From: peter@cbnewsc.cb.att.com (peter.pavlovcik)
Subject: Re: Will this group split in 2 parts?
Organization: AT&T
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 19:03:28 GMT

In article <VPILICH.92Aug27154316@hughes.hacgate.UUCP> vpilich@hughes.hacgate.UUCP (Vladimir Pilich) writes:
>
>It's beyond me why they chose this course of action, when it will in all
>likelyhood hurt them econimically, socially, culturally, etc. I'm sorry,
>but I really get fumed when I think about it.
>
>Vlad.

From where I am, I agree with you. But it's hard for me to judge
when I have not been there for over 20 years. Interestingly, a few days
ago, I got a letter from my mother, a retired teacher who lives in
Slovakia. The letter was uncharacteristically focused on the current
political situation. I guess, she is also pretty much steamed up.

So I thought maybe I will translate a part of this letter for this
newsgroup -- could be an interesting reading, since it is a "strong
opinion of one of the CS citizens". Before I do that though,
I would also like to make a few disclaimers:
1) Her opinions are not necessarily shared by me,
2) I apologize if any parts of this offends anybody (esp. Czechs),
3) no flames please, although all opposing opinions are welcome,
4) my translation is not necessarily the best, this is
	aggravated by the fact that I do not understand the current
	political situation at all.

My own comments are enclosed in /*   */. So here it goes:

...
So why Slovakia did not vote for Havel? That's what
the Czechs are complaining about. But that's not quite right,
since he did not make it in the Czech house of the Parliament
either. Why?

1. When he took office, he let out of prison all the murderers,
who are still murdering. Just so he can show the world that
he is a humanist, he abolished the death penalty -- which even
the USA still has. But as they say, /*... here is a hard-to-translate
folk proverb: "hors^i poturc^enec od turka"*/.

2. He stopped weapon manufacturing in Slovakia, like it is Slovak's
fault that for 40 years the Russians ordered the former governments to
build weapon plants. But the weapon plant in Brno /*in Moravia*/
continues weapon manufacturing and export.

3. Before the election he was campaigning in southern Slovakia and
he was encouraging the hungarian political parties to join together,
after which they had enough majority to get into the Parliament
and ask for special rights. Now they want autonomy and they plan to
ask Hungary for help. There could be some big trouble on the Hungarian
border. Like it was not enough what the last government did. Some
american Hungarian names Soros, a millionare, gave VPN /*Havel's party*/
a few millions and they paid him back by passing a law that in southern
Slovakia are now two official languages. There were many protests and
hunger strikes, but that did not help. Hungarians changed street names.
From names of 19-century Slovaks that fought against forced
hungariazation to names of their Hungarian oppressors. If you speak
Slovak in the store, they will not serve you. And if there is 50% or
less Slovak population, the only schools available to Slovak children
are hungarian. And even the hungarian representatives do not speak
Slovak very well. Meciar wants now to pass the law to make Slovak
the only official language and reinstate the death penalty. Imagine
that in the USA, each nationality would demand that they want to use the
tax money to build schools and pay teachers so their children can
be taught in their native language. /*I better not comment on this one*/

5. He used federal money to rebuild the Praha Castle - he should have
used the communist's money. Instead of Tatra-613, he bought BMWs,
and the existing plane was not good enough for him, he had to buy a very
expensive one, just for himself. In that respect he beat the communists
100 times.

6. He surounded himself with foreign advisors who were not here for 40
years, for example prince Schwarzenberg. And Havels is returning them
the castles, forests, farms, etc.

And now the Czechs are spreading lies to the world that the Slovaks
are nationalistic and are breaking up the republic. They do not say
the truth. Slovaks want to live in Czechoslovakia, but
on their own budget, because the Czechs are constatly complaining
that Slovakia is costing them money. Meciar just wants to divide the
economy. I even think that in the USA each state has its own
economy, they live on whatever taxes they collect, they have city,
state and federal taxes. But Czechs say, no way, that the Slovaks
would be taking advantage of them if the economies were separate,
while defense and currency would be stay common.

Slovaks wanted the country to be a confederation, but the Czechs
said either united federation or nothing. And now the Moravians are
starting to complain, if there is going to be just Czech republic,
they want it to be divided into "Cechy, Morava & Slezsko".
The Czechs are also suggesting that after the breakup, they will
call their part Czechoslovakia, because there are enough Slovaks
living in Cechy. Or that Slovaks and Gypsies currently currently
living in Cechy will be considered foreigners and expelled to
Slovakia. Meciar found this information in a secret memo from the
Czech Parliament.

Most of Slovakia's industry produces raw materials or parts, the
finished products are manufactured in Cechy and the money goes into
the Czech treasury. Because Czechs consider the federal treasury
as the Czech treasury. And every such plant has its headquarters
in Praha, so there are scores of Czech parasites we have to feed.
And when the country gets some foreign financial help, it all stays
in Cechy. When we got money for railroads, Slovakia got 1%, because
"Cechy have older railroads". Yesterday, news said that the country
received 150 million crowns for rebuilding the border crossings.
Out of that, Slovakia got nothing. And when there was a big
stink about it, they said that Slovakia was not interested.
That's why they are so afraid of Meciar, he finds out these things
and exposes them.

Now Meciar found out that all good embassies are staffed only with
Czechs (including cooks and maintenace people), Slovaks are sent only
to some podunk places. Meciar is trying to make the ratio 1:1.
And as for the crude oil pipeline to the West /*Russian oil*/
the Czechs get 17 million, for which they give us 1%.
So Meciar wants to divide this money according to how many Km
is in Slovakia and how many in Cechy. So the Czech official Dlouhy
immediately flew to London to look for buyers, because he said that
the pipeline was built with federal money and the federal government
can do with it anything it wants.

The Czechs even want to detach some small part of Slovakia on the
Moravian border to Cechy, because many of the Czech companies have
their vacation villas over there.

And why did not people vote for the previous government?
/*government AFTER the revolution, VPN in Cechy and KDH in Slovakia*/

VPN: did not make it because of the language law, plus some
party members were selling public companies to their friends
and family without auction.

KDH: was considered a catholic party. They forcibly took public
schools and made them private-catholic. Both teachers and parents
caused a big stink about that. Plus the leaders and their sons
have somehow become millionares overnight. And they passed many
laws that caused many problems....

=======

Well, that's all for now!! I had enough of typing for now.

			Peter Pavlovcik, peter@iexist.att.com
Newsgroups: soc.culture.czecho-slovak