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(Palais des Nations, Geneva Switzerland, April 13, 1982)
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The scene outside the Palais des Nations on Tuesday, April 13, 1982 was one of increasing uproar. Special Swiss police, mounted on horseback, circulated among a crowd of hundreds in an effort to keep the peace. Reports of hundreds more crossing the Rhone into Ariana Park had prompted additional reinforcements to be called up in the event that the protest should suddenly turn violent. At 10:00 on that day, however, the demonstration was still relatively peaceful, though there were signs that it would not stay that way; several youths, some of them Greeks, were shouting epithets and threatening to storm the international headquarters.
According to police intelligence, the demonstration was virtually spontaneous. It had come about in response to rumors---gaining in currency as the hours went by---that the summit talks were about to break off, sabotaging what a great many people in Geneva and around the world regarded as a last chance for world peace, and the placards the protesters carried called for renewed efforts to reach such an accord. "The eyes the world are upon you," the demonstrators called out, addressing the unseen delegates conferring behind the impressive façade of the Palais des Nations.
It was feared that if the talks did indeed collapse the crowd might, out of frustration, attack any authority they could find, possibly the police.
One of the more alarming signs that this might happen was the small containers of water gripped in the hands of many of the people congregating in that part of Ariana Park. The water was not for drinking purpose; rather, it was to be used to flush the eyes in case tear gas was employed against them.
The clamor of the hundreds of demonstrators outside the hall could barely be heard within, and in the room where the conferees were gathered, it couldn't be heard at all. The seating arrangement was just as it had been on the opening day, with the Soviet and American delegations facing each other across the table. Only now there were no smiles, no expressions of friendship or handshakes. Now there were only stony gazes and whispered asides.
The media was represented now as well. At first the Soviets had objected to their presence, warning that it would not be conducive to "an atmosphere of calm negotiations," but later, and without explanation, they relented and the press was allowed in. At this point in the summit, the press provided the room's sole animation as the delegates sat impassively waiting for the leaders of the two superpowers to arrive.
There was little doubt that this session---the fifth in six days---was likely to be a momentous one. Speculation was rife as to whether the talks would break off and, if so, which man would be the one to assume responsibility for it. Since early that morning, Geneva time, the wire service had been filing reports that, in her growing conflict with Turkey, Greece was receiving substantial aid---both in terms of materiel and intelligence---from the Soviet Union. These dispatches coincided with the news that an important announcement was expected out of Athens at midday. It was all but certain that the Greek government would declare that it was leaving NATO alliance in light of the United States' decision to support Turkey in the UN Security Council.
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