European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 11, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday december 11,1991 the stars and stripes b Page 9 fall of the soviet Union Minsk stinks Moscow says Over plan to move capital soviet Oil lag worries Castro Agency reports Mexico City a Cuba has not received a drop of soviet Oil this month and could end the year with a spate of Power outages the mexican news Agency no Timex reports. The soviet Union had agreed to ship Cuba 2.9 billion Gallons of crude this year at a subsidized rate but shipments began lagging behind in october. President Fidel Castro has proposed to russian president Boris n. Yeltsin an Exchange of cuban sugar for russian of in 1992 but the proposal has not been welcomed in Moscow no Timex reported from Cuba on sunday. Even if Cuba were to accept exchanging sugar for Oil on the open Market there is no authority in the collapsed soviet Empire that can guarantee shipments Castro was quoted As saying. The Island nation among the worlds last remaining communist states is operating with about half the amount of Oil it usually uses endangering the upcoming sugar Harvest. To meet the crisis the government of Fidel Castro has Cut transportation services by 40 percent and More reductions Are expected in the coming  unrest Washington apr Cia director Robert Gates on tuesday predicted a the most significant civil disorder a this Winter in the crumbled soviet Union since the revolution in 1917. Other Bush administration officials also expressed alarm about the potential for unrest. Gates called the situation in the fragmented nation a dangerously unstable in testimony before the House armed services committee and spoke of his deep concern that democratic forces could be overwhelmed by chaos. Similar concern was voiced by Robert Strauss the . Ambassador to the soviet Union and defense Secretary Dick Cheney. Strauss discussing the possibility of a coup said a we Haven to heard a word from the army Over  and he said millions of soviet people Are hungry and homeless. Gates the new chief of the spy Agency also detailed deteriorating discipline and morale in the formerly powerful red army saying a readiness is at its lowest level in  and he voiced worry Over control of the soviet Arsenal of 30,000 nuclear weapons As Moscow scentral command is thrown into question. A severe economic conditions including substantial shortages of food and fuel in some areas the disintegration of the armed forces and ongoing ethnic conflict will Combine this Winter to produce the most significant disorder in the former .s.r. Since the bolsheviks consolidated Power a Gates testified. Hie comments came in an opening statement before the panel retired behind closed doors to hear classified testimony on future Security threats to the United states. Meanwhile Strauss said Strong opposition within the soviet Union to the newly created 1 Commonwealth of Independent states has raised doubts whether that entity can survive. Strauss who became . Ambassador in Moscow three months ago said there is an extraordinary degree of uncertainty in the country and he even raised the possibility of a military coup. A we Haven to heard a word from the army Over there a he said. A there Are millions of men that Are terribly unhappy and frustrated and hungry and  situation Strauss added is a made to order for any of several first rate demagogues they have. Their demagogues Are As Good As our  Strauss spoke to a breakfast meeting of the american committee on .-soviet relations. He declined to pass judgment on the decision sunday of the leaders of Russia the Ukraine and byelorussian to dissolve the soviet Union and to replace it with a Commonwealth. Meanwhile in Budapest Hungary Cheney warned tuesday of a potential instability in the disintegrating Moscow apr residents of Moscow were dismayed at news that the newly created Commonwealth of Independent states would move the capital from their ornate City to drab Minsk Best known for tractors and trucks. A a it a not right. Moscow is considered the Center of Russia and the Center of the country a said Kostya Gusov 19, who Sells Knickknacks to foreign tourists. A Moscow should remain  most muscovites weren to too Happy to learn that the Gray Industrial byelorussian capital has been chosen As the administrative capital of the Commonwealth of rums the Ukraine and byelorussian. With its Golden cupolas elegant architecture and flowing River Moscow has managed to retain remnants of its pre revolutionary Charm despite bad Urban planning and years of neglect under the communists. But Minsk which was almost destroyed during world War a is a polluted City of 1.5 million known for the heavy machinery that it supplied to the soviet Union. The City a Dull architecture consists primarily of Square Concrete buildings and its landscape is dotted with smokestacks. A everything is located in Moscow the White House russian parliament building red Square a its the Center of our country a Gusov said. A moving it to some kind of Minsk is just not  Misha tug nov 30, said transferring the capital 415 Miles from its current location would be a waste of both soviet Union. A we. Recognize that this is a period when there is potential instability inside the former soviet Union problems in Yugoslavia and that Good will and International cooperation will be required for All these developments a Cheney told reporters. He said he hoped a the people of the former soviet Union will achieve the same degree of Progress toward democracy and Market Economy As we see developing a in Hungary and the other nations of Central  Cheney spoke before leaving for Prague Czechoslovakia on a tour of former members of the soviet inspired Warsaw pact. Time and Money. A there Are so Many National institutions and ministries in Moscow and think How much Money it would take to move them to Minsk a said tug nov employed by one of Moscow a budding joint venture businesses. A we done to live that Well. It would better to spend the Money on something  Engineer Ivan Mikhailov 53, said the capital could be moved Only by staging a National referendum and that in any Case the entire concept of creating a Commonwealth was illegal. The plan to put the Commonwealth in Minsk was aimed at cutting ties with the old Union based in Moscow. The bolsheviks did the same thing in 1918 when they switched the capital from the czarist Metropolis of St. Petersburg to Moscow. But some people said More was at stake. A a it a not right. We re not just talking Here about whether the capital will be Here or there a tug nov said. A they can to say there is no soviet Union. We already had a referendum and the bulk of the population voted for the soviet Union. If you want to create a Legal government All the participating parties must observe the  but Alexei Jurasov a 15-year-old High school student was excited about the new Commonwealth. He said it could be the death blow for Mikhail s. Gorbachev the soviet president. A i done to like Gorbachev a he said. Gates testimony came As the Senate armed services committee was beginning consideration of How rapidly to Cut defense spending in Light of the diminished soviet threat. Despite a reduced danger of conventional warfare a the world remains a rough neighbourhood and its getting rougher Quot Gates said. The spread of chemical biological and nuclear weapons Ana the ballistic missiles to deliver them is an increasing worry he said. And the threat that More countries including those in the third world will gain Access to new War making technologies is growing As Well Gates  this Winter Gates warns soviet Commonwealth three slavic republics that formed a new  combined they have 210 million citizens out of the total soviet population of 285 million. Us Ilii n second Moat populated 81a vie a tale with s2 million Paola. It provides Quarter Oltha country Industrial and agricultural output considered soviet wheat Belt it newly elected president Leonid Kravchuk said last weak he would consider forming an economic and military Union with tha other slavic republics a Long a it had Only a a a coordinating body not a Central government. Lor us1.a population 10.1 million Paola. A heavily industrialized producing machinery tools textiles and Glass. A absorbed much of tha radiation from tha 19s6 explosion at the chernobyl nuclear Power Plant in tha Ukraine and Many byelorussian blame the Central government for tha Accident. A increasingly defiant since april when 200,000 workers want on strike to protest nationwide Price increases.  if traction population 147.4 million. Dominant soviet Republic. Controls most of tha soviet unions natural resources a Wall a 76% of its territory. President Boris n. Yeltsin s administration has steadily taken Power from the Central government since tha coup attempt internal problems include High inflation food shortages and secessionist movements in the ethnic regions of tatars an and chechen Lungu Shetia. A Boan Garrigan