Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 29, 1991 TAG: 9103290249
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: MOSCOW LENGTH: Medium
Chanting "Yeltsin! Yeltsin!" and "Gorbachev, go away!" within sight of the extraordinary cordon of military vehicles, water cannon, and troops in riot gear, the throng demonstrated the embattled Soviet president's impotence to suppress the growing shift of allegiance to Yeltsin, president of the Russian republic.
As the day drew to a close, the consensus was that Gorbachev had suffered a serious political setback.
Despite all the tensions, the evening rallies had an almost festive air as Yeltsin's supporters realized they had successfully defied Gorbachev's most aggressive effort yet to curb their movement and rout their leader.
The mass demonstration on Mayakovsky Square concluded a day of drama and suspense as hundreds of military vehicles clogged the narrow alleys of old Moscow and as the Parliaments of both the Soviet Union and the Russian republic met.
Interior Minister Boris Pugo said 50,000 troops had been deployed alongside the police to reinforce a ban Gorbachev imposed on any public meetings in the capital for 20 days.
No serious violence was reported at the rally. Within hours after it ended, the troops and trucks left the city's center.
Yeltsin's political success was sweetened by the action of Russia's Parliament. The special session was called by communist members to censure him for his demand last month that Gorbachev resign. Instead, the session turned into a show of strength for Yeltsin as the deputies voted to reject Gorbachev's ban on rallies.
The mass rally was originally called by Yeltsin's supporters to coincide with the opening of the special session.
by CNB