March 1989: The six communist seniors protest against the Ceaușescu’s dictatorship

Abstract

In the 11th of March 1989, BBC and Radio Free Europe simultaneously broadcasted a letter signed by the six seniors of the Communist Party in which they were strongly criticizing the Ceaușescu’s politics. They blamed him for his dictatorial tendency in exerting the presidential power and for the international isolation of Romania. The leader of the Romanian Communist Party ignored the dissidents’ warnings, considering them nothing more than a group of „rats” which obeyed to the orders of foreign secret services.

Keywords

• The letter of the six communist veterans
• Opposition against Nicolae Ceaușescu
• Systematization in Romania
• Economic collapse of Communist Romania
• Fall of Communism in Romania