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- }6 WORLD, Page 57World NotesALBANIANot Forever And Enver
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- Even after his death in 1985, Enver Hoxha dominated the town
- and city squares of Albania. Statues of the dictator were
- everywhere, including a 30-ft. bronze monolith in the center
- of Tirana, the capital. But the legacy of the Stalinist
- strongman has come under assault in recent months, and last
- week Hoxha's statues were falling. Students in the capital,
- demanding that Enver Hoxha University be renamed, threw ropes
- around the monument and brought it crashing down.
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- President Ramiz Alia is struggling to keep his government
- from suffering the same fate. Since last summer, persistent
- demonstrations have forced Alia to promise reforms, but they
- did not go far or fast enough for the students. Assuming
- emergency powers, Alia sent tanks into the streets to restore
- order. Yet he also offered fresh concessions to the protesters,
- including replacement of the Cabinet with a more reform-minded
- regime. Late last week, however, a police clash with
- demonstrators resulted in four deaths. Though elections set for
- March 31 suddenly seemed in jeopardy, the larger question was
- whether Alia could hang on until then.
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