THE FIGHT AGAINST COMMUNISM CONTINUES

THE FIGHT AGAINST COMMUNISM CONTINUES

By Edgar B. Anderson

Southern California Latvian Information Bulletin, March, 2019, Nr. 2 (709)

On November 14, 2018, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) held a day-long “Triumph of Liberty” conference at the historic Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. Topics discussed were American Support for Europe’s Captive Nations During the Cold War, Defending Liberty in Former Communist States in the 21^st Century, and The Enduring Challenge of Communism in the 21^st Century.

With Tunne Kelam, longtime Estonian freedom fighter and Member of European Parliament (MEP).

The many prominent speakers at the conference included former Latvian Foreign Minister and current Member of the European Parliament Sandra Kalniete, Estonian MEP Tunne Kelam, VOC Chairman Dr. Lee Edwards, British journalist and political commentator John O’Sullivan, Polish Senator Anna Maria Anders, former Czech Ambassador to the United States Martin Palous, former Lithuanian Ambassador to the United States Zygimantas Pavilionis, and Myroslav Marynovych, a vice-rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv and ex-Soviet political prisoner.

Additional speakers included journalist and member of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group Halya Coynash, Uyghur politician and activist Dolkun Isa, Carlos Vecchio, Venezuelan lawyer and politician named by Juan Guaidó in January during the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis—and accepted by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo—as Chargé d'Affaires of the Government of Venezuela to the United States, and Rosa María Payá Acevedo, Cuban activist for freedom and human rights and daughter of activist Oswaldo Payá, head of the Christian Liberation Movement, who has continued her father’s work after he died under mysterious circumstances in 2012. 

Gala Dinner and Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom Ceremony at Union Station, Washington, D.C. 

In the evening of the Conference several hundred supporters, diplomats, political figures, and other anti-Communist allies gathered at Washington’s Union Station for VOC’s annual Gala Dinner and the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom Ceremony. This year’s three honorees were all prominent Balts: Latvia’s Sandra Kalniete, Estonia’s Tunne Kelam, and Valdas Adamkus, former President of Lithuania, who appeared by video since he was unable to attend due to health reasons. Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace, USMC (Ret.) offered keynote remarks.

Marion Smith, Executive Director of VOC, General Peter Pace, Tunne and Mari-Ann Kelam, and Rev. Charles Nalls.

Sandra Kalniete spoke with emotion about the honor bestowed on her:

“I am accepting it on behalf of my parents and grandparents who have been sent to the Gulag along with hundreds of thousands of innocent people from Latvia and other Communist-occupied countries. Also on behalf of those Europeans who have been captured behind the Iron Curtain and preserved their spirit of resistance and their European values throughout the years of repressions. I am accepting this Medal with a gratitude to the generations of American leaders who have played an indispensable role in confronting 20^th Century Communist regimes.  ***

“In less than two years after the Baltic States declared their independence the Red flag was taken down for the last time from the top of the Kremlin and in December, 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. It was one of the most remarkable victories of the 20^th Century. Indeed, it was a heroic victory of David over Goliath. ***

“Tonight Tunne Kelam and I are in good company of American men and women, our allies, who freed Europe, reunified Germany, and defeated the Soviet Empire of Evil. Today Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania again are free countries and proud member states of the European Union and NATO. We know that we do not stand alone. We have allies, and we need more American presence in Europe.

“God Bless America! God bless Latvia!”

With Sandra Kalniete, former Latvian Foreign Minister and current MEP for Latvia.

The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation’s next Gala Dinner and Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom Ceremony will take place in Washington on November 7, 2019, and will celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

VOC has erected a monument modeled after the papier mache “Goddess of Democracy” statue created by student protestors in Tiananmen Square in 1989. The monument is dedicated to the estimated 100 million people who have perished under Communism and is located at the intersection of New Jersey and Massachusetts Avenues and G Street, N.W., two blocks from Union Station in Washington, D.C. 

VOC is presently planning the construction of a museum in Washington to remember all those who have suffered under Communist regimes. At the November dinner the organization’s Executive Director Marion Smith presented a video statement by the Prime Minister of Poland announcing his country’s donation of $10 million toward the building project. VOC is also developing educational materials about Communism for teachers and students. You may contact Dr. Murray Bessette at VOC to learn more about the curriculum.

With Dr. Lee Edwards, Chairman of VOC, and British journalist and political commentator John O'Sullivan.

VOC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and has bipartisan backing in Congress. The organization is most deserving of your support. Please send donations to The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, 300 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Suite 900, Washington, D.C. 20001, telephone 202-629-9500. For further information, see the VOC website at victimsofcommunism.org and follow the organization on Facebook.

Edgar B. Anderson is a graduate of Stanford University and Stanford Law School. He has worked as a reporter at all of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions from 1988 through 2016 and the 2017 Presidential Inauguration.