Communists: Busses & Bruises

One of the more peculiar facets of Communist protocol is the hearty hugging and kissing that accompanies every meeting. As they gathered last week in Sofia to review the seven-nation War saw military pact, the Soviet bloc's top bosses traded hugs and kisses aplenty. Bulgaria's Premier and Party Boss Todor Zhivkov, the host, Russia's Leonid Brezhnev and Aleksei Kosygin, Czechoslovakia's Alexander Dubček and Rumania's Nicolae Ceausescu—all greeted each other effusively. As the second high-level Communist meeting in as many weeks wore on, however, the bruises soon outnumbered the busses.

Once...

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