History will speak about this visit very soon. We know this well, because our hearts tell us so. But, like every history, it also has its own chronicle: PROLOGUE TO A NEW ERA Wednesday came, and the American flag spread throughout Tirana. Young people and children carried it in their hands, as did adults returning from work; above all, from the military unit, they had printed those flags at lightning speed. No one ordered them to do so. It was a desire from the heart of a people beginning to breathe freely. And it is their right, alongside the Albanian flag, to carry any other flag that is dear to them. The American flag won this race almost without competition. It appeared in the squares and streets, at the home of the bricklayer Sejkulla Rajku, on the windows of some city buses, and in the windows of houses. A young linotype operator had also put it on the wall beside her workplace. Someone who had proudly managed to obtain a flag rode a bicycle, waiting for the day Mr. Baker would arrive, waiting for America to arrive in Albania. On the eve of the visit, something happened in Tirana that had not occurred to the rest of us. The young people turned to the last remnant of communism in Albania, the statue of Lenin, to remove it. The city could not receive a representative of democracy and free America while that statue stood somewhere in its center. Lenin was certainly not Stalin or Enver, but he was a bearer of that same infamous ideology called socialism and communism, which spread like a plague and extended its claws over us too, without exception. That signal was all it took for our new police force to join the crowd, with its rare pluralist political instinct, and bring people that very night, late or close to midnight, to demolish the monument. We breathed freely, as Tirana residents, as Albanians who must and will take as our idols our own political heroes and the illustrious figures of world culture and democracy, while valuing all dictators and their idols even more deeply for what they are. This is the verdict of a free people, the people who awaited with anxiety and joy the distinguished U.S. Secretary of State James Baker for more than twenty hours, together with his wife, Suzana Gaber Baker. But how did the Albanian welcome the American guest, the man from the land of wonders, where Albanian emigrants too have found the generous hospitality of the continent of democracy? With that bouquet of flowers at Rinas Airport, with that warm embrace from Albanians in traditional Tirana dress, with handshakes from Prime Minister Ylli Bufi, Speaker of the People’s Assembly Kastriot Islami, and deputies and state and party officials Sali Berisha, Gramoz Pashko, Genci Ruli, and Ismail Lleshi. In that long line was also Pjetër Arbnori, once sentenced to 28 years in prison, who shook the American’s hand and knew how to speak close to his ear, as if to confirm that the iron experience in Albania had been broken; that I, a persecuted man, today am a deputy because pluralism brought me here to meet you, esteemed sir, at this airport. Times have changed. Albania is experiencing moments to which we are only just learning to adapt. From that Stalinist and Enverist Machiavellian criticism of the United States, “the most hated enemy of the peoples,” and specifically of Albania too, to a group of young people at the Youth Palace putting their hands out to touch and accompany the car in which Baker is riding. This spontaneous breach of protocol continues in Vorë and beyond. Signs in English had been written: “Welcome, Mr. Baker,” and even “God bless America.” And the great guest showed respect for these people, their faces tanned by the sun. The car slows down; the greetings continue. Hands raised with two fingers up were a legitimate part of that monumental green landscape. But it could not go on only like this. At the entrance to Tirana, the crowd flowed like a multicolored river. It wanted to see Mr. Baker and welcome him in the Albanian way, with enthusiasm, with our fiery hearts. The car slowed down. A short journey to the center took more than half an hour. HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE IN “SKËNDERBEJ” SQUARE? That was an American journalist’s question, but there was no need to answer it. It was all of Tirana. Tirana—not only in the square, but on every street where people thought the great guest would pass. The youth who had blinded monism with “student” pluralism, and the working class that had toppled the short-lived communist government unconditionally, a government the people did not want, were there in the square, cheering and demonstrating—not at anyone’s command, but out of a great desire to see the representative of the distinguished people of the new continent. The slogans: “Long live USA!” and “Long live the de- PETRO DHIMITRI (continued on page 4) (Photo: P. Omeri — ATSH)

— FROM MR. BAKER’S SPEECH IN PARLIAMENT — I would first like to say how deeply moved I personally am, and how moved the members of my delegation are, by your welcome—an extraordinary welcome here in Tirana. I know that this reception is not directed personally at me, but at the country I represent. I also see it as an expression of the demands of the Albanian people, of the Albanian people’s aspirations for freedom and democracy, which were denied to them for a very long time. Dear friends, for generations your compatriots and relatives have found refuge in America and have wished—and continue—to make an extraordinary contribution to the life of the American nation. But friendship must be a two-way street. Therefore, at the beginning of this month, in this parliament, Dr. Sali Berisha invited me to visit Albania, and I came as soon as I could. It is an honor and a privilege for me to address this parliament. With the recent restoration of diplomatic relations between our two countries and my visit here today, I say to the people of Albania: America is coming back to you! The United States has followed closely and welcomed the progress you have made on the road to freedom. You have taken the first important steps toward joining the community of other countries after many decades of self-isolation. All Americans congratulate you on your first steps along this path, the path of democracy, by which you are joining the community of other democratic countries. I have a simple message for you Albanians: here in Albania, democracy cannot be only an ideal; it must be a reality and a way of life. As long as you remain committed to this direction, we will support you, just as we supported you at the beginning of this century. President Wilson supported your cause. I am very proud that our President and my country stand with you in this final decade of the 20th century and support a free and independent Albania. Every part of this continent, just like every citizen of this country, must share responsibility for what President Bush has called a Europe that is united and free. In conclusion, dear friends, let me emphasize that I hope that from today the American people and the Albanian people will believe in the same ideals: an open government, open means of information, an open economy, and an open society, for the sake of reason, so that our loved ones may secure freedom—and freedom delivers results.

— MR. SABRI GODO RESIGNS FROM THE STEERING COMMITTEE FOR HEALTH REASONS; PRSH DELEGATES ELECT HIM PRSH HONORARY CHAIRMAN — Although somewhat delayed, the First National Conference of the PRSH finally held its proceedings on 21 June in the lecture hall of the National History Museum. Its delegates decided on a pronounced opposition stance, following years of a rich and active record. In this firmly established political position, it has come forward with a chairman and a deputy chairman. Its intelligent demands have day by day strengthened the people’s trust. This has meant that its support among the broad public, and at the polling stations, is now greater than the share it actually won in the electorate. The people themselves felt and understood the mistake they had made, by submitting to the monstrous errors of the PSP and its Machiavellian maneuvering to remove the red vote through the majoritarian system. Within the opposition as a whole, the PRSH now has its own dignified place. It has now created a distinctive profile, unmistakable among the others. The conference was opened by Mr. Vangjush Gamberta, Secretary of the PRSH. In the report presented on this occasion, the chairman of the Initiating Commission, Mr. Sabri Godo, was frank and transparent. He began by discussing mistakes made in some statements addressed to the electorate. This was especially evident in the assessment of the president’s figure. Naturally, the assessment made by the members must be understood in the context of the time and the situation the country was going through. Thus, in his report, delivered on behalf of the PRSH Initiating Commission, he did not in any way gloss over the mistakes. What is the PRSH’s character? Looking at its program, one can clearly see that its ideology and political-philosophical platform are advanced and are gaining ground day by day. Its consolidation in the opposition has been evident and particularly timely. This was demonstrated in practice by the way it addressed a series of issues, such as the assessment of public figures. SOKOL MUNIO

FROM THE REPORT ON THE PARTY’S ACTIVITIES AND DUTIES AT THE FIRST NATIONAL CONFERENCE, DELIVERED BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE INITIATING COMMISSION, SABRI GODO Five months have passed since the day the Party’s creation was announced. During this time, the main milestones have been the drafting of the program and statute, the establishment of a press, the opening of branches in the districts, participation in the elections, and the presentation of 165 candidates. The Party has worked without a schedule, in buildings, without professional staff. But our determination and our aim to serve the country as patriots and republicans have moved us forward. The Party has become an alternative that deserves to be appreciated and heard, a political party organized in the true sense of the word, one that acts with dedication and seriousness and knows how to find its bearings, offering good solutions to the problems of the day. Our program sought to define the Party’s tactics and strategy. By studying this program, people conclude that, overall, it takes a stance and is more appropriate to the conditions of the country. Other parties began borrowing ideas from this program. We can say that the statute, too, was welcomed for providing sound rules for the Party’s life and, above all, for guaranteeing internal democracy through its provisions. Around it, it would have been possible to break the PP and the votes of the other parties. We were also harmed by this, because, by declaring ourselves allies of the PP on every occasion, we almost openly told the public: vote for it, for the PD. This was a mistake by the Initiating Commission and by me personally. ON THE PARTY’S CHARACTERISTICS AND ITS RELATIONS WITH OTHER POLITICAL FORCES The first stage of the struggle to break the PPSH’s rule culminated on 31 March. This Party of Enver Hoxha, with its harsh 45-year dictatorship, morally and physically crippled the people and brought the economy to a true catastrophe. Therefore, breaking its monopoly, even partially, and the emergence of political parties on the scene are the people’s first great victory and a victory for democracy. On 31 March the second stage of the struggle began, just as complicated and just as charged with tensions. It begins with the shift to pluralism, whose focal point will be Parliament, but which will also develop more sharply outside it, because other political parties will be created and grow. How should our Republican Party orient itself during this second stage? What is its character, and what tactics and strategy should it follow? The main feature of our character is our program, freed from excesses but also from rigidity. Yet we have not made use of this advantage among the urban and rural population to the extent we should have. The program is known in the public arena to an increasing number of people. This is a colossal achievement, while many of us sit around asking what we should do next. Let us work so that every person comes to know and accept our program; let us explain every point of it, decide what we should do, and thereby lay the foundations of our own Zionism. Secondly, let us clearly uphold our position as an opposition party. We are openly in opposition and