#24 | December 18-29, 1997  

By Edward Limonov

When I lived in the United States in 1975-1980, everyone who managed to leave Soviet Union was welcomed and considered as a victim of Soviet regime. Most of emigrants were Russian Jews, who officially left for their historical homeland-Israel-but, biggest part of them arrived to US, attracted by its economical prosperity and market possibility. Nevertheless, obvious opportunists as they were, those emigrants were welcomed in the United States, were given status of "refugees." Everybody cynically exploited USA. Amongst emigrants was popular sentence of ardent dissident Vladimir Bukovsky, written in letter to Moscow friend: "If you wish to succeed in the United States, you should arrange to get yourself arrested in the Soviet Union. Three years in a Soviet camp and you will have no problems in USA."

Earlier "refugees," first few thousands of them have received good jobs in universities and went in masses to work for American propaganda machine. Entire staff of emigrant newspapers and that of Radio Liberty was exchanged the old monsters of second wave emigration (after the war) were throwed away. New blood proved to be more caustic. Psychological cold war was winned, yes, by American money, but by generals Solzhenitsyn, Sinyavsky, Galitch, Maskimov, Brodsky, Bukovsky and by the thousands of soldiers of lesser grade, all mercenaries, imported from Russia.

Quarter of century have passed. Today one can observe absolutely inversed situation. In order to please so-called "democratical" regime of President Yeltsin, US government does for him even the dirty job of arresting Russians on its own territory (arrest and severe judgement of Yaponchik, recent arrest in Miami of Alexander Taratsov, director of "Russkoye Zoloto"). Every enemy of President Yeltsin is an enemy of the United States. American government close the eyes on monstrous corruption of Yeltsin's ministers, doesn't give a fuck about human rights of tens of millions poor, created by dissolution of Soviet Union. Even George Soros (of course for his own purpose) is talking now about criminal capitalism in Russia, but not US government. In its own country, however, such a blatant rape of majority by criminal minority is inadmissable, and choking. US domestic capitalism have more mild (at least on surface) manners, and at least one healthy principle: the very worst American is preferable to its government than the best foreigner.

What is behind of abnormal indulgence of official US towards cold blooded thieves of criminal Russian capitalism? Puritanical faith in messianic principles of democracy, democracy at any price, even by cannibal price of many hundreds of thousands of lives of ordinary citizens killed in inter-ethnical conflicts, even by a price of millions of refugees? Or else calculated diabolical plan to demolish biggest enemy-Russia? Demolish it to the last stone, as Rome have had destroyed Carthage? I guess that combination of both is at work: faith in supposedly universal values of democracy and calculated plans of destroying my country.

Meanwhile, demolished, shrinked Russia is governed by the same social elite as Soviet Union, and its officials as violent and brutal as ever. Ever more violent and brutal. Only attitude of the West towards them changed. Instructive is to compare reaction of a foreign public opinion towards two trials of two poets, occurred on Russian soil with a 30 years of distance. That of Brodsky's trial in 1964 and Alina Vitukhnovskaya's trial in 1994-97. Brodsky was judged for non-working ("parasitism," or "tuneyadtsvo"). Process resulted in eXile sentence of young poet. He was moved to 101st kilometer from Leningrad, where he worked freely in sovkhoz (frequently receiving visiting friends) during six months. Called "crime" of Soviet regime, process rouse indignation of world public opinion, made him cause celebre, gave Brodsky world fame, he was met with a triumph when emigrated to US in 1972, brought him finally to the summit of literary fame to a Nobel Prize.

Poet Alina Vitukhnovskaya was arrested in October 1994 at age of 20 by ten men of FSB (Federal Service of Security, heir to KGB) allegedly for possession and selling drugs on sum 7 US dollars. Following search in her apartment gave miserable result, for about 1.630 grams of chemical substances. Nevertheless she was thrown to the most horrible of Moscow's prisons to Butirka, and spend there more than one year awaiting her trial, before Russian writers, even they revolted by injustice (PEN center, A. Vosnesensky, etc.) succeeded to get her from prison. But in October 1997 her case was reopened. She was arrested again, now she is held in Six Women's Prison of Moscow. Most likely reopening of her trial is due to the wounded pride of FSB men, who hoped for big catch, who listened to her phone conversations before her arrest, who probably lured her to a trap with a help of two confessed drug addicts-now witnesses of accusation-one of them arrested before Vitukhnovskaya.

Most of literary critics agree that Vitukhnovskaya most talented poet of her generation. She, unlike Brodsky in 1964, is an author of many published books. She is young girl of rather fragile health spending her second year in prison, although not sentenced yet? Isn't it a revolting story of violation of human rights? So, what then of the Western defenders of human rights? No reaction at all, because Empire of Yeltsin cannot be accused of violation of human rights. I am certain that one word of Bill Clinton would be enough to get Vitukhnovskaya from prison. But he will never do it. He doesn't want to offend his friend Boris, ex-member of Central Committee of KPSS, the very bastion of democracy in Russia. Bloody bastards! And freedom-devoted Western press? The only journalists present at Vitukhnovskaya trial were Mark Ames and Matt Taibbi from eXile. They remarked, "It's like Mississippi."