All About Latvia

LEMBERGSVILLE – Usually any horror story of traveling in a foreign country involves traveling by bus in some shape or form. Mine happened in my old country.

I wanted to spend a weekend in Ventspils, Lembergsville, to learn about the glorious city that arose from ashes of the Soviet Empire to become a wonderful mini-town in Western Latvia. I wanted to see the glory left behind by the mayor, who had worked hard for the last 19 years he’s been entrusted his job.

Well, more on that later.

Unfortunately, Lembergsville is not connected by a direct functioning railroad route from the capital city, Riga. To get here, one has to board a bus from the main bus station. And although buses leave almost every hour, they’re often full. They were especially full on Friday afternoon, which for some reason I decided to make that point in the week to travel to Lembergsville.

Somewhat foolishly I made several assumptions about the bus system in Latvia. First of all, I presumed offices sold no more tickets than there are places. Second of all, I suspected seats will be available on the first come, first served basis.

I was wrong on both counts.

As long as I can remember the bus stop (pictured above) along with the abutting open air market have been the trashy parts of the town center in Riga. Dirty people who might pick-pocket you at any moment roaming the dirty streets of the bus station which lays on the paved bank of the dirty city canal. That was the bus station that I remembered and it really hasn’t changed much. The bus station now only offer more destinations to exotic places, like London, for example. People still roam around; there are still not enough places to sit. It’s still dirty.

It takes about three hours by bus to travel 190 km from Riga to Ventspils. About two and a half hours, myself, a Portuguese poet, and a couple of Russians spent alert, on our feet, hoping our destination to arrive soon. Passengers were placed inside the bus like sardines. Because of the heat, and lack of air conditioning, most men began to sweat, and women to glisten. Allowing air flow through two ceiling openings didn’t do much good. Only when the sun disappeared behind the clouds and the temperature subsided, the bus became less of a sweat fest.

At one of the stops, an old Russian woman whom I suspected to be out of her mind, was offering a young Latvian girl to sprinkle her with some liquid she had in her bottle.

“You don’t need to be afraid,” the woman said. “It’s good. You will feel refreshed.”

The girl, obviously, reluctantly agreed. After the procedure, the girl exclaimed in a voice that reflected both amusement and fear, “Super.”

I may sound like an ugly American, who’s used to comfort and excellent customer service. It’s not true. These experiences are what makes coming home somewhat special. Rude, smile-less people, awful, in some places, customer service, standing on a three-hour bus ride ridden with sweat — all those are my experiences of my country.

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RIGA – To maintain the law and order, our political leaders and their minions will not stop at anything. This is probably why Latvian PM Aigars Kalvitis decided today to create a pornography evaluation commission. The commission will evaluate film, picture, video and computer production for its legality. The commission will publish its opinions whether materials contain child pornography or violate the new anti-pornography law, adopted last March.

According to a press release from the Interior Ministry, the commission will consist of representatives of several ministries and experts. The Ministry of Culture representatives will be on hand to answer a question whether one’s work is art or that other thing.

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RIGA – Those who follow Latvian politics closely no doubt are familiar with the name of Aivars Lembergs.

The surprisingly popular and allegedly corrupt mayor of the sea port of Ventspils serves a poster child for post-Soviet Latvia’s attitude toward politicians. He could be described as a benevolent businessman and politician, who while gains power and wealth by corrupt means tries to return the favor to the community.

Ventspils, which I endearingly call Lembergsville, has become the wealthiest city in Latvia under his rule. Lembergsville’s port facilities, used for exporting Russian oil contributed to the city’s wealth.

Lembergs is among the wealthiest people in Latvia. The true extent of his wealth is unknown to public. Local media estimate his wealth anywhere between 85 million to 230 million euro. Before his arrest, Lembergs maintained a strong influence in Latvian politics. He was a candidate for the post of Prime Minister from one of the parties, even though he didn’t run on any ballot.

In March, Lembergs was detained on money laundry, abuse of public office, and bribery charges. After spending several months in jail, so not to impede the investigation, a local judge moved him under a house arrest in his apartment in a multi-apartment building in Lembergsville. Loud cheers of a gathered crowd greeted the decision.

Lembergs is popular, you see, in spite of his corruption. One taxi driver summed up pretty well what most of the public feels about Lembergs. “Yes, he steals, everyone steals, but he helps a lot, too.”

To majority Latvians, it seems, what distinguishes him from the ruling clique in the likes of the PM Aivars Kalvitis and transportation minister Ainars Slesers is that Lembergs gives back a portion of his wealth. It’s no wonder Lembergs became the subject of a series of cynical posters with slogans like “Lembergs is not a Thief!”, “Lembergs cares for Our Children!”

Lembergs has also received more than 1,000 votes from the town’s residents to be nominated for the Big Prize, the equivalent of the Citizen of the Year award during the city’s 717th anniversary celebration. Apparently, he’s been nominated for the award every year for the last several years, but he declined each time. This year, because of the house arrest, Lembergs couldn’t decline the offer. And undoubtedly he will be awarded the prize Friday night.

The City Council members petitioned the prosecuting attorney’s office to allow Lembergs to attend the festivities and to receive this award. The office denied the request and the council members are now turning to the courts for an answer. Lembergs himself asked for his daily walk to be scheduled at the same time as the Friday night’s event. He also asked to speak to the public during that time.

Even the petition was written in a very Lemberg-esque way: “On my walk and being on the Center Square, of course, I won’t hamper the investigation in any way, and won’t affect witnesses and their testimonies.”

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