Baltic uprising – Latvia Riga barricades (1991)

Dr Guntis Silinš, Consul of the Republic of Latvia in Toronto, tells in the TV interview given to CBC News about the fight for independence in Latvia and Gorbachev's politics in the Baltic States. Dr Silinš explains the era of awakening in the Baltic States at the second half of 1980s in his interview given in Riga, January 1991. Late 1980s was the time when Gorbachev's policy of "demokratizatsiya" gave the Baltic people new hopes for future. Recent violents events by Soviet authorities in Lithuania and Latvia disappointed people in Gorbachev's policy and caused a setback in the process of restoration of independence in the Baltic States. Flashbacks to the history of 20th century in the Republic of Latvia.