Some time ago, we published an article that, more than with former Prime Minister Mehmet Shehu, was exclusively related to the profiles of all communist leaders (prime ministers, first party secretaries, or both functions combined into one), who would accompany their spiritual leader, Nikita Khrushchev, on his then-tour to the UN in 1960.
After the end of the UN plenary session, which, in fact, does not constitute the real object of our writing, while the Russian-Chinese clashes were clearly outlined and Albania's break with the Soviet Union was only a matter of time, the American magazine 'TIME', gives us once again some very interesting details, this time on the manner of behavior or the ignorance that Khrushchev and other satellite leaders had deliberately reserved for the Albanian Prime Minister, Mehmet Shehu, who seems to have had a hard time at work at that moment. But, let's see in more detail what the TIME article, dated October 24, 1960, entitled "The Lonely Man, Left Out" tells us:
"Among the satellite leaders gathered in Manhattan to shadow Nikita Khrushchev, one seemed the most lonesome and forgotten. The red premier, Mehmet Shehu of Albania, was not on the passenger list of the Baltika and went to Manhattan as a simple passenger, aboard the SS Queen Elizabeth."
At a reception organized by Czech communists, Shehu stood lost in a corner of the hall, abandoned and deliberately shunned by everyone present, except for the State Department security man registered as his bodyguard.
And when, at a reception given by the Romanian communists, Khrushchev took his old satellite friends by the arm to have a conversation with them, while Shehu started to follow them, the door was closed in his face. Shehu, most likely, later demanded explanations as to why such a thing had happened.
At the UN, Shehu was noticeably more rigorous and harsh in seeking Red China's right to be admitted to this organization, echoing China's accusations that Russian communism is losing its ideological militancy because it fears atomic war.
Americans: Mystery as to why Albania is siding with China?
In the same article in TIME magazine (Odd Man Out), dated October 24, 1960, we also encounter the "embarrassment" of the authors of the article, or rather, of the Americans, in finding the true reasons for Albania's recent actions, at that time to side with China, separating from the Soviet Union.
Much was still happening "underground", that is, within the socialist camp, so it must have been really difficult to find out what was really happening. However, 'TIME' lists a number of reasons that they believe try to explain the mystery surrounding this move by Albania.
We are specifically quoting the paragraph that sheds light on what we claimed above:
“Albania is the only European communist satellite country, which seems to have already chosen Beijing, in the internal ideological conflict between Russia and Red China. In June, when Khrushchev called on all the satellite party chiefs in Bucharest to ratify his policy of peaceful coexistence, the First Secretary of the Albanian Communist Party, Enver Hoxha, was the only senior communist leader absent.
And Albania was the only communist country from Europe to send a special representative to Beijing to celebrate this month the 11th anniversary of the Red Chinese Revolution. But why tiny Albania, with an area (10,630 square miles), smaller than the state of West Virginia and fewer inhabitants than Detroit, should have sided with Red China against the Russians, remains a mystery?!
Part of the answer in this case could be its poverty; Albania has only 5,000 cars, trucks and buses, and like Red China, it feels it must keep the spirit of class struggle alive to prevent its people from rebelling against oppression.
But another reason for this action is the fortuitous geographical accident: Tito's Yugoslavia, Albania's early enemy and neighbor, is currently the main target of Chinese criticism, and Albania is most likely seeking to exploit the old slogan: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
It would be entirely sufficient that Tito's independence would give Albania the opportunity to be somewhat independent of Moscow. Since Tito broke off relations with the Kremlin in 1948, Albania has been physically isolated from other satellite states and cut off from Russia by its borders with Yugoslavia and Greece.
Part of Albania's interests in supporting Red China may also be purely economic and financial: to ultimately minimize Albania's financial dependence on Russia, Red China, last year, gave Albania an interest-free loan of $5.5 million." / Memorie.al
