we believe that the process
of political and economic reconstruction may be strengthened by
new forms of cooperation.
We believe voluntary associations follow naturally from
democracy and are, in a sense, a natural way for democracies to
build international civil society and overcome old
animosities. Indeed, association may also give you additional
strength to build democratic institutions at home, because the
lessons and success of one may assist another.
We welcome, for example, the recent discussions of mutually
beneficial economic cooperation in the region by officials of
the governments of Hungary, Poland, and Czechoslovakia,
including a possible free trade agreement, free flow of capital
and labor, harmonized financial systems, and a convertible
accounting unit. Economic integration can enhance efficiency
and growth. Common infrastructure projects can assure
compatible communications, transport, and energy networks.
The purpose of such closer ties should not be to isolate
the countries in association from others. Indeed, your nations
have every interest in overcoming the enforced associations of
the past that actually discouraged your entry into the European
and global economies. No longer should the circumstances of
this continent subject you to characterization as "The Lands
Between"; you can, instead, establish a region of recognition
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and respect. Working together, you might strengthen your
position and fashion a special relationship with the EC, the
nations of EFTA, or the U.S.
If you do work together, we will respect your decision by
providing our assistance in a way that supports your
association. The choice of whether to associate and in what
form is of course entirely yours to make.
A Commonwealth of Free Nations
Today in Prague and two months ago in Berlin, I have
elaborated upon the President's vision of a Europe whole and
free. I have described America's vital role in building that
new Europe together with you. By respecting the principles of
self-determination and democratic choice, we believe that the
old divisions of Europe can be overcome. The legacy of 1938
and 1948 can be left behind, and the hopes of 1918 and 1968 can
be fulfilled.
Before I came to speak to you this morning, I visited the
place where, twenty-one years ago, Jan Palach set himself on
fire to protest fear and terror. There is little that an
American official can tell this audience about his sacrifice.
But I know that among the students of his old university
man. gathered here today, the student Palach would not be a lonely
For in affirming your dignity as individuals, you have
reclaimed more than the future of your generation. In
recovering your independence as Czechs and Slovaks, you have
begun more than your country's historic return to Europe. You
have indivisible. shown that, in the words of your president, freedom is
When the "freedom trains" bearing East German citizens
pulled out of Prague last year, hundreds of your countrymen
stood and cheered. But the freedom train of 1989 did not stop
at the East German border or the Czechoslovak border or the
Hungarian border, just as it did not stop at the border of
Poland or Bulgaria or Romania or Yugoslavia.
It is the great promise of our historical moment that the
return to freedom and the return to a whole Europe are bound
together - and can only succeed together. And I believe the
day will come when any European can stand in any European city
-- in Prague or Paris, in Berlin or Budapest - and see only
countries of free individuals, a continent of free parliaments,
today understand in more and more places, freedom's journey is
a commonwealth of free nations. For as more and more people
one that should never end.
impossible. President Havel was right. Politics can be the art of the
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22ND STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1990 The New York Times Company;
The New York Times
February 22, 1990, Thursday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section A; Page 14, Column 4; Financial Desk
LENGTH: 691 words
HEADLINE: UPHEAVAL IN THE EAST;
Havel's Aides Meet U.S. Bankers On Investment in Czechoslovakia
BYLINE: By LOUIS UCHITELLE
BODY:
While President Vaclav Havel of Czechoslovakia visited with President
Bush and addressed Congress yesterday, his top economic advisers worked at
cultivating investment for their country.
Rather than meet directly with business executives, many of whom remain
skeptical about investing in Czechoslovakia, the officials are trying to build a
network of Wall Street advisers and investment bankers who would help the
Czechoslovaks draw foreign investment.
Two key architects of the evolving Czechoslovak economy are traveling with
President Havel: Vladimir Dlouhy, the Minister of Planning, and Vaclev Klaus,
the Minister of Finance. Both are strong advocates of foreign ownership of
Czechoslovak companies to make them efficient and competitive in world markets.
Party at the Guggenheim
The two officials were guests in New York last night at a party at the
Guggenheim Museum given by Salomon Brothers and at a private dinner at the home
of William Luers, president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a former
United States Ambassador to Czechoslovakia.
The dinner guest list included E. Gerald Corrigan, president of the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York; Anthony Solomon, the bank's former president and now
an investment banker; Robert Hormats, an investment banker at Goldman, Sachs &
Company, and Martin Feldstein, a Harvard economist who is advising the
Czechoslovak Government.
Rather than rely on foreign loans to modernize industry - loans that might
result in a burdensome foreign debt -the Havel team would encourage foreign
companies to put businesses in Czechoslovakia and also to purchase some major
state-owned manufacturing operations. Josef Tosovsky, president of the State
Bank of Czechoslovakia, said yesterday in Washington that President Havel is not
seeking credits or loans during his visit to the United States.
Legislation Planned
The Havel Government is drafting legislation that would permit foreign
ownership and make other changes favorable to foreign investment. Under current
law, a foreign company can be only a minority partner in a joint venture.
LEXIS® NEXIS® LEXIS® NEXIS
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6
(c) 1990 The New York Times, February 22, 1990
But anticipating that the necessary legislation will soon be adopted by
Parliament, some big American companies are negotiating with state-owned
Czechoslovak operations, particularly those manufacturers with products that
could be exported to Western Europe, according to people involved in the
discussions.
The General Electric Company, for example, is holding talks with the Skoda
Engineering Works, a manufacturer of power equipment and other machinery, in
competition against Siemens A.G. The Chrysler Corporation has held talks with a
separate Skoda company, the manufacturer of autos. One competitor is Mazda. The
idea is to produce an American- or Japanese-designed car at a Skoda factory for
export to Western Europe. The lures are Czechoslovak engineering and
manufacturing skills and low wages.
Talks on Glass Plants
Numerous Western companies, including some from the United States, have also
talked with the Czechoslovaks about investing in that country's famous glass
factories, particularly those making auto glass, said Jan Vanos, president of
PlanEcon, a Washington consulting firm that specializes in Eastern Europe.
Smaller American companies have not gone beyond the inquiry stage, apparently
preferring to wait until the new laws governing foreign investment are in place,
said Fred Zeder, president of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, a
Government agency that insures foreign investment by American companies.
Earlier this month, the Czechoslovaks asked Secretary of State James A. Baker
3d, when he visited Prague, for help in forming a panel of American advisers.
The group being formed includes Paul A. Volcker, former chairman of the Federal
Reserve; John Whitehead, a former Deputy Secretary of State who is now an
investment banker; Peter McPherson, executive vice president of the Bank of
America, and Mr. Hormats.
''The panel is mostly a way for the Czechs to strengthen their ties with the
American financial community and with companies that are potential investors,
Mr. Hormats said.
SUBJECT: FOREIGN INVESTMENTS; ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND TRENDS
NAME: HAVEL, VACLAV (PRES)
GEOGRAPHIC: CZECHOSLOVAKIA
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7TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1990 The British Broadcasting Corporation;
Summary of World Broadcasts
January 5, 1990, Friday
SECTION: Part 2 Eastern Europe; B. INTERNAL AFFAIRS; CZECHOSLOVAKIA
PAGE: EE/0654/B/ 1
LENGTH: 3698 words
HEADLINE: VACLAV HAVEL AND VALTR KOMAREK ADDRESS RALLY IN OSTRAVA
SOURCE: Prague home service (1) and (ii) 1500 gmt 3 Jan 90
(i) Excerpts from live relay of speech by Vaclav Havel
2136 gmt
BODY:
Dear friends, I am very grateful to you and my friends who have come with me
no doubt are also very grateful for your wonderful reception. In this way we are
being received everywhere. We were received like this not only an hour ago in
Frydek-Mistek but also yesterday in East Berlin and Munich. This great trust
which you place in the government of national accord and me personally as
President who also feels himself as a President of national accord, makes us
naturally very happy and places great obligations on us. At the same time I
would like to say what I have been repeating often that we, on our own cannot do
very much, that now we all have to work. I have seen here a poster, for example,
that Havel has brought freedom and there is a wish for him to bring snow for
skiers too. There have been times in the past when the following was recited We
shall rule wind and rain. That was an expression of pride - the pride of an
ideology which believed that it understood the history of mankind, understood
man, understood nature and that he who accepts this ideology is wiser than
others and is able to tell the rest of us how we should live, what to think,
what we should do. Where this ideology eventually led our society we all know
very well indeed.
I have to disappoint skiers - we shall not rule snow! Anyway we do not want
to be ordering anything about very much. We have been brought by this peaceful
revolution to the highest state posts and we feel ourselves to be mediators of
the people's will, speakers of the public. We rather want to serve that which is
in the general interest and all that which you all want. We do not want to give
orders, rule - and least of all snow, wind, rain!
We are pleased to be in this Region because we are well acquainted with the
great problems which exist here We have been here only a few hours but
because we have somewhat accelerated the tempo of our work and our moving
around, we have thus managed even in those few hours to learn several things,
some of which we have known or at least suspected even before, but we have heard
it from the most authoritative mouths - that is from the mouths of workers in
this Region, from the mouths of people who represent various political forces of
this Region - be it representatives of the college, state administration,
political forces, and above all Civic Forum, as the ad hoc speaker of the public
for this revolution of ours.
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I am a writer by profession and as such am not used to speaking very much,
although in the past six weeks I have had to speak from dawn until dusk
somewhere and besides this, as a writer, I do not like to be repeating what I
have already said
The last thing which I want to say - without showing off
- is that in the past six weeks what I felt somewhat before has been confirmed -
that is, that a better political situation, a better political system, a better
economic system cannot becreated if we do not have upright and brave and free
citizens and we shall not become upright citizens if we are not upright human
beings. At the beginning of this peaceful revolution there was a kind of a human
'uprightness'', and this soon turned into a civic ''uprightness'' and this is
gradually changing into a political ''uprightness''. The human ''uprightness'',
as the true basis of all that follows on which the new structures - political
economic and everything else - can be built, fortunately marked just the very
beginning of this peaceful revolution, but it continues to accompany it and as
long as it does, so, it is good. If this should disappear then it would be
worse. I see the human awakening in the fact that people are kinder, nicer to
each other, that they think about each other, that collections have been
organised for Romania where a majority of us have never been, but we know how
people there are suffering. This human awakening dwells in the fact that man
does not think only about himself but thinks about others too and is aware of
the fact that there are times when it is necessary to serve something other and
higher than oneself, even at the price of certain sacrifices.
(ii) Text of live relay of speech by Valtr Komarek
Our friends! Less than a week ago, on behalf of all people, the Federal
government of national Accord proposed to the Federal Assembly that Vaclav
Havel be elected President of the republic. The federal government stands
firmly behind Vaclav Havel, the President of national accord. Allow me to
convey to you the sincere greetings of this government.
The presence of the President here in Ostrava symbolises the great changes
that have taken place in our country in the last six weeks. While only a month
ago we lived in fear of the possible introduction of repressions and of a
reverse of the dramatic development, we realise today, in the mirror of the
enormous bloodshed in Romania, the narrowness of the passes travelled by us. And
today, six weeks later, we have a government of national accord, we have a
revived Federal National Assembly headed by Aleksander Dubcek; but the main
thing is that we have a new President of national accord, Vaclav Havel.
The basic power structure of the new democratic Czechoslovakia has been
formed and continues to be stabilised. This situation makes it possible for us
to think very responsibly about further development, to ask ourselves questions
about the future programme and further development, so that each of us looks for
his or her own responsible place in this society.
Firstly, we are facing the very demanding issue of preparing and holding the
first democratic elections. As the President said in his New Year's speech,
this is not a long-term task. However, we are aware of the weak nature and the
youth of our democracy and of the need to develop and strengthen it. We know
that the new political parties are far from being formed. We know that we must
create the culture of the new democracy, cultivate and develop it - - develop it
everywhere in the whole country, in all spheres of our public life. The
preparation for the new elections does not mean only a preparation by the new
political parties for their victories. The elections are held so that the
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people can put forward the most capable people to their government, to the
government on behalf of the people which is to serve the people. However,
politics - modern politics - cannot exist without high morals, without high
qualifications and without science. The preparation for the elections will not
mean a mere competition between political parties; it will be an extremely
demanding and responsible preparation of all of us for choosing among us, among
the Czech and Slovak people, the most capable and best people who are able to
serve best their people and their interests.
So this is the first large area of tasks facing us - therefore it is not
sufficient to ensure merely calm elections, but truly democratic elections in
the true sense of the word - elections which will enable a true and just rule of
the people. Talking about elections, one also has to realise that our country
found itself for 50 years not only in a deep political and economic crisis, but
also in a deep moral crisis. Elections and the preparation of them will examine
the new moral values of our society, a new philosophy of this time, a new
philosophy of our revolution; they will create and strengthen the new scale of
human values in Czechsolovakia. The candidates who stand in the elections must
also correspond to these new moral requirements of the time.
The second large task that we are facing is truly to develop, utilise and
propose democracy today and every day. Elections will mean a great celebration
of democracy. But we are concerned about everyday democratic behaviour and
action. We must realise and appreciate the fact that this society was for a long
time alienated from the people, dehumanised, that it was imbued with
bureaucracy, bureaucratic manners, that it was losing human creativity, human
initiative, human dimensions, feeling and creed. It is necessary that the vacuum
- the just vacuum following the overthrow ofbureaucratic strata and bureaucratic
manners - be filled with new free people by virtue of their democratic
behaviour, that our education, our health care, our state culture and state
sport, our people's administration, our communication media be democratised - so
that we might democratise and add humanity to our entire society every day and
at every step.
Thirdly, we have to embark upon the implementation of a demanding economic
programme. Vaclav Havel, President of the Republic, in his New Year
address very correctly and openly characterised our economic situation. We
have no illusions about the great ecological debt created in the country. As to
the great internal burden when, at the expense of devastating the housing fund,
the public buildings fund, the infrastructure - we exceedingly developed heavy
industry, building monuments such as Nagymaros or Gabcikovo or other large
nuclear power stations and other monstrosities - this can create a long-term
headache. We have enormous problems in the technical base, in the backwardness
of our industry. But this does not mean giving in to hopelessness. Our
industrial potential is unused. The substantial part of it is devoted to
production for the sake of production which is drowning in a great consumption
of materials, energy, great and useless investments.
We must guide this production so that it benefits the people. We are not
producing enough passenger cars, we are not producing automatic dishwashers, we
are not producing high frequency ovens, we are not producing advanced household
goods, our services are lagging behind, we need an extensive development of
tourism - simply, there exist many spheres which have to be highly dynamically
developed if we are to hold again an honourable position among the front-ranking
countries of Europe, a place which at one time Czechoslovakia held.
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We must build an advanced economy, an advanced state. If we are saying that
following the historic anomaly of Stalinism which parted with the basic
attributes of civilisation, pluralistic democracies, market economy, that we are
coming back to civilisation, that we are returning to Europe, that we are
returning yet again to the great traditions of the people's republic, the
democratic republic of Masaryk, this does not mean a mere indication. At the
same time, we must look forward to the paths followed by the modern world, the
paths of the new post-industrial information society, paths of electronics,
cybernetics, artificial intelligence, computerisation and entire information
systems, paths of modern chemistry, pharmacology, modern health care, and last
but not least, a new living environment and an entire new quality of life.
We must look forward towards a new, advanced Czechoslovakia. For this we need
to carry out structural changes in our industry, structural changes which
naturally concern the Ostrava region, which concern metallurgy, mining,
classical building productions and all the productions with a low degree of
highly qualified labour. We need to develop advanced industries, we do not need
to live on exports of rolled materials, coke and timber, but exports of
up-to-date machinery, up-to-date produce, just as Austria, Italy or Spain, which
were far behind us during the thirties. There is no other way. We must undertake
structural changes; we must prepare them so that they are connected with
generous re-qualifying programmes, so that the bill for these structural changes
is not paid by you, by miners and metallurgical workers, broad strata of the
population - on the contrary, so that we might use the opportunities provided by
structural changes, so that we might free the so far white elephant-type
investments in the development of progressive sections of production and
services.
However, at the same time we not only need to develop new and modern
structures, but we need to change the conduct of our enterprises and the
economists as a whole. This conduct was deformed by the bureaucratised system of
the central administrative management, where the initiative of the people was
being surpressed, where, while talking a lot about social justice, people were
remunerated rather for their poor than good work, where their incentive was
deformed, where cadres were placed not according to their abilities, but
according to the perverted yard-sticks of the party nomenklatura and their
political colour and not according to their true abilities, their true
intentions or their true achievements. This must be fundamentally changed.
We are preparing a whole package of reform measures, new laws - new laws on
enterprise which will make it possible to decentralise and demonopolise our
gigantic and unwielding enterprises buried in red tape which are incapable of
responding in an expedient and flexible way to the customers' demand both at
home and abroad. We must carry out demonopolisation and decentralisation of the
enterprise sphere, loosen this sphere and go over to small-sized enterprises,
give way to medium- and small- sized enterprises, including private enterprises,
joint-stock companies and foreign enterprises.
You know that the models of socialism, which were promised to the people,
have failed. Nobody nowadays believes in the general models, which were - so to
speak - derived from the general theories of communism. We have much more faith
in real mechanisms, the mechanisms which, when underthe people's control, will
lead to a truly progressive development, the mechanisms of a pluralistic
democracy, the mechanisms of a market economy, the mechanisms of a free contest
and competition, which will bring to light in a true way what people are
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capable of and what they can achieve. First and foremost we should possess
wealth and divide it justly afterwards, rather than playing the game of welfare
measures and a magnanimous welfare state with empty coffers.
Here lies the purpose of the economic reform - in creating a new type of
behaviour, so that we stop wasting raw materials and stop behaving like people
nourished by the state budget. We shall, of course, have to resort to unpopular
measures, too - to make the state budget's policy more relevant, to restrict
unproductive expenditure on defence, on repressive apparatuses, on unproductive
monopolies, no matter where they may be - to restrict the budget expenditure, to
restrict the currency in circulation, to restrict liberal subsidies and credits,
in order to bar the path to inflation, 50 that we would maintain the stability
of the crown and savings, so that people can have confidence in their savings
and are able to look to and plan their future in economic terms.
The new government must also do everything for a good social policy and for
our people who should be able to find fulfilling employment. It is true that
there is great social employnment in our country nowadays. There is
over-employment in our country. Some million people work in administration and
management. You know how many feeble-minded (?officials), how many
administrators, how many cadre departments and how many superfluous invoice and
account offices which are continuously rewriting and retranscribing something
exist in our country. You know how many play finance, although in reality nobody
does much with the crown, but money is simply handed out. In fact, in many
instances we are only playing the game of currency circulation and banking.
Therefore it is necessary to restore to money its role in society and base
the value of money with truly productive work. We are not rich enough to be able
to afford to pay for non-productive work which creates no values. But this does
not mean that we have to have unemployment. We have the highest and fullest
employment of women. It is necessary to think how to make things easier for
women. It should be possible to introduce a flexible system of four-, five- or
six-hour part-time commitments for women so that they can work in a dignified
way and devote themselves to bringing up children and, in effect, to the
education of us all.
Yes, at the moment we have every reason to deplore the devastation of the
environment in this way we are depriving ourselves of our very own existential
basis. Likewise, we have to deplore the emotional devastation which has taken
place in our society. We have not fully appreciated the role of women not only
as mothers and teachers, but also as the guardians of emotions in our society
and of all emotional education. It is necessary to renew the cult of the mother
and woman enshrined in our literature and poetry we have to get a lot done for
our wives, daughters and dear ones.
Yes, it is possible to give people much more free time through making the
woman's lot easier, improving the existing difficult conditions attached to
their employment, improving services geared to working women, and putting an end
to queues in the shops, to the chaotic situation in supplies and to the endless
waiting or looking for something. We can make annual leave longer, we can raise
the school-leaving age, we can do a whole number of things which will alleviate
the consequences of reducing unproductive employment. However, it is also
necessary to give some thought to creating a situation where people find
employment in those branches where we need it and to initiating the development
of the low-tonnage chemical industry, precision engineering and tourism
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services.
Just one example Our neighbour Austria, which is smaller than our country -
58,000 sq. km. with only two-thirds of our population - has a tourist industry
which last year alone earned the country 9,000 million dollars. This is two and
a half times more than the entire Czechoslovak export of all those things -
coke, rolled iron sheets, timber - we are now able to export into the
hard-currency areas.
Although investments into the attractions of our beautiful Prague were made
as far back as in the time of Charles IV and now there is huge interest in this
tourist gem - the city of Prague - our tourism earns not 9,000 million dollars,
but 150,000,000 dollars. We have to build a modern tourist industry, thousands
of small enterprises based on private ownership, small shops, small restaurants,
eating places, even popular entertainment - simply we have to make streets
interesting, full, and that includes singers and artists. We have to make Prague
attractive and enrich it with all that is being created by our society.
Unfortunately, all we have created is the South Town suburb and other
prefabricated dormitories which do nothing for our fame. Moreover, when we take
into account the underground and the main supplies construction, the cost of a
flat in the South Town is nearly Kcs 750,000. At that price all citizens could
have acquired a detached house - even a detached house and a half! Just as Mrs
Thatcher in Britain is doing, we could have developed above all private housing,
and that is what we have to do. We must give up those prefabricated tombstones
and ensure a new housing culture in Czechoslovakia.
I do not wish to bore you with a long list of the problems we have to solve
and the opportunities we have. But I would like to point out the great
opportunities offered by the opening up of our economy.
For a long time we have been an isolated economy, one connected only with the
world of the socialist economies where we frequently exchanged our poor products
for even worse ones manufactured in Romania, Poland or the Soviet Union. Let us
compare the following such Western countries as Switzerland, Norway and the
Netherlands import 1,000 - 1,500 dollars' worth of consumer goods per capita
while we import about 12 dollars' worth. The choice of goods in our shops is
accordingly impressive!
Of course, we have to substantially raise the export-ability of
Czechoslovakia. We have to ensure that all our enterprises enter the
international division of labour with Western firms, that they co-operate,
discuss things and work together in science and technology. We have to ensure
that our market - in line with all other places in Western Europe - soon
reflects and offers the full world choice of goods.
Even in such countries as Peru and Bolivia, the prerequisite exists that the
entire world choice must be on the market whether people can afford to buy it or
not. No-one has the right, as the case used to be at our State Planning
Commission, to ponder what he can or cannot import, what he is permitted or not
permitted to offer to the people,
This is the path we have to follow but, of course, we have to have much more
co-operation with the world. The world does offer us such opportunities. We must
count - and we can count - on Western Europe, the United States, Japan and the
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whole developed world to do business with us on the basis of equality so that
the liberalisation of our foreign trade is made posible. Ahead of us there lie
our opportunities - the opportunities of equal trade.
Let me conclude by expressing my own conviction that everywhere in Europe, in
the new history, there lie our great opportunities in this era there are no
longer big and small nations and, indeed, Czechoslovakia shall not be a small
nation but a great one - thanks to its spirit and its new history. May we all be
successful in achieving this goal.
[Note On his visits to the North Moravian districts of Frydek-Mistek and
Ostrava, Vaclav Havel was also accompanied by Labour and Social Affairs
Minister Petr Miller, according to a CTK report on 3rd January (2136 gmt). Havel
attended meetings of students of the State College of Mining and Metallurgy in
Ostrava and of miners at the Staric mine in Frydek-Mistek district. Havel and
Komarek told the miners that they did not need to fear pit closures or their own
future existence. The rally in Ostrava was also addressed by Petr Miller; Sarka
Varysova, chairwoman of the North Moravian Regional Committee, and Mayor Lubomir
Vejr. The visit ended later the same day.]
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Vaclav HAVEL
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
(Phonetic: HAHvel)
President (since December 1989)
Addressed as: Mr. President
Vaclav Havel, Czechoslovakia's most
prominent living playwright, was a major force in
the creation of the Civic Forum prodemocracy
movement on 19 November 1989 and was its point
man in subsequent negotiations with the
beleaguered Communist regime. A longtime
dissident, he enjoys enormous popular support for
his moral strength and courage during years of
opposition activities and consequent police
repression.
Havel is a reluctant politician. He has been
pushed into the political limelight by the need for a nationally known and trusted figure to
lead Czechoslovakia as it sheds the remnants of the hardline Communist regime and
reestablishes a democratic form of government. He will hold office until free elections take
place in June 1990.
A Czech, Havel was born on 5 October 1936 in Prague. His grandfather was a wealthy
real estate developer and his father was a famous restaurateur. The family's assets were
seized after the Communist takeover in 1948, and Havel worked as a laborer and attended
night school to earn a high school diploma. Denied admission to a university because of his
"class origins," he found work as a theater stagehand and attended the Academy of the
Arts, eventually becoming a writer and producer for a Prague theater. In May 1968 he
visited the United States for the US premiere of his play The Memorandum.
Havel supported the Prague Spring reforms in 1968 and opposed the Soviet-led
invasion that led to their reversal. His plays were banned and he was dismissed from his
theater post during the postinvasion return to orthodoxy. He subsequently worked in a
brewery and became active in the dissident community. In January 1977 he was
instrumental in drafting the human rights declaration Charter 77. During the following
12 years he was the target of continual police harassment, interrogations, and detentions.
His longest prison sentence was a four-year term during 1979-83; his most recent was from
January to May 1989.
Havel speaks English. He is not a member of any political party. He has received
numerous foreign prizes as well as honorary doctorates from foreign universities, and he was
nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. Havel and his wife, Olga, have been married
since 1964. They have no children.
26 January 1990
RFK was behind the move. Corbin may be the only
cover and leaving everyone else thoroughly confused.
national committee staffer ever fired by direct order of
At his funeral mourners were evenly divided over
a President. As Arthur Schlesinger Jr. tells it, Johnson
whether Corbin was guilty.
told Bobby Kennedy, "If Corbin's such a good fellow,
Paul Corbin might have functioned better in the days
you pay him. He's been around town for three years
of Plunkitt or Tweed or Pendergast. With him gone, the
knocking my head off and I've never met the bum."
League of Women Voters has less to worry over. But in
After 1968, devastated by the death of Robert Kenne-
a profession with little enough to laugh about, Corbin
dy, Corbin moved to Nashville for a short time, where he
lived to have some fun, and to his brand of politics, he
became curator of the Country Music Wax Museum and
left no heirs.
famous for his fine collection of cowboy boots. Corbin
Wherever he is, you may be sure the erring boy is
habitually borrowed the boots off the wax dummies, one
assembling his pals: "Bob Kennedy, meet Bill Casey."
day wearing Johnny Cash's, the next Hank Williams's.
Corbin returned to Washington, where he operated
KEN BODE, formerly politics editor of TNR, is director
successfully for many years (even after being fired by
of the Center for Contemporary Media at DePauw
LBJ), and the legends grew of a premier political fixer
University.
able to work both sides of the aisle. In his eulogy, which
had the entire funeral congregation roaring with laugh-
ter, Siegenthaler told how his friend managed an en-
counter with George McGovern the day after McGov-
Homage to Vaclav Havel.
ern's nomination in 1972: "You don't have to make me
an acceptance speech, George," growled Corbin. "Just
tap your tambourine and sing three verses of 'Blowing
in the Wind."
In 1980 the ubiquitous Corbin wrangled a private
A
meeting with Jim Baker, then campaign chairman for
LIFE LIKE
Presidential candidate George Bush. Baker had never
encountered this gravelly voiced package of effrontery,
A WORK OF ART
and he listened wide-eyed as Corbin explained that
Bush was looking agitated and jittery on the campaign
trail. "Put a couple of pretty secretaries on the campaign
By Milan Kundera
plane to keep him relaxed in the off-hours," Corbin ad-
vised, adding, "That's what we did with JFK in 1960."
have always been especially allergic to the remark
Nineteen-eighty was perhaps Corbin's most active
I
attributed (wrongly, I think) to Goethe: "a life
Presidential year. Detesting the pious, ineffectual Presi-
should resemble a work of art." It is because life is
dent Jimmy Carter, he served as a behind-the-scenes
formless and does not resemble a work of art that
adviser in Edward Kennedy's effort to topple Carter.
man needs art. Yet in these great days for my old
When that failed and Carter won renomination, Corbin
homeland, Central Europe, I learned with enormous
told friends on the floor of the Democratic convention
joy that Vaclav Havel would soon become president of
that he intended to work for Reagan. Soon he was
the Czechoslovak Republic. I think about him and say to
providing intelligence on the Democrats directly to Wil-
myself: there are cases (very rare) where comparing a
liam Casey, Reagan's campaign manager, who recog-
life to a work of art is justified.
nized a kindred spirit. When Republican John Ander-
Havel's entire life is in fact built on a single great-
son decided to run as an Independent, Corbin worked
theme; there is nothing random about it, there are no.
that precinct too, helping to convince Anderson's man-
shifts in direction (Havel was never touched by the
agers that they needed a clearly identified Kennedy
lyrical illusions of communism and thus had no need to
Democrat on their ticket as Vice President to give liber-
rid himself of them, as have many of his elders); this life
als a guilt-free reason to vote against Carter. The man
is one gradual, continuous process, and it gives the
chosen was Corbin's old pal, former Wisconsin Gover-
impression of a perfect compositional unity. Moreover,
nor Pat Lucey.
it seems to me that Havel himself shapes his life with an
Then, of course, there was President Carter's debate
artist's pleasure, as a sculptor does his stone, progres-
briefing book, which turned up in the hands of the
sively giving it an ever greater clarity of meaning and
Reagan campaign. When the "Debategate" scandal
form. The way he led the struggle of the past weeks ("a
broke two years later, White House chief of staff Jim
kind of peaceable revolution," he told me in a letter)
Baker claimed he'd been given the book by Bill Casey.
was fascinating not only from the political standpoint
But Casey, then CIA director, said he had no such
but also from the aesthetic. It was like the prestissimo
recollection. Then came reports that Corbin had admit-
finale of a sonata by a very great master.
ted to a reporter that he'd smuggled the book to Casey:
A work of art is meant to be perceived by others.
The CIA director telephoned his friend Corbin. "Did I
Making one's life a work of art immediately exposes it to
get that book from you?" he asked.
scrutiny, to the flood of light. It is unavoidable. But if
"No," Corbin replied, thereby protecting Casey's
the man thus illuminated is an artist as well, he takes a
16
THE
29,
1990
risk: his life become work of art can cause his works of
should not forget that his earliest plays put his audi-
art to be forgotten. In Havel's case, this would be a
ences into a state of perpetual laughter. Yes, at the start
pity. He was under thirty when his first plays were
of Havel's career, there was laughter. Humor. And
performed in Prague: The Garden Party and The Memo-
humor means skepticism. And skepticism in turn means
randum. They were intelligent, provocative, unlike
self-irony. Two years ago, in Paris, I saw his play Largo
anything else (I once discussed this in the preface to a
Desolato. In it, Havel ironically considers his own situa-
volume of his plays: they could be placed if need be,
tion: that of a man who devotes himself to political
but only approximately, within the context of the the-
struggle and thus is no longer master of a life-his
ater of the absurd), and had an irresistible humor. In
own-that everyone else seeks to appropriate. When, in
fact, if these two plays are my favorites among all his
the last act, the police come to arrest the protagonist, he
work, it is because I was still able to see them in
is almost happy with the opportunity finally to be alone,
Prague, in superb productions that were entirely faith-
to belong to no one but himself. The dissident, this
ful to the author's
modern hero, bears
spirit. And because I
his fate not as an ex-
was able to see them
hilarating glory but
at the Theater on the
rather as a burden that
Balustrade, where Ha-
is almost absurd. He
vel was working at
would prefer to do
the time and which,
other things (write
for Czech intellectu-
plays, for instance, or
als, will always remain
poetry), to be rid of his
the symbol of the six-
destiny, but he can-
ties and of their impu-
not. For meanwhile,
dently free spirit. The
something mightier
later works (for in-
than he has seized
stance, the excellent
hold of him, some-
one-act Audience) are
thing that goes be-
no less fine; if there
yond him, something
still existed in the
that Havel calls
world companies that
responsibility.
consider an author's
To him this is the
text to be the founda-
ethic of dissidence.
tion of theater art,
Havel discusses it in
these plays would be
an essay (on A Czech
in the repertory
Dreambook by Ludvik
everywhere.
Vaculik, a magnificent
Even though Havel
work that springs
is known to the world
from the same "skep-
primarily (and justly)
tical dissidence"). Un-
as a founder of Char-
derlying this ethic is
ter 77, as a dissident
the skeptical certainty
who has spent years in
(which only a dramatic
prison, as the prime
author or a novelist
moral representative
can arrive at) that
of his country, at heart
there is no unity be-
he will always be a
VACLAV HAVEL BY VINT LAWRENCE FOR THE NEW REPUBLIC
tween a man's charac-
dramatist, a poet of the theater. To ignore this is to
ter and his destiny, that the one is always victim of the
fail to understand him. It means failing to understand,
other. (The work of art that a life becomes is not identi-
first of all, how deeply he is rooted in the specificity
cal with that life; it may even be hostile to it.) This capaci-
of the national tradition: the nineteenth-century move-
ty to take an ironic view of one's own situation, to guard
ment of Czech renewal was organized not around the
one's life against any melodramatic interpretation
Church, not around an army, not around a political
(kitsch interpretation, we would say in Central Europe),
party, but around culture in general and the theaters
can be called a kind of wisdom. Among the great politi-
in particular. The greatest Czech political figures of
cal figures of our time, I see no other who possesses that
the time were writers: Frantisek Palacky, a historian;
wisdom. For it is the wisdom of a poet.
Karel Havlicek (curiously, his name is the diminutive
form of Havel), a satiric poet; and then Tomas Masa-
-Translated from the French original by Linda Asher
ryk, a philosopher.
His dimension as an artist will make Havel different
MILAN KUNDERA has lived in Paris since 1975. His most
from today's other great political personages. We
recent novel is The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
JANUARY 29. 1990