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THE 0/L FIELDS OF PLOESTI,
about an hour's train ride north of Bucharest. Petroleum and petroleum products are
key e/ements in Romania's growth-oriented economy.
through a high leve! o f se lf-suffi–
ciency, he maintains, that a sma ll
state can uphold a posi tion of some
ind epend ence within an allia nce
dominated by a big powcr.
He maintains, furthermore, that
there mu t be tOtal eq uality of na–
tional communist panies, never sub–
servience.
How to Stay in Power
In many othe r respects, Romanía
and in particu lar Mr. Ceausescu
have been able pre tty much to have
the ir own way, Soviet displeasure
nolwiths tanding.
In the who le Ea t bloc. only Yu–
goslav ia has a g rea ler proporlion of
iL lrade with thc Wcst. A major key
lo tha t westward u·adc lurch was es–
lab lishing diplo rna tic ti es with Wes t
Gcrmany, which was accomplished
in 1967, lo lhe chagrín of Moscow
whi ch until thal time was the only
Easte rn country which formally rec–
ognized Bo nn.
Thc next year, Roma nía refused
to jo in lh e Warsaw Pact invas io n of
Czechoslovakia.
1
n 197 1, Cea usescu made a no thc r
daring poli lica l foray - a visi t lo
mainland China , the chie f Soviet
rival for inte rnati o nal communis t
leadcrship.
The Roma nian head o f s ta te has
so fa r played his card s masterfully .
14
In power for e leven year now, he
has lcarned, says one Wes tc rn diplo–
matic source, "not lo spil in lhc eye
of the K remlin any more than you
have lo." Ceausescu loo has lea rncd
from the Hunga rian and Czcch ex–
pericnces lhal thcrc are lirnits lo
what onc can do.
The major facto r in his favor is a
politica l one. Ceausescu has a lways
made it clear lo thc Russ ians that,
despite pursuing his own diplomatic
a nd cconomic goa ls, the a ut hority of
thc Communis t Party in Roma nía
will neve r be diluted . Such was nol
the case with Czechoslovakia in
1968 when the Dubcek regimc was
rapidly libe ra lizi ng ils political ma–
ch inery.
Ambitious Plan
Fcw rca li ze jusl how rapidly the
Roma nia n economy has g rown in
rcccnt years - and wha t its lead e rs
are shooti ng for in the future. The
goal is no thing less than to join in
the ranks of the fully d evcloped na–
tions by th e ca rly 1990s.
Not bad for a nati o n that up to
th e outbreak o r Wo rld War
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was
1>ne o f the poo rest countries in all
l: urope.
Even i,n 1950, Romania's pe r cap–
Ita income was o nly $80 - about the
leve! of Ba ngladesh today ! lf it
wercn't fo r her abundance o f pelro-
leum , it wouldn't evcn have bcen
that high. By 1973, lhc figure had
jumpcd tcnfold lo $800; by 1990 it
is expected lo rise to $3,500.
As o f late 1975, Roma nia's an –
nua l growth ra te was a rcmarka ble
14%. One third of he r GNP is
plowed back into industrial invest–
ment every year. Chemical and pe–
trochemical industries - Ro ma nia's
industria l base - are growing a t a
20% a nnual clip. Indus tr·y will con–
tinue lo suck worke rs in from the
farms, which s till employ 45% of the
labor fo rce.
Jus t by watching the c rowds swirl–
ing a t Bucharesl's North Rai lway
Sta tio n, one realizes very quickly
rrom their appearance that a hcavy
percentage of them were working in
the fic lds not very ma ny mo nt hs
ago.
Consumers Pay
Obviously, wit h such a n all-ou t ef–
fort , somcbody has to pay. I n this
case, it is the Romania n consumer.
Wholesa le pu rchasi ng o f Wes te rn
techn o logy, plus heavy fo reign
d ebts, mca ns that th e best of what
Romania produces has to be sold, in
turn , to thc Wesl.
Roma nia's collective farms (a nd
sma ll príva te plo ts whi ch, it is ru–
mored, also will be pressed into the
servicc of the sta te) produce high-
The
PLAIN TRUTH June 1976