Andrei Gromyko

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[quote="lazareto en el foro de "Libros y literatura""](...) Volviendo al tema, me estoy leyendo el libro de Berlin, pero tengo que decir que lo voy a dejar en barbecho una temporada (tampoco es oro todo lo que reluce). Le voy a ser infiel con las Memorias de Gromyko, en su honor, ya que hoy es el centenario de su nacimiento. [/quote]

Como ha recordado lazareto en su comentario, hoy se conmemora el centenario del nacimiento de Andrei Gromyko (1909-1989), ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de la URSS durante casi tres decadas, desde 1957 hasta 1985.

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  • "Никогда не надо унывать"

Apodado en la esfera diplomática occidental como "Mister NO", fue muy reconocido y respetado por sus colegas.

Un pequeño esbozo biográfico del patriarca de la diplomacia soviética:

Gromiko inició su carrera política en 1939 siendo nombrado jefe de la sección de asuntos exteriores encargada de los asuntos de Estados Unidos. En 1943 fue nombrado embajador en Washington y como tal acudió a Teherán, Yalta y Potsdam. En 1946 fue el primer representante permanente de la URSS en el Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU.

Protegido de Molotov, desempeñó otros altos cargos diplomáticos, entre ellos el de embajador en el Reino Unido, y finalmente accedió al cargo de ministro de asuntos exteriores en 1957. Gromiko desempeñó el cargo hasta la llegada de Gorbachov en 1985. Figura clave de la guerra fría, estuvo encargado de la diplomacia soviética bajo el liderazgo de Kruschev, Breznev, Andropov y Chernenko. Participó en todos los grandes asuntos del período como la crisis de los misiles de Cuba, durante la que se entrevistó personalmente con Kennedy, y todas las negociaciones de control de armamentos.

Fue un hábil negociador y un político y diplomático conocedor de su oficio. Los estudiosos debaten hasta que punto participó en la formación de la política exterior soviético y algunos indican que fue un mero ejecutor.

Gorbachov, quién ascendió a la secretaria general del PCUS con su apoyo, "ascendió" a Gromiko al cargo de presidente del Presidium del Soviet Supremo. Se retiró en 1988 y falleció en julio de 1989, no llegando a asistir a la caída del Muro de Berlín y a la propia desaparición de la URSS.

Galerías fotográficas comentadas por RIA Novosti:

En castellano: Centenario del natalicio del canciller soviético Andrei Gromyko

En ruso: Андрей Громыко - знаменитый Мистер "Нет"

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Firmando la Carta de Naciones Unidas:


Busto de Andrei Gromyko en Gomel, Bielorrusia, ciudad natal del diplómatico:


Está enterrado en el cementerio de Novodevichy en Moscú:

[Mayakovski]

Hola,

Sin duda, un personaje excepcional en la historia de la URSS. Afortunadamente para él, no sobrevivió al final de su país...

Tomo nota de este libro. Y ya van...

[Vladiвосток]

Datos y fotografías de Gromyko en la página de Naciones Unidas: http://www.un.int/russia/new/MainRoot/d ... romiko.htm

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• Profile: Andrey Gromyko - the Soviet Union's "Mr No"

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• Russia Now
  03 Jul 2009
  Leonid Mlechin

• This month is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Andrey Gromyko, the man who led Soviet foreign policy for nearly 30 years. Known in Western circles as “Mr No” for his characteristic caution and obstinacy, Gromyko played a direct role in averting the Cuban Missile Crisis.
  
  Born on July 18, 1909, in a Belarussian village, Andrey Gromyko graduated from the Minsk School of Agricultural Technology in 1936, the first in his family to go to college. He became a diplomat by chance when young Party workers were recruited to the Foreign Ministry before World War II.
  
  Young Andrey caught the eye of Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, who sent him to work at the Soviet embassy in the US. Before Gromyko’s departure, Molotov introduced the young diplomat to Stalin, who had recently emptied the ranks of the Washington embassy in one of his infamous purges.
  
  The leader gave Gromyko a useful piece of advice: “When you go to America, visit American churches to hear the priests’ sermons. They speak very clear English, and they have very good pronunciation. It is not for nothing that Russian revolutionaries abroad used this method to improve their command of the language.”
  
  In October 1939, Gromyko set out for Washington, DC, where he diligently studied not only English, but also the history, economics and politics of the US. While abroad, he was never known for his indulgent lifestyle. Indeed, energy, a prodigious capacity for hard work, a brilliant memory and perseverance helped Gromyko to rise to the position of Foreign Minister.
  
  He was put through his paces as a diplomat by Molotov, who instilled in him a dogmatic and formalistic attitude, and a reluctance to take into account the views of his negotiating partner.
  
  In 1943, Gromyko became Soviet ambassador to the US, where he played a critical role in co-ordinating the wartime alliance between the two superpowers.
  
  Dreams of becoming an airman
  
  Remembered as a dry, emotionless man, in his youth Gromyko was a romantic who dreamt of becoming a military pilot. Gromyko used to say pilots and diplomats had something in common: the need to keep a cool head in extreme situations. He mastered that skill to perfection.
  
  In 1962, with the Cuban missile crisis at its peak and the world on the brink of nuclear war, Gromyko met US President John F Kennedy to stave off the conflict.
  
  “You have to understand the era, when people needed to survive,” I was told by Alexander Bessmertnykh, who was his aide and later became Foreign Minister. Gromyko grew a thick protective skin, beneath which lay a gentle and vulnerable man. It was that hardened shell that kept him afloat.
  
  After the war, any links with the outside world promised mortal danger by risking the most damning charge of all: that of spying. WIth diplomats at special risk, his recipe for survival was the word “no”. People perished by saying “yes”; if you said “no”, you were safe.
  
  He put on a mask which everyone then assumed was his true nature. Assistants, who saw him at home and at his dacha, believe he was one of the most erudite and intellectual people of his time. His desk was piled high with books, mainly history, leaving only a small square of free space.
  
  Asked by Bessmertnykh why the same books sat on his table so long, Gromyko replied that it was his rule never to return a book to the bookcase until he had finished reading it.
  
  Gromyko would later push Mikhail Gorbachev, then a relatively young politician, to the post of General Secretary of the Soviet Union in 1985, before being expelled from the Politburo – the highest ruling body in the USSR – for his conservative views following Gorbachev’s massive economic and social reforms.
  
  In 1989, a year later, he died – two years before the collapse of the country and the system he had dedicated his life to.
  
  Wearing down his opponent
  
  The Soviet minister did not believe in inspired hunches or clever diplomatic tricks, which ran counter to his inborn caution. He was tireless and imperturbable. He was an actor who skilfully masked intentions and moods. Rarely did his emotions prevail over his reason. If he lost his temper, it was a flare-up that had been carefully thought out.
  
  Gromyko put a high premium on doing his homework, then carefully selecting materials for negotiations. He always did it himself in order to be on top of his job. He was quite prepared to learn by rote, so he often took the upper hand over less-prepared and less-experienced foreign colleagues. He could negotiate for hours without missing or forgetting the point.
  
  Coaching his son on the way to his own foreign posting, Gromyko advised him: “Don’t drink at receptions. By drinking, a diplomat is digging his grave. Don’t stick your neck out, be modest. Try to do more listening than talking. If you are not sure you should talk, it is better to keep silent. And one more thing, don’t make friends with foreigners. For a politician and a diplomat, it is a hindrance.”
  
  Gromyko knew English well, but he insisted on using an interpreter. This was a ruse to gain extra time for thinking. While the interpreter was translating, he was already considering his answer.
  
  When he became minister, Gromyko skilfully bargained serious concessions in exchange for insignificant ones. He took advantage of his partners’ impatience and extracted consent. He was never in a hurry and he had infinite patience. He tried to wear down opponents by bargaining over every trifle. It was not until he was satisfied that the lemon had been squeezed dry that he passed to the next item. He stored up minor wins until they added up to a major success.
  
  But there was a flipside to this tactic. He sometimes unnecessarily delayed things and missed an opportunity to strike a good bargain. While delaying, a new President would come to Washington and offer far less favourable terms. The years of détente were the peak of Gromyko’s success as Foreign Minister.
  
  But the invasion of Afghanistan and the stationing of medium-range missiles in Europe killed détente. In his later years – when Brezhnev was ailing, unable to govern, and continuing after Brezhnev’s death under Andropov – Gromyko’s policy gave the impression of being ill-conceived. Relations with America were going from bad to worse. The minister delivered hawkish speeches that nobody listened to. He lost his knack for dealing with the Americans, probably aware something was going wrong.
  
  Minister Gromyko could be relied on to fulfil the will of whoever was head of state – Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev. That helped him survive. He was ever-cautious and avoided risk, a key reason for his political longevity in the Soviet Union.
  
  ‘Call me Andrey Andreyevich’
  
  Gromyko’s memories of Britain were not pleasant. The man to blame was Andrey Vyshinsky, Soviet Foreign Minister in the post-war years. Minister Vyshinsky detested Gromyko, appointing him in June 1952 as ambassador to Britain “to get him out of sight”.
  
  Gromyko took the appointment as exile, not without reason: embassy security men knew he was out of favour and scribbled denunciations. Gromyko prepared for the worst – arrest. But in March 1953 Stalin died. Vyshinsky was stripped of his post, and minister Molotov recalled Gromyko to Moscow in April.
  
  His dislike of Britain was reciprocal. The English found it hard to negotiate with Gromyko because he would lecture them for hours on the Soviet Union’s peace-loving position. Foreign Secretary Alec Douglas-Home once tried to interrupt, saying he could do without Pravda editorials (the Communist propaganda mouthpiece).
  
  Later, in the early 1970s, another British Foreign Minister, George Brown, tried to establish a less formal relationship with Gromyko. During an official breakfast he addressed him as Andryushka (a familiar form of Andrey). Gromyko remarked coldly that if the minister wanted to address him informally but politely, he should say Andrey Andreyevich. Naturally, Brown could not manage the Russian combination of first name and patronymic, causing Gromyko’s attitude toward the British to become even cooler.
  
  * Leonid Mlechin is a well-known Russian TV journalist and host of the show The Special Files. Mlechin is also a popular political writer, author and historian. He is a member of the Eurasian Television Academy.

• P.D. "Russia Now" es un suplemento online del periódico británico "The Daily Telegraph", pero producido y publicado por "Rossiyskaya Gazeta".
  
  El artículo también se publica en la edición en Internet del estadounidense "The Washington Post", y es curioso ver que en la viñeta aparece Gromyko leyendo, sin embargo, el periódico americano: