The Siberian Former Gulag Town Turning Back to Communism

Communist Comeback (May 1996)
This bleak wasteland of icy snow tinged with grey coal dust is Vorkuta, Northern Siberia, Russia. In the 1940s Stalin sent political prisoners here to the gulag to build coal mines. One survivor described it as "hell on earth". Yet in Vorkuta, the communists are making a comeback.

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Officials hand out cards from Communist leader, Zyganov thanking his doughty supporters. Their smiling faces brim with new found confidence. Five years ago the miners of Vorkuta led a national strike in support of Boris Yeltsin. Today they turn to the communists because they despise Yeltsin even more than their old taskmasters. 250 metres below ground, in dark, cramped conditions, miners risk their lives, but don't get paid. Yeltsin's market economy has failed them. At Yeltsin's former HQ, a group of miners are on a hunger strike. All injured in mine accidents, they have waited months to receive their pensions. They scoff at pictures of Yeltsin on the TV. A local communist blandly promises to restore coal subsidies. He says Yeltsin's failures have turned Vorkuta into a Gulag once more.

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Produced by ABC Australia - Ref 0227
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