Along with the good news from the High Court, which filled us with hope that at last we are beginning to have justice, came the news from Italy that Mr. Xhani De Mikelis, Minister of Foreign Affairs of this neighboring country, would once again be arriving urgently. A few months ago, at the press conference he held at the Palace of Congresses, his face was beaming. He felt an inner joy at helping Albania, which welcomed him warmly. And the promises of cooperation that began were auspicious. But once again, an exodus. He will not wake up on those steps, because we analyzed the number in the previous issue; nevertheless, I must apologize to His Excellency, President Franҫesko Kosiga, the government and the Italian people for the new trouble we have caused you. I believe you understand us, esteemed gentlemen Kosiga and De Mikelis. We sincerely apologize because our government (or some Mafia hand more powerful than it) encouraged this exodus, not so much to cause you distress as to disturb the situation inside the country. You certainly know this well, which is why your faces were not smiling this time, neither at the airport nor during the receptions or the press conference. And yet, you showed the readiness of the Italian government and people to help us. Thank you. You were also concerned that the position you took toward this wave of refugees might damage the bridges of friendship between the two peoples. Let us make ourselves clear: we were deeply saddened that our boys left, because our hearts were split in two. What happened, as you know well, pains us immeasurably, because our sons and yours were wounded; we are brothers and have no reason to confront one another. And since they left their homeland for a job, for a piece of bread, we were sorry that we could not make this dream come true—especially for some who risked their lives after swimming four kilometers, hungry or too weak for such an undertaking, toward the shores of Sicily. You must understand them: it was their ultima speranca [last hope], which ended in a forced return, accompanied by blows. Although it is difficult for them to forgive you, the people understand the trouble we have caused you, obey your laws, and cannot confuse the Italian generosity shown last year and your good feelings toward Albanians with this new exodus. For even your generosity has its limits. The people also thank you for your conclusion that little Albania must be helped to recover after the worldwide communist plague. It is good that Italy has taken on this mission—a cradle of culture and such a developed state. We do not think this will be a protectorate or an industrial and cultural occupation. No, not at all, because we are members of the CSCE and part of a United Europe, where peoples help one another while safeguarding, first and foremost, their freedom and identity. Even the return of the refugees proves this, because otherwise a state undertaking an occupation could very well have used this occasion to attract as many Albanians as possible, in order to bring as many Italians as possible into our country. That would be a protectorate or denationalization—not the concrete, brotherly assistance you are offering us, as no one else is. So we thank you and apologize for the excesses of our profound national despair at the moment of the collapse of the system of the «beacon of the world», in the transition to «capitalism and imperialism in decay».

(Continued from the previous issue) The meeting with the directors in Chicago seemed to continue the following day as well, when the idea arose and took concrete form that groups of artists or poets should also come to offer our dear Albanian emigrants a little of the music, culture and values created by our people and artists over the past decades. The Albanian Republican Party therefore undertook to organize the dispatch of a group of artists for several months, during which they would give concerts in various American cities. Chicago, with its many plans and the wishes of the emigrants, remained on the shores of Michigan, but a new bridge of friendship connecting it to the birthplace was created here too. On 5 August, the delegation with Mr. Godo arrived in Texas, the southernmost state of the USA, where a large number of Albanians, mainly young people, work. These people, concentrated chiefly in the cities of Dallas and Houston, did not take even one evening off from their hard work to spend a few moments with the guests from Albania and ease their longing for home. In Dallas, where no more than 500 people speak Albanian, our compatriots are known as diligent workers who own more than 40 restaurants. United and educated, they readily stand out; most of the graduates have gathered here, having arrived in Dallas after completing schools and universities, since this clean, modern city seemed to offer them more room. Here too, the same warm hospitality that had characterized Mr. Godo’s earlier meetings with Albanians in America greeted him. Among other things, they delighted their guest with the news that they were soon planning to open an Albanian-language school, while the «Motrat Qiriazi» association pledged to do everything possible to help vulnerable Albanian families in Albania and Kosovo, for whom it has in... [?] In his interview with the «Uashington tajms» and some other outlets, Mr. Godo also placed Albania’s grave political situation and certain concrete economic ideas and initiatives at the forefront—initiatives that could help overcome the problems that have accumulated in this country over the years. Although these meetings with the guest from Albania were densely scheduled, fruitful and useful, they had to be brought to a close sooner, among other reasons because Albania, as we heard in Los Angeles, had faced new problems; Mr. Godo therefore decided to return to Albania as soon as possible. Nevertheless, he left his compatriots with the charge that Noli and many other patriots had given them many years earlier: to work and unite so that one day they might once again find their place beside their homeland, to preserve and cultivate everything Albanian, and to bear witness to it wherever necessary. And Albania, as is known, has never before needed help as much as it does today. Thus the emigrants’ farewell remained their refrain: See you in the Homeland!... America remained where it was, with hundreds of thousands of Albanians working and sweating on foreign soil; however, after this meeting with the guest from Albania, we believe many of them felt even closer to their birthplace. There: to understand it, to feel its misfortune and to help it. There is no doubt that many of these meetings and conversations with Mr. Sabri Gode will begin to yield their first results tomorrow, creating and strengthening ties between Albania and America: the first, the Albanians’ homeland, and the second, as a city of thousands, the United States of America.

A high democratic act against the crimes of dictator Hoxha was last week’s decision by the High Court granting posthumous acquittals to the 22 people executed in the ominous 1951 trial of the class «enemies». Their only guilt, they say, was that someone had planted a bomb at the Soviet embassy. As «enemies», they were supposed to know who had done it. Because they did not know—or did not say who had planted the bomb (they were, of course, required to say)—they were executed. The loss of life was the greatest thing, but even heavier than the bullet were the repercussions for their families: confiscation of property, contempt, dismissal from work, being branded kulaks or enemies without trial, yet being lynched in everyday life. Behind those 22 victims of the bloodthirsty dictator stood at least thousands more whose lives were blighted. That is why I felt such powerful emotion when I saw all the members of the High Court standing, their heads lowered or «hanging» as though someone had cut them off, because they deeply felt the legal crime committed by their colleagues in the 1950s. It was even stated in the wording of the news that the case file had been prepared with such skill that legal experts could find no fault with it. No, ladies and gentlemen, it would be pointless to seek to punish the lawyers who tried that case. Even the most honest person would have had to enforce the laws of that lawless time, under the Party’s law of «urr…?» [?]. Otherwise, the Party’s hand would have imposed the same punishment: a bullet to the forehead. Therefore, the guilty party is the former dictator and the entire «…» [?] that comforted him, who in those years did his bidding; perhaps some of them later began to… [?], because they had «weapons». This historic decision of the High Court is particularly important these days because it exposes monist justice precisely when people are talking about renewal, while the socialists in fact show very few signs of it. Can a party or a person be called renewed if they do not dare to acquit those who were convicted under inhumane and profoundly mistaken laws? I say this because when Democratic Party deputies in Parliament insisted for several days—not merely on amnesty for prisoners, but on the acquittal of those convicted for their beliefs—many Socialist deputies (whom I would rather call compromising Enverists) opposed this acquittal. O people, how wretched you are for having chosen representatives who do not even dare to declare innocent anyone whom the fallen dictatorship of the inhuman dictator persecuted, martyred and scorched, along with their whole family. This is not about a little money, a pension or some granted benefit; it is about being human, about giving the martyrs of the dictatorship moral satisfaction, since no one can give them material compensation. A large number have died or been killed; the others are now without support, without hope and without work. This position was maintained even though they admitted that the laws had been wrong. By deepening their mistake, those who call themselves renewed unmasked themselves when a proposal was also made not to put up for auction those properties claimed by former owners to have been nationalized unjustly. And there are such cases. One [unclear] free, without engaging in trade—which was called heresy—without [illegible text], is now playing on the stage before democracy; they supported the program of the PR, particularly among its membership. He informed them of the commitment undertaken by the PR to support a Republic of Kosovo, a commitment being signed by the Albanian people’s members. The meeting was also addressed by members of the steering committee, the gentlemen Petrë Alushi and Iskëndër Sala. Mr. Qemal Xhafa, head of the delegation of the Party of Pro-

Let us return to the enigma once more. The enigma of 2 JULY. Not to say «things» that young people cannot manage, merely for lack of information, but to get a little closer to it. And always bearing in mind that facts are what make the truth what it is. But to make it true, I think we must go further back in time, to before 2 July, to that time when among all sections of the population, to a greater or lesser degree, the general view was that life was so harsh that we had been forced to live in such circumstances. That this life had to change, and that we were a European country and therefore should live like Europe. That we were no less intelligent or brave than they were, and so we deserved a different, better fate. It happened more than just a few days before 2 July. Or, to be more precise, a few nights earlier. And precisely at Rinas Airport. A plane had landed. Almost all the staff on duty left. Only the most trusted remained. Nothing surprising so far. Planes land and take off from the runway all the time. But the matter becomes interesting precisely now, when it is said who the parents were, while «relations» were supposedly only friendship and cooperation with the PR. But what about the trail? And how could the planes be exchanged, if it did not accept us without pluralism, without [continues in the next column] ...». Something was discussed. Could a detailed plan have been drawn up? It is not known. Something was perhaps promised afterward. Something concerning Albania, by someone; something concerning us, our nation, our children. It is not known. Could it be, all at once? Perhaps us? It is not known. It is not known... it is not known... but it is certainly felt, wholly and completely... Inexorable like fate, from which there is no escape. Because after every event that followed 2 July, even the smallest step, we ourselves have said that everything was unfolding according to a previously devised scenario. By whom? Where? In whose interest? And ultimately, who was to be addressed in advance to decide this, if not an entire nation? The events in the East followed our 2 July with due precision. «Danub» and «the interests of the East and the West in Albania, Europe’s interest in us. A very intensive series of diplomatic meetings between European states, among which stood out others who, as [illegible], showed generosity and accepted the refugees of 2 July. «Sultanu» as the mighty power that [unclear] the Albanians. Great plans? A billion in economic aid. And always before us, we who believed and said, «if only Europe would come out». But how could they be exchanged? It would not accept us without pluralism, without democracy. And we, to bring ourselves closer to democratic Europe, gave the country both pluralism and democracy, because we ourselves were democrats at heart and wanted to see Albania do as well as possible. Because we believed. And because we did not understand what was happening to us. Sometimes angry, sometimes passive, and more often neither one thing nor the other. But the doubts and indecision were dispelled by the President himself, who, as a leading member of the PPSH and its First Secretary, made his plan quite clear at a meeting with the apparatus of the Central Committee of the BRPSH. According to him, the communists were a deeply rooted group, sustained by the blood of Qemal Stafa and all those who had fallen. Parties and associations, and social organizations, would be created; they would spring up like mushrooms after rain, but they would have no roots. One of them would be a little… But we need them. And you were to communicate this fully and clearly to the youth, so that they would understand that on 1 July the parties themselves [unclear], while we controlled everything. Just be careful, you half-crazy people.» This was the guidance given mainly to the BRPSH. In the name of a whole that is moving, what is this?» And why? We know that democracy never comes without ... [?] PETRO DHIMITRI [Text continues; signature in adjoining column: MINOZA KREHARA (continued on page 4-4)]

On Saturday, 3.9.1991, at [time unclear], in one of the halls of the «Korabi» Hotel in Pejë, a meeting was held with representatives of the Party of Democratic Prosperity of Macedonia and representatives of the steering committee of the Party of Democratic Prosperity of Albania. The chairman of the PR branch in Dibër gave an overview of its political program, confirmed it through the Party’s activities and its presence in the [illegible] area of the district, [unclear text] playing its part on the stage of democracy; they supported the PR program, particularly its membership. He reported on the commitment undertaken by the PR to support Kosovo as a Republic, a commitment being signed by members of the Albanian people. The meeting was also addressed by members of the steering committee, the gentlemen Petrë Alushi and Iskëndër Sala. Mr. Qemal Xhafa, head of the delegation of the Party of Democratic Prosperity of Macedonia, acquainted the PR representatives and the Dibër branch with the program of the Party of Democratic Prosperity, its organizational structure and reach, and the duties it had undertaken to carry out. During the discussion, views and assessments were exchanged on the problems concerning the nation, and it was observed that the two sides held the same views. The PR invited the representatives to cooperate in accordance with the conditions in the country, [unclear] that «relations» should consist only of friendship and cooperation with the PR, in a common approach to shared political tasks for democracy. Perhaps... [?]

Los Angeles MINOZA KREHARA (continued on page 4-4)