BOTTLES FOR THE AMERICAN EMBASSY
(And a Black Eye for the Kremlin)
[the student demonstration at the American embassy in Moscow March 4 made world headlines, Particularly significant were the. overtones of opposition to. the Kremlin's apparent policy of procrastination in coming to the aid of North Vietnam against the aggression of U.S. imperialism. We offer below a translation of an eyewitness account which appeared in Drapeau Rouge [Red Flag], official organ of the Belgian Communist party. The account is. all the more interesting in view of the fact that the correspondent of Drapeau Rouge has in the past been noted for his pro-Khrushchevist bias.]
MOSCOW, March 4 (by telephone from our permanent correspondent J.-M Chauvier) -- Burning with anger, some ten thousand students from Asia, Latin America and Africa -- most of them Vietnamese and Chinese -= sought to attack the embassy of the United States in Moscow Thursday afternoon in protest against the American raids against North Vietnam, At one o'clock the militia set up heavy security barriers, including a half circle of trucks and snow plows lined up hub to hub.
Hundreds of unarmed police moved into place. With the flags . of North and South Vietnam at their head, the demonstrators arrived about three p.m., but were confined to a sector of the boulevard opposite the embassy and about fifty meters from the building. In. numerous places, the militia only put up weak resistance and the demonstrators easily got through the barriers. In other places fisticuffs occurred. The demonstrators shouted their slogans: "Down with the Yankee imperialists!" "Yankees, go home." They moved forward shoulder to shoulder singing "The Internationale" and -other songs of the Vietnamese. struggle.
A half hour later, ‘most of the assailants were close ‘to the embassy. .-A shower of ink bottles and-bricks hit the. front of the building, shattering many windows (not a single one remained unbroken on the first two floors). An hour later. a squadron of mounted militia charged them in order to clear the street. Some of them were armed with clubs with which they hit the demonstrators. They replied by swinging their placards. The struggle became widespread and there
was danger that it would degenerate. "Shame!" the demonstrators shouted at the militia and others went further. "Traitors! You've sold out to the imperialists! That's your friendship!" The strains of "The Internationale" could be heard again in many places.
About 4:30, having cleared the embassy surroundings with the -help of a dozen fire trucks, the militia held off. The demonstrators were thus able to regroup. Here and there militiamen and demonstrators talked calmly with each other. The Moscow crowd sympathized with the demonstrators but never joined in the demonstration. Almost everywhere groups formed and discussions were carried on:
"That was not right, comrades," some passers~by said.
"But they're bombing our villages. Our women-and children are being massacred, and you aren't doing anything!" retorted some students.
"But why plame us? Why pick a scrap here? The place to fight is in Vietnam!
"Let's go!" replied the demonstrators.
Very animated discussions likewise broke out among the Soviet citizens. Certain Moscow youth joined the demonstrators.
It was learned later that five students had been arrested. Excitement mounted again. Certain students wanted to move with their comrades into a new assault against the militia. But the demonstrators! own squads assigned to keep order [service d'tordre] handled the situation. Some hundreds of young Soviet soldiers, Likewise unarmed, then came to reinforce the militia. An army fire truck drove up; the demonstrators surrounded it and questioned the occupants, pointing to the red star with the hammer and sickle decorating their uniforms. The soldiers agreed and fraternised with the stuents. The fire truck turned around. Elsewhere the soldiers had heavy work with other demonstrators,
The demonstrators next held a meeting under the benevolent eye of the militia (of whom at least ten members had been wounded).
A Vietnamese speaker talked about solidarity with the Soviet people and asked those in Moscow to support the action underway. He added: “We will not budge until our five comrades are freed!" About six o'clock their liberation was obtained. Keeping their ranks in. order, the demonstrators went to the embassy of the Democratic Republic.of Vietnam to demonstrate their solidarity with the Vietnamese people,
Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko offered apologies to the ambassador of the United States Thursday evening for the damage caused to the embassy.