ITALIAN GENERAL SAYS WAR MENACE COMES FROM NATO

ROME — Retired Italian general Nino Pasti, ina recent interview
with the newspaper La Republica, said the sudden flare-up of “Soviet
Menace’’ stories comes directly from the Pentagon and CIA and is
aimed at frightening public opinion before president-elect Carter can
Put proposed cuts in arms spending into effect. ;

He noted the CIA has juggled figures on Soviet arms spending. The
USSR, he said, has actually cut its defense spending. ‘‘If one were to
Speak seriously about a military menace,”” he said, ‘‘it comes from the
U.S. and NATO, not the USSR.” In the past, General Pasti was Italy’s
delegate to the NATO staff.

LAOS PROTESTS PROVOCATIONS BY THAILAND

VIENTIANE — Laos protested to Thailand Jan. 6 against ““pre-
Meditated and continuing armed provocations” by the Thai fascist
military regime along the Thai-Laos border. The foreign Ministry of
the People’s Democratic Republic of Laos charged that Thailand was
“flagrantly violating’’ international law and Laos-Thailand agree-
ments. It said that Thai regular army troops, supported-by artillery,
Planes and river gunboats attacked numerous places in Laos through-
out December.

EXTREMISTS ATTACK CATHOLIC CHURCH IN URUGUAY

MONTEVIDEO — The right wing extremist group “Tradition,
‘Family and Property’’ has published a book blasting the Catholic
church here. The 384-page volume titled ‘“Leftism in the Church:
Fellow Travellers of Communism”’ alledges Marxist infiltration of the
church. The pro-regime press is pushing sales of the book, although
this reactionary group was outlawed by the former Uruguayan gov-
€mment for its provocative, aggressive nature. -

U.S. CHARGED WITH HYPOCRISY OVER SKYJACKINGS

MOSCOW — The Soviet news agency TASS charged the U.S. with
hypocrisy in its protestations of skyjackings and reised the point of the
1970 hijacking of a Soviet airliner in which a stewardess was killed and
other crew members wounded. The hijackers, says TASS, are now
living in the United States and all requests by the USSR for their
€xtradition have been turned down by the U.S. government. TASS
Says that the hijackers had never engaged in any political activity in the
USSR and are regarded simply as common criminals.

: CIA USED SWINE VIRUS AGAINST CUBA
NEW YORK — Newsday, a Long Island daily, reported Jan. 2 that
the CIA smuggled swine fever virus into Cuba in 1971 which caused an
epidemic in which several hundred thousand pigs died. The plot was
described: to Newsday by one of the participants who received the
Virus from the CIA and passed it to counter-revolutionary emigres who
Smuggled it into the country. In a July 1971 speech, Fidel Castro

charged that the epidemic was connected with the CIA.

RHODESIA ARMY ONE-THIRD MERCENARIES
GABERONES — About one-third of the regular Rhodesian Army is
_ made up of foreign mercenaries from the U.S., West Germany, South
_ Africa, etc. This was stated in an interview published in the ‘Botswana
Daily News’’ (Gaberones) by Lawrence Meyers, a mercenary from
_ California who deserted the Rhodesian Army and took refuge in neigh-
boring Botswana.
There are 400 to 500 U.S. citizens serving as mercenaries in the
_ Rhodesian Army. Many of them are Vietnam war vets and a good
’ humber have some sort of tie with the U.S. CIA. It is thought likely that
_ the CIA is behind the recruitment of the U.S. mercenaries.

e

SS MOUNT DARWIN, Rhodesia — Black families are being herded into
_ “Protected villages”, reminicent of the strategic hamlets of the Vietnam
| War. Thatched huts surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by Rhode-

4 Sian troops are being set up for tens of thousands of Blacks to “protect”
_ ,'€m from liberation forces. The villagers, who have been uprooted from
oar farms and moved into these villages describe them as prison
| Mps.

PHOTO — APN

Stable prices, decent housing

features of soc

Nikolai Glushkov, chairman of
the State Committee on Prices of
the USSR Council of Ministers
answers questions put by the
press on prices in the Soviet
Union:

* * Ok

Q: At the beginning of 1977
prices on many manufactured con-
sumer goods were cut in the USSR.
At the same time, others were in-
creased. How do you explain this?

A: As of Jan. 5S, 1977 retail
prices have been reduced from
5 to 25% on the following
items: medicines, musical in-
struments, several types of clo-
thing and footwear, refrigerators,

TV sets, tape recorders and many 2:
other goods. However, prices on |},

carpets, cut glass and natural silk
fabrics were raised.

In recent years the output of
these latter goods have risen con-
siderably and their quality has
improved. But in some cases the
prices on them did not fully reflect
changes in quality, range and, ac-
cordingly, production costs. Al-
so, the manufacture of certain
items, silk fabrics for example, is
unprofitable and requires sub-
sidies from the state budget.

Q: Higher prices on some books

Recently the cost of books
which could be classified as “Col-
lector’s items” has risen. However
children’s books and textbooks
have not risen in price and are in
fact subsidized by the govern-
ment. Soviet books are incredibly
inexpensive compared to Western
standards.

i
or ar

lalist living
SS

Retail prices on items such as bread, macaroni, sugar, meat, butter,
tea, vegetable oil have remained stable over the past 10 years in the
Soviet Union. Above one of Moscow’s new supermarkets.

have been introduced. What is the
reason for this?

A: In recent years the artistic
and printing design of books has
greatly improved. The number of
editions printed on high grade
paper with the use of quality bind-
ing and other materials has in-
creased, as has the use of color
illustrations. All this has raised
production costs.

Soviet books are incredibly in-
expensive by Western standards.

The complete academic edition of ~

Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s works (30
volumes) costs only 69 roubles or
$81. Shakespeare’s complete
‘works costs only 12 roubles of
$16.

Paper has become more expen-
sive. Forests in the European part
of the USSR cannot any longer
provide the needed amount of
paper and we are developing the

Siberian forests which involves

heavy additional expense. It was
therefore decided to raise prices
on some books. Prices have not
been raised on school textbooks
which continue to remain very
low. .

Q: Most consumer goods in the
USSR cost the same as five or 10
years ago. How is this stability
maintained?

A: In 1976; 99% of foods and
92% of other goods were sold at
1970 prices. Retail prices on such
items as bread, macaroni, sugar,
meat, butter,- vegetable oil, mar-
garine, most fish products, tea,
cotton, woolens and linens, knit-

wear, footwear, etc., have re-
mained stable. Other items have
been steadily reduced.

It should be noted that price
stability on goods other than
foods is ensured when production
expenses are higher than retail
prices. The difference is covered
by the state budget. For example,
in 1975 state subsidies for meat
and dairy products totalled 19 bill-
ion roubles. In addition, chil-
dren’s clothes, medicines, text-
books, some fish products also
receive subsidies.

The source of these subsidies
comes from profits made by state
enterprises which have reduced
production costs due to
technological progress and the
expansion of facilities.

Q: The USSR allocates about 5
billion roubles annually for upkeep
and maintenance on housing. Why
is this done?

A: Housing here is not regarded
as a commercial matter but a so-
cial service. The overwhelming
part of housing construction is
financed by the state, and apart-
ments are distributed free of
charge. Rents have not increased
since 1928. Costs of central heat-
ing, electricity, gas, as well as
fares for urban transit have re-
mained the same since 1948.
Fares on the transit system, for
example, are three kopeks for a
tram, four kopeks fora trolley bus
and five kopeks for bus and sub-
way, irrespective of the. distance
travelled.

Dissidents’ apartments searched
CIA documents, money discovered

MOSCOW (APN) — On
January 4, with the sanction of the
Moscow procurator, searches
were made of the flats of Alex-
ander Ginzberg, Yuri Orlov and
L. Alexeyeva who have been ad-
vertized in the Western press as
‘fighters for human rights in the
USSR’’. But who are they?

All three have no definite occu-
pations, have not worked for a
long time and, as far as Ginzberg
is concerned, criminal proceed-
ings were repeatedly brought
against him for swindling, dis-
orderly conduct and anti-Soviet
activities.

The searches made were a
forced measure. The three had

repeatedly been warned about the
anti-constitutional nature of their
activities and of serious breeches
of Soviet law by their distribution
of selected and compiled
materials denigrating the social
system and foreign and domestic
policies of the USSR.

Steps to exert moral influence
on the three proved fruitless. This
prompted the procurator’s office
to take stronger steps against their
actions in full conformity with
existing laws. The searches
showed that Ginzberg, Orlov and
Alexeyeva have nothing to do
with ‘“‘the struggle for human
rights’’, but are paid agents of
NTS — an anti-Soviet organiza-

semination of

tion which aims to overthrow
Soviet power by armed struggle.
NTS has long been named a
branch of the CIA and other
Western intelligence agencies.
In the searches NTS docu-
ments were found, including in-

structions on methods of distribu- ~

tion of materials in the USSR. (In
her statements to Western cor-
respondents Alexeyeva modestly
described these materials ‘‘a
practical library’’). In Ginzberg’s
apartment large sums of foreign
and Soviet currencies were
found, monies received as pay-_
ment for the preparation and dis-
anti-Soviet
materials.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JANUARY 21, 1977—Page 9