Subject: Re: with
folks like these ...
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 17:17:51 -0800
From: Linda Wensrich <[email protected]>
Organization: Internet Network Technologies, Inc.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.rep-of-georgia
References: 1 [email protected]
wrote: (snip)
(ambassador's comments)
> All of these statements about Georgia are absolutely true!
There was
> civil war only several years ago, with armed thugs roaming
the streets of
> Tbilisi. But all that is gone. Rustaveli Avenue is now clean.
New cafes
> were in operation this summer, with white chairs and
umbrellas near the
> street. Many Mercedes-Benz automobiles are seen on the roads.
Minibuses
> are abundant, with good transportation in the city. People
can go out in
> the evening.
(snip)
> Of course, reorganization has not touched everyone. Many are
still
> without jobs. Salaries are still low. Many persons would find
the
> facilities expensive. But improvements have occurred, and the
trend is
> positive.
(snip) Absolutely true? I
believe that you are overstating that "truth" and
understating that fact that "reorganization" has not
touched everyone. What
follows is a letter I just received from a Tbilisi resident, a
professional with a college degree. I have removed any personal
references: ----- "Life in Georgia is still
dreadful: no gasoline, problems with electricity especially in
winter. No money. "A
lot of people wear old or second-hand clothes. Including me and my
family. "My brother
helps me with money. My spouse has no work. But to have a job or
have not is the same: for my work I receive 15 laris - $12
(ha-ha!). We rent my in-law's flat and get $100 a month (plus my
15 lari and extra 10 lari in another job). This is all we have.
Most of the people have not even that. "But there are rich ones too: well dressed,
living in perfect houses and sending their children to learn in
foreign countries. All of them have more or less criminal past.
Some of them are communists (all of these 'olds' are now in 'new'
government). Some of them are old members of 'Mkhedrioni' - the
criminal organization that helped Shevardnadze to come to Georgia
and repressed resistance to his authority. (Now he does not need
them and the chief of the organization is in prison.) A small
percent of new "rich" are really new. They do
everything, even immoral, to make money. To be moral and rich is
very difficult. "Can
you understand now, how our president cares about his people? "Prisons are full of political
prisoners but no one in West says anything bad about Shevardnadze.
He is good for Russia, because he prolonged the time for the
Russian army in Georgia and he is good for the west because he has
gotten Georgia into debts. It will make our children slaves of his
debts. He is good for everybody, but his own people. "Elections were carried on in
communisitic traditions. All of us knew the results
beforehand..." ----- I am writing this to share the
experiences of someone still inside Georgia who cannot be heard
outside of the country by any other means.
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