Mikhail Gorbachev stepped from his gleaming white Ilyushin 62 jet at Bucharest's Otopeni International Airport, his lips tightened almost to a grimace. Overhead, staring down from the roof of the terminal building, were two giant portraits, one of Gorbachev, the other of his host, Rumanian President Nicolae Ceausescu. On the tarmac below, workers roared a dual greeting -- "Ceau-Ses-Cu! Gor-Ba-Chev!" The Soviet leader, who has downplayed the personality cults favored by his predecessors in the Kremlin, was plainly appalled. Quickly traversing a vast expanse of red carpet to reach a microphone erected in expectation of a speech, Gorbachev said curtly, "Greetings,...
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