...BECAUSE OF PAIN FOR THE LAND Albania has become a desert—not a desert with sand dunes like the endless Sahara, but an even worse one, when you think that the Albanian is creating the desert himself. In the fertile fields everywhere in my country, only grass has sprouted mournfully, so much so that you would think Albania is one great tribe whose members have entered the towers of confinement, putting even the land itself on hold, because another blood-feuding tribe is pursuing them, pursuing them... And it seems so believable when, from time to time, you see only women working. But which tribe, then, pursues the Albanian day and night like this and does not let him set foot on his own land?! They say the Albanian peasant «has fallen into a blood feud» with the tribe of parliamentarians! But this is not his only «blood feud». He is pursued by dizzying politics, the parties’ games, the campaign now at hand and, above all, the new Land Law. And so the peasant forgets to do the most important thing, the thing that gives meaning to everything: sowing the land, signing now for next year’s hunger. This does not take much thought to understand, but bring to mind the well-known saying, «you reap what you sow». A few days ago, as I was travelling with a friend of mine, a lecturer at the Agricultural University of Perugia, I noticed him looking through the windows at the fallow fields, holding his head in his hands. Over the late-autumn fallow... He asked me to explain something to him: Why?! Why?! I, too, felt like crying. I hope the respected Italian lecturer did not see in me precisely what I see every morning today: that sight of fields left unsown, the message of tomorrow’s pain. The mother-and-child refrain! I want bread! And bread nowhere, nowhere—only chaff, chaff, and the dry grass of Decembers past... The days of December are passing. The land is giving up its agricultural function altogether. Tomorrow it will be too late. The day after tomorrow we will have nothing left... Another day after tomorrow... God forbid. Meanwhile, on the other side, the parties’ contest is reaching its peak. Newspapers are flourishing. The nostalgics of the past rejoice at the grass covering the fallow fields and, as if through a fog, recall the words of their spiritual father: «We will eat grass...» Oh God, what is happening?! Fate is playing with us. We are playing with fate. Who is it, then? Who is the blood-feuder of the Albanians? Who? Dear politicians! Be quiet, stop quarrelling! I ask this of you for just twenty-four hours! Let us all go down together and sow the seed in the land. It is waiting for us. Let us do this! I assure you that only then will you have made real politics: the politics of learning for tomorrow, which begins with a phrase I doubt is Albanian. Food aid... humanitarian aid. MARASH MIRASHI

— A conversation with student Gjok Vuksani, deputy chairman of the strike committee, who was present at the meeting with the president — — Gjok, since we did not have the opportunity to hear your meeting with the president at first hand, tell us something about your assessment of it. — We went to the president to present our demands to him as the person currently holding the highest office in our state. We began the meeting with criticism, because the president did not allow television journalists or the journalist from «Flladi» to attend. He replied to us: «With lights, without lights, in the annex or in the reception room—that is not up to you. I decide that. I did not accept television. You are guests...» «Meanwhile, one student answered him: “It is an Albanian custom that if a guest comes into your home, half the house belongs to the guest.” So we began the meeting under tension. And it continued that way for about an hour. I remember that at the beginning of the meeting he said: “Quickly, I only have 20 minutes.” Then we presented our demands. — Could you give us an excerpt from these exchanges? (continued on page 4)

— REFLECTION ON A PHONE CALL FROM A MINISTER I have often compared in my mind what is happening today with what happened yesterday. We had all been used to being afraid. Your hand would tremble as you knocked on a director’s office door. Meeting the former first secretary of the PPSH was a «privilege» not everyone was lucky enough to enjoy!... Having your photograph taken with a minister at some plant or factory was a great stroke of luck. But today? The telephone rings. I pick up the receiver. — Yes? — I say. — This is the Ministry of Culture, a woman’s voice replies. The minister is speaking! At first, to tell the truth, I did not take it in. Could they have dialled the wrong number?... What did the Minister of Culture have to do with the Agricultural and Development Bank? These thoughts raced through my mind as I waited to hear, for the first time in my life, a MINISTER’S voice on the telephone! Why was he calling? Who was he asking for? How should I answer him? What would his voice sound like? For a moment I forgot that it was 1991. — This is Preç Zogaj. Hello, Martin, how are you, how are you? ... 1991... — is everyone at home? ... the Minister is calling about your problem. They changed expression. That is what the Minister said on the phone. Entirely humanly. Even in a telephone conversation, he was just an ordinary person. MARTIN LEKA ... Many times, some peasants from Torovica have come to see me. They want to buy cows, but are asking the Bank for a loan... — I told them I would speak with the Bank employees in Lezhë around 11 o’clock. If possible, go out and talk to them; they’ll be right there... I put down the receiver and saw that it was exactly 11 o’clock. I went out, called five names, and they were all behind the door of the Bank offices. I told them that the Minister had called about your problem. Their expressions changed. ordinary person. MARTIN LEKA

In a setting, the chairman of the Albanian parliament, Dr. Kastriot Islami, and the deputy chairman of the political prisoners’ organization, Viktor Martini, meet one another for the first time. During their conversation, Dr. Kastriot Islami says to Viktor: «You should know, Viktor, that all those persecuted by the Enverian regime—for example, I had an uncle sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment... Then Viktor Martini, with his gentle Shkodran humor, addresses his conversation partner: If I follow the Punist-socialist logic, according to you it turns out that Enver Hoxha himself was also persecuted by the Enverian regime, since it was precisely that regime that executed his brother-in-law...»

Every family’s occupation is special. Yes, all the children. But where is it cooked? It is good that television news lists the delegations and state officials. This one entered and... They will go and come back. Intesë to be extinguished... Texts before... only left to chance: “The reception has a warm atmosphere ...” A dinner was also held at the “Dajti” Hotel in honor of the delegation. Here the report ends, and precisely here the request to the gentlemen of TV begins: Let us see that dinner held at the “Dajti” Hotel for once! Just one minute! That’s all. Since TV is transparent, why not add another minute to the television broadcast for this reception with lunches and dinners!? ZEF PERGEGA

is swimming in the Greek press In this issue, we thought we would publish an abridged version of Napoleon Roshi’s article “ALBANIA’S COLD WINTER AND GREECE’S WARM HAND,” published in the Greek newspaper “TO VIMA” on November 24 of this year, convinced that the most persuasive discrediting is self-discrediting. We invite readers to express their opinions in upcoming issues about the article by the former political spokesperson of KOPPSH, demo-deputy Mr. Roshi, and, more broadly, about the national question. THE EDITORS I understand the concern and indignation of my Greek friends in Tirana, Janina, and Athens. “How is it possible,” they ask me, “that Greece welcomes 200,000 Albanians, that so many Albanians are clothed with humanitarian aid, and that it gives life to the markets of Tirana and other cities with food and industrial products that are entirely missing from Albanian shops because of the paralysis of the economy, and yet the press is full of attacks against Greece?” I will try to offer some explanations. I think I am a balanced person; I do not suffer from chauvinistic feelings against the Chams, as I am accused of from morning till night by the newspaper “Çamëria,” the fascist “Kombi,” and the communist “Zëri i popullit.” As a democrat, I believe that the Cham issue should be discussed and resolved in the spirit of Helsinki. At the same time, I oppose extending the borders as far as Preveza, which would be contrary to the Helsinki Act. I have defended, and continue to defend, the minority’s right to education, and to radio and press in its mother tongue; the right to work and freedom of communication; to a peaceful and secure life; and to practice its religious rights. We, the minority, have lived for centuries on our lands (my village, Polican, has a history of a thousand years) and we will continue to live here, because these are the lands of our ancestors and our parents. Any malicious incitement, from wherever it may come, weighs on the minority population, which eagerly awaits democracy, mutual understanding, goodwill, and open doors with Greece. I think that, through its humanitarian stance, the Greek people serve their minority in Albania immeasurably, as well as friendship and cooperation in relations between the two countries. Also, the fact that 15,000 Muslims have received visas for Greece (Napoleon forgets here that the Greek government has even turned them into Orthodox Christians) should not go unnoticed. What would happen in Albania if, for a moment, these 100–200 thousand Albanians working in Greece were to return? What would happen to the empty market without this influx of goods, mainly from Greece? I understand the Greek worker’s legitimate distress. The arrival of refugees, not only from Albania, has reduced the working day. Nevertheless, the Greek people, with their renowned generosity, will not hesitate to lend a hand to their neighbor, who is perhaps going through the most difficult period in its history. All these forces I have mentioned make this winter difficult and uncertain for Albania. Add anarchy and poverty, and the drama being endured today by the northern neighbor, Albania, becomes even clearer. Within this drama, the Albanian people need the warm hand of friendship and good neighborliness. They need greater understanding. Albania is not represented by those ten or twenty thieves and criminals who have caused you problems, but by the tens of thousands of Albanians who, through their honest conduct and work, have managed to win your hearts. May God bless you for your humanitarianism. (Amen, Mr. Roshi. — Our note.)

interview with the well-known poet, translator and publicist, Rudolf Marku