PROFILE
OFFICIAL NAME:
Republic of Latvia
Geography
Area: 64,100 sq. km. (25,640 sq. miles); about the size of West Virginia.
Cities: Capital--Riga (1989 pop. 910,455). Other cities--Daugavpils (124,910); Liepaja (114,486); Jelgava (74,105); Jurmala (60,600); Ventspils (50,646); Rezekne (42,477).
Terrain: Fertile low-lying plains predominate in central Latvia, highlands in Vidzeme and Latgale to the east, and hilly moraine in the western Kurzeme region. Forests cover one-third of the country, with over 3,000 small lakes and numerous bogs.
Land Use: 27% arable land, 13% meadows and pastures, 39% forest and woodland, 21% other.
Climate: Temperate, with four seasons of almost equal length. January temperatures average -5oC (23oF); July, 17oC (63oF). Annual precipitation averages 57 centimeters (23 in.).
People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Latvian(s).
Population: 2.5 million.
Growth rate: -0.6%. Birth rate--14/1,000. Death rate--13/1,000. Divorce rate--40%. Migration rate--4 migrants/1,000. Density--105/sq. mile. Urban dwellers--71%.
Ethnic groups: Latvian 56.5%, Russians 30.4%, Belarusians 4.3%, Ukrainians 2.8%, Poles 2.6%.
Religions: Lutheran, Orthodox, Roman Catholic.
State language: Latvian. Russian also is spoken by most people.
Education: Years compulsory--9. By 1989, 60% of the adult populace had finished high school, and 12% had completed college. Attendance--331,100 students at 943 schools, plus 114,200 university students. Literacy--99%.
Health: Infant mortality rate--16/1,000. Life expectancy--65 yrs. male, 75 yrs. female.
Work force (1,405,000 people): Agriculture/forestry--16%. Industry--30%. Trade/dining--9%. Transport/communication--7%. Construction--10%. Financial--1%. Services, other--27%.
Government
Type: Parliamentary democracy.
Constitution: The 1922 constitution, the 1990 declaration of renewal of independence, and the 1991 "Basic Law for the Period of Transition" serve until a new constitution is ratified.
Branches: Executive--President (Head of State), elected by Parliament every 3 years; Prime Minister (Head of Government). Legislative--Saeima (100-member body). Judicial--Supreme Court. Administrative regions: 26 "rural" districts and 6 districts in Riga.
Principal political factions: Democratic Party "Saimnieks" (Ziedonis Cevers)-18 seats; "Fatherland and Freedom" (Maris Grinblats)-14 seats; Latvia's Way (Gailis, Birkavs, Pantelejevs)-17 seats; Nat'l. Conservatives/Greens (Krastins, Kirsteins)-8 seats; Unity Party (Alberts Kauls)-8 seats; Farmers Union (Pres. Ulmanis, Rozentals) and Christian Democrats (Predele, Jundzis)-7 seats; "For Latvia" (Joachim Siegerist)-16 seats; "Harmony" (ex-FM Jurkans, Vulfsons, Kide)-6 seats; Socialists (Stroganovs, Rubiks)-6 seats.
Government budget (1996): $1.9 billion ($60 million deficit).
Suffrage: 18 years universal.
Economy
1996 GDP: $5.3 billion.
Growth rate: 3%. Inflation rate: 13%.
Unemployment: 7.1%.
Average annual wages: $2,276.
Natural resources: peat, limestone, dolomite, gypsum, timber.
Agriculture/forestry (10% of GDP): Products--cattle, dairy foods, cereals, potatoes. Cultivable land--1.36 million hectares, of which 60% is arable, 18% meadow, and 13% pasture.
Manufacturing (14.3% of GDP): light electrical equipment and fittings, textiles and footwear, technological instruments, construction materials, processed foods. Public services--11%. Construction--5.3%. Energy/water--4.5%. Financial services--3.5%. Rents--2.7%. Other services--34%. Miscellaneous--14.7%.
Trade: Exports--$516 million: transhipment of crude oil; wood/wood products 32%; metals 7%, textiles/apparel 17%, machinery/equipment 10%, food products 10%, chemicals 5%, vehicles 3%. Major markets--Russia 20%, UK 16%, other CIS 9%, Germany 14%, Sweden 7%. Imports--$803 million: energy 46%, minerals 16%, machinery/equipment 18%, chemicals/plastics 12%, food products 8%, textiles/apparel 8%, wood/wood products 4%, metals 3%. Partners--Russia 18%, Germany 15%, Sweden 6.5%, other CIS 4%.
Official exchange rate: .580 Lat=U.S. $1.
GEOGRAPHY
Between 55.40 and 58.05 latitude and 20.58 and 28.14 longitude, Latvia lies on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea on the level northwestern part of the rising East European platform. About 98% of the country lies under 200m elevation (640 ft.). The damp climate resembles New England's. With the exception of the coastal plains, the Ice Age divided Latvia into three main regions: the morainic Western and Eastern uplands and the Middle lowlands. Latvia holds over 12,000 rivers, only 17 of which are longer than 60 miles, and over 3,000 small lakes, most of which are eutrophic. Woodland, more than half of which is pine, covers 41% of the country. Other than peat, dolomite, and limestone, natural resources are scarce. Latvia holds 531km (329 mi.) of sandy coastline, and the ports of Liepaja and Ventspils provide important warm-water harbors for the Baltic littoral, although the Bay of Riga itself is rather polluted.
Today, Latvia is slightly larger than Denmark, Estonia, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Its strategic location has instigated many wars between rival powers on its territory. As recently as 1944, the U.S.S.R. granted Russia the Abrene region on the Livonian frontier, which Latvia still contests.
PEOPLE
Latvians occasionally refer to themselves by the ancient name of "Latviji," which may have originated from a "Latve" river that presumably flowed through what is now eastern Latvia. A small Finno-Ugric tribe known as the Livs settled among the Latvians and modulated the name to "Latvis," meaning "forest-clearers," which is how medieval German settlers also referred to these peoples. The German colonizers changed this name to "Lette" and called their initially small colony "Livland." The Latin form, "Livonia," gradually referred to the whole of modern-day Latvia as well as southern Estonia, which had fallen under German dominion. Latvians and Lithuanians are the only directly surviving members of the Baltic peoples and languages of the Indo-European family.
Latvians look like and consider themselves Nordics, evidenced through the strong cultural and religious influences gained over centuries during Germanic and Scandinavian colonization and settlement. Eastern Latvia (Latgale), however, retains a strong Polish and Russian cultural and linguistic influence. This highly literate society places strong emphasis upon education, which is free and compulsory until age 16. Most Latvians belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church, a sizable minority are Russian Orthodox, and Eastern Latvia is predominantly Roman Catholic.
Historically, Latvia always has had a fairly large Russian, Jewish, German and Polish minority, but postwar emigration, deportations and Soviet Russification policies from 1939-1989 dropped the percentage of ethnic Latvians in Latvia from 73% to 52%. In an attempt to preserve the Latvian language and avoid ethnic Latvians becoming a minority in their own country, Latvia's strict language law and draft citizenship law have caused many non-citizen resident Russians concern over their ability to assimilate, despite Latvian legal guarantees of universal human and civil rights regardless of citizenship.
Written with the Latin alphabet, Latvian is the language of the Latvian people and the official language of the country. It is an inflective language with several analytical forms, three dialects, and German syntactical influence. The oldest known examples of written Latvian are from a 1585 catechism. The Soviets imposed the official use of Russian, so most Latvians speak Russian as a second or first language while the resident Slavic populace generally speaks Russian as a first language.
HISTORY
Since 9,000 BC ancient peoples of unknown origin had inhabited Latvia, but by 3,000 BC the ancestors of the Finns had settled the region. A millennium later, pre-Baltic tribes had arrived and within time evolved into the Baltic Couranian, Latgallian, Selonian, and Semigallian groups. These tribes eventually formed local governments independently from the Finno-Ugric Livian tribe until the thirteenth century, when they were conquered by the Germans, who renamed the territory Livonia.
German sailors shipwrecked on the Daugava River in 1054 had inhabited the area, which led to increasing German influence. Founded by the Germanic Bishop Alberth of Livonia in 1201, Riga joined the Hanseatic League in 1285 and shared important cultural and economic ties to the rest of Europe. However, the new German nobility enserfed the peasantry and accorded non-Germanic peoples only limited trading and property rights.
Subsequent wars and treaties ensured Livonia's partition and colonization for centuries. The Commonwealth's successes during the Livonian Wars (1558-1583) united the Latvian-populated duchies of Pardaugava, Kurzeme, and Zemgale, but the Polish-Swedish War (1600-1629) granted Sweden acquisition of Riga and the Duchy of Pardaugava, minus Latgale, leaving Latvia again split ethnically. In turn, victory over Sweden in the Great Northern War (1700-1721) gave Russia control over the Latvian territories. From 1804 onwards, a series of local decrees gradually weakened the grip of German nobility over peasant society, and in 1849 a law granted a legal basis for the creation of peasant-owned farms.
Until the 1860s, there still was little sense of a Latvian national identity, as both serfdom and institutional controls to migration and social mobility limited the boundaries of the peasants' intellectual and social geography. The large baronic estates caused a lack of available farmland for an increasing population, creating a large landless, urban class comprising about 60% of the population. Also in the face of stricter Russification policies, the Baltic German clergy and literati began to take a more benevolent interest in the distinctive language and culture of the Latvian peasantry. These patrons (with such Lettish names as Alunans, Barons, Krastins, Kronvalds, Tomsons and Valdemars) soon formed the Young Latvian Movement, whose aim was to promote the indigenous language and to publicize and counteract the socio-economic oppression of Latvians.
By 1901, "Jauna Strava" had evolved into the Latvian Social Democratic Party. Following the lead of the Austrian Marxists, the LSDP advocated the transformation of the Russian Empire into a federation of democratic states (to include Latvia) and the adoption of cultural autonomy policy for extra-territorial ethnic communities. In 1903, the LSDP split into the more radically internationalist Latvian Social Democratic Worker's Party and the more influential Latvian Social Democratic Union (LSDU), which continued to champion national interests and Latvia's national self-determination, especially during the failed 1905 Revolution in Russia.
The onset of WWI brought German occupation of the western coastal province of Kurzeme, and Latvians heroically countered the invasion with the establishment of several regiments of riflemen commanded by Czarist generals. As a defensive measure, Russia dismantled over 500 local Latvian industries, along with technological equipment, and relocated them to central Russia. The sagging military campaign generally increased Latvian and LSDU support for the Bolsheviks' successful October Revolution in 1917, in the hopes of a "free Latvia within free Russia." These circumstances led to the formation of the soviet "Iskolat Republic" in the unoccupied section of Latvia. In opposition to this government and to the landed barons' German sympathies stood primarily the Latvian Provisional National Council and the Riga Democratic Bloc. These and other political parties formed the Latvian People's Council which on November 18, 1918 declared Latvia's independence and formed an army.
The new Latvian army faced rogue elements of the retreating German army and squared off in civil war against the Soviet Red Army, comprised greatly of the former Latvian Riflemen. Soviet power resumed in Latvia one month later on December 17 by order of the Latvian SSR, which forcefully collectivized all land and nationalized all industries and property. By May 22, 1919 the resurgent German Army occupied and devastated Riga for several days. In response, the Latvian army managed to win a decisive battle over the combined German-Red Army forces and thereafter consolidated its success on the eastern Latgale front. These developments led to the dissolution of the Soviet Latvian government on January 13, 1920 and to a peace treaty between Latvia and Soviet Russia on August 11 later that year. By September 22, 1921, Latvia was admitted to the League of Nations.
Having obtained independent statehood in which Latvians were an absolute majority, the Government headed by Prime Minister Ulmanis declared a democratic, parliamentary republic. It recognized Latvian as the official language, granted cultural autonomy to the country's sizeable minorities, and introduced an electoral system into the Latvian constitution, which was adopted in 1922. The decade witnessed sweeping economic reform, as war had devastated Latvian agriculture, and most Russian factories had been evacuated to Russia. Economic depression heightened political turmoil, and on May 15, 1934, Prime Minister Ulmanis dismissed the parliament, banned outspoken and left-wing political parties and tightened authoritarian state control over Latvian social life and the economy.
The effects of the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop agreement of 1939 steadily forced Latvia under Soviet influence until August 5, 1940, when the Soviet Union finally annexed Latvia. On June 14 of the following year 15,000 Latvian citizens were forcibly deported and a large number of army officers shot. The subsequent German occupation witnessed the mobilization of many Latvians into Waffen SS legions, while some Latvians joined the Red Army and formed resistance groups; others fled to the West and East. By 1945, Latvia's population dropped by one-third.
After the war, the U.S.S.R. subjected the Latvian republic to a scale of social and economic reorganization which rapidly transformed the rural economy to heavy industry, the strongly ethnically Latvian population into a more multiethnic structure, and the predominantly peasant class into a fully urbanized industrial worker class. As part of the goal to more fully integrate Latvia into the Soviet Union, on March 25, 1949 Stalin again deported another 42,000 Latvians and continued to promote the policy of encouraging Soviet immigration to Latvia. The brief "Krushchev thaw" of the 1950's ended in 1959, when the Soviets dismissed Latvian Communist Party and Government leaders on charges of "bourgeois nationalism" and replaced them with more aggressive hardliners, mostly from Russia.
"Perestroika" enabled Latvians to pursue a bolder nationalistic program, particularly through such general issues as environmental protection. In July 1989, the Latvian Supreme Soviet adopted a "Declaration of Sovereignty" and amended the Constitution to assert the supremacy of its laws over those of the U.S.S.R. Pro-independence Latvian Popular Front candidates gained a two-thirds majority in the Supreme Council in the March, 1990 democratic elections. On May 4, the Council declared its intention to restore full Latvian independence after a "transitional" period; three days later, Ivars Godmanis was chosen Council of Ministers Chairman, or Prime Minister.
In January 1991, Soviet political and military forces tried unsuccessfully to overthrow the legitimate Latvian authorities by occupying the central publishing house in Riga and establishing a "Committee of National Salvation" to usurp governmental functions. Seventy-three percent of all Latvian residents confirmed their strong support for independence March 3 in a nonbinding "advisory" referendum. A large number of ethnic Russians also voted for the proposition.
Latvia claimed de facto independence on August 21, 1991 in the aftermath of the failed Soviet coup attempt. International recognition, including the U.S.S.R., followed. The U.S., which had never recognized Latvia's forcible annexation by the U.S.S.R., resumed full diplomatic relations with Latvia on September 2.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
The Saeima, a unicameral legislative body, now is the highest organ of state authority. It initiates and approves legislation sponsored by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has full responsibility and control over his cabinet, and the President holds a primarily ceremonial role as Head of State.
In autumn 1991 Latvia reimple-mented significant portions of its 1922 constitution and in spring 1993 the government took a census to determine eligibility for citizenship. After almost three years of deliberations, Latvia finalized a citizenship and naturalization law in summer 1994. By law, those who were Latvian citizens in 1940, and their descendants, could claim citizenship. Forty-six percent of Latvia's population is ethnically non-Latvian, yet about 85% of its ethnic Slavs can pass the residency requirement. Naturalization criteria include a conversational knowledge of Latvian, a loyalty oath, renunciation of former citizenship, a ten-year residency requirement, and a knowledge of the Latvian constitution. Dual citizenship is allowed for those who were forced to leave Latvia during the Soviet occupation and adopted another citizenship. Convicted criminals, drug addicts, agents of Soviet intelligence services, and certain other groups also are excluded from becoming citizens.
On March 19, 1991 the Supreme Council passed a law explicitly guaranteeing "equal rights to all nationalities and ethnic groups" and "guarantees to all permanent residents in the Republic regardless of their nationality, equal rights to work and wages." The law also prohibits "any activity directed toward nationality discrimination or the promotion of national superiority or hatred."
In the June 5-6, 1993 elections wherein over 90% of the electorate participated, eight of Latvia's twenty-three registered political parties passed the four percent threshold to enter parliament. The Popular Front, which spearheaded the drive for independence two years ago with a 75% majority in the last parliamentary elections in 1990, did not qualify for representation. The centrist "Latvia's Way" party received a 33% plurality of votes and joined with the Farmer's Union to head a center-right wing coalition government.
Led by the opposition National Conservative Party, right-wing nationalists won a majority of the seats nationwide and also captured the Riga mayoralty in the May 29, 1994 municipal elections. OSCE and COE observers pronounced the elections free and fair, and turnout averaged about 60%. In February 1995, the Council of Europe granted Latvia membership.
Through President Clinton's initiative, on April 30, 1994 Latvia and Russia signed a troop withdrawal agreement. Russia withdrew its troops by August 31, 1994, and will maintain several hundred technical specialists to staff an OSCE-monitored phased-array ABM radar station at Skrunda until the facility is dismantled no later than 1999.
The September 30-October 1, 1995 elections brought forth a deeply fragmented parliament with nine parties represented and the largest party commanding only 18 of 100 seats. Attempts to form right-of-center and leftist governments failed; seven weeks after the election, a broad but fractious coalition government of six of the nine parties was voted into office under Prime Minister Andris Skele, a widely popular, non-partisan businessman. The also- popular president, Guntis Ulmanis, has limited constitutional powers but played a key role in leading the various political forces to agree finally to this broad coalition. In June 1996, the saeima re-elected Ulmanis to another three-year term. In a summer 1997 scandal, the daily newspaper "Diena" revealed that half the cabinet ministers and two-thirds of parliamentarians appeared to violate the 1966 anti-corruption law, which bars senior officials from holding positions in private business. Under pressure from Skele, several ministers subsequently resigned or were fired. However, after months of increasing hostility between skele and leading coalition politicians, the coalition parties demanded-and received-the prime minister's resignation on July 28. The new government, headed by the recent Minister of Economy and which includes the recently fired Minister of Transportation, is expected to pursue the same course of reform, albeit not likely as vigorous. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for summer 1998.
Latvia's flag consists of two horizontal, maroon bands of equal width, divided by a white stripe one-half the width. The national holiday is November 18, Independence Day.
Key Government Officials
President--Mr. Guntis Ulmanis, Farmers' Union
Prime Minister--Mr. Guntars Krasts, Fatherland & Freedom
Deputy PM--Mr. Juris Kaksitis, Saimnieks
Deputy PM, Environment & Regional Development--Mr. Anatolijs Gobunovs, Latvia's Way
Defense--Mr. Talavs Jundzis, Christian Democrats
Foreign Affairs--Mr. Valdis Birkavs, Latvia's Way
Economy--Mr. Atis Sausnitis, Saimnieks
Interior--Mr. Ziedonis Cevers, Saimnieks
Education & Science--Mr. Juris Celmins, Saimnieks
Agriculture--Mr. Andris Ravins, Farmers' Union
Transportation--Mr. Vilis Kristopans, Latvia's Way
Welfare--Mr. Vladimirs Makarovs, Fatherland & Freedom
Justice--Mr. Dzintars Rasnacs, Fatherland & Freedom
Culture--Ms. Ramona Umblija, Farmers' Union
Finance--Mr. Robert Zile, Fatherland & Freedom
Parliament Chair--Mr. Alfred Cepanis, Saimnieks
Latvia maintains an Embassy in the United States at 4325 17th Street, Washington DC 20011 [tel: (202)726-8213].
ECONOMY
For centuries under Hanseatic and German influence and then during its inter-war independence, Latvia used its geographic location as an important East-West commercial and trading center.
Industry served local markets, while timber, paper and agricultural products supplied Latvia's main exports. Conversely, the years of Russian and Soviet occupation tended to integrate Latvia's economy to serve those empires' large internal industrial needs. Comprising 40.1% of the populace, non-ethnic Latvians control almost 80% of the economy.
Since reestablishing its independence, Latvia has proceeded with market-oriented reforms, albeit at a measured pace. Its freely traded currency, the lat, was introduced in 1993 and has held steady, or appreciated, against major world currencies. Inflation has been reduced to a monthly rate of one percent or less. After contracting substantially between 1991-93, the eonomy steadied in late 1994, led by recovery in light industry and a boom in commerce and finance. A prolonged banking crisis and scandal involving what had been Latvia's largest commercial bank set the economy back in mid-1995 and 1996, causing budget deficits well beyond the 2% target recommended by the IMF. Nevertheless, Latvia's 1997 budget is balanced.
Replacement of the centrally planned system imposed during the Soviet period with a structure based on free-market principles has been occurring spontaneously from below much more than through consistently applied structural adjustment. Official statistics tend to understate the booming private sector, suggesting that the Latvian people and their economy are doing much better than is reflected statistically. Two-thirds of employment and 60% of GDP is now in the private sector. Recovery in light industry and Riga's emergence as a regional financial and commercial center have offset shrinkage of the state-owned industrial sector and agriculture. The official unemployment figure has held steady in the 7% range.
Other than privatization of the food processing and dairy industries, the pace of privatization of large industrial enterprises has been slow. The government has privatized about 1,000 enterprises (260 in 1996), and plans to privatize virtually all remaining state-owned businesses by 1998. Nonetheless, the process has been extremely slow and complicated. Structural reform has proceeded most rapidly in agriculture and in the privatization of small enterprises. More than 58,000 private farms have been established and most remaining collective farms transformed into private joint stock companies. However, many of Latvia's new farmers are operating at subsistence levels stemming from a lack of financial resources and credit. Urban andrural property is slowly being returned to former owners, but the legal mechanisms for title registration, sale and mortgaging of real property are not fully developed. By early 1997, only 20% of the population lived in private houses or apartments, and only 8% of state-owned apartments had been privatized.
Foreign investment in Latvia is still modest compared with levels in North-Central Europe. A law expanding the scope for selling land, including to foreigners, was recently passed. Representing 19% of Latvia's total foreign direct investment, American companies have invested $68 million. Kellogg's is the largest U.S. investor. In 1996, the U.S. exported $165 million of goods and services to Latvia and imported $99 million. Eager to join Western economic institutions like the WTO, OECD and EU, Latvia signed a Europe Agreement with the EU in June 1995 (with a four-year transition period). Latvia and the United States have signed treaties on investment, trade and intellectual property protection, and avoidance of double taxation.
DEFENSE
Latvia's defense concept is based upon the Swedish-Finnish model of a rapid response force composed of a mobilization base and a small group of career professionals. The armed forces consist of mobile riflemen, an air force and navy, border guards, and special units. The army, navy and air force comprise 1,800 pesonnel. There are also about 4,000 special independent Interior Ministry, intelligence, and civil defense forces. The "zemessardze," or home guard, is an autonomous 16,500 man-strong volunteer paramilitary organization which also performs traditional national guard duties and assists the 2,500 border guards. There is a mandatory one-year draft period of active duty, and alternative conscription for conscientious objectors is available. Defense spending comprises only .67% of GDP.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
Latvia became a member of the United Nations on September 18, 1991 and is a signatory to a number of UN organizations and other international agreements, including COE, IAEA, CERCO, ICES, ICAO, IAEA, UNESCO, UNICEF, IMF, and WB/EBRD. It also is a member of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe and of the North Atlantic Coordinating Council. Latvia is unaffiliated directly with any political alliance but welcomes further cooperation and integration with NATO, European Union and other Western organizations. It also seeks more active participation in United Nations peacekeeping efforts worldwide.
Latvia maintains embassies in the United States, Belarus, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Russia. It also operates missions to the United Nations in New York City and a Consulate General in Australia. Honorary consuls are located in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Korea, Moldova, Norway, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Venezuela.
Relations with Russia are improving, primarily because Russia withdrew its troops from Latvia by August 31, 1994, according to a bilateral agreement signed on April 30 that year.
Latvia has agreed that Russia may continue to operate the Skrunda radar facility under OSCE supervision strictly for a four-year period. Russia expresses concern for how Latvia's laws on language and naturalization may affect Latvia's non-ethnic Latvians, who comprise 40.1% of the population. In turn, Latvia is interested in the welfare of over 210,000 ethnic Latvians still resident in Russia. Neither country allows for dual citizenship.
The United States established diplomatic relations with Latvia on July 28, 1922. The U.S. Legation in Riga officially was established November 13, 1922 and served as the headquarters for U.S. representation in the Baltics during the interwar era. The Soviet invasion forced the closure of the legation on September 5, 1940, but Latvian representation in the United States has continued uninterrupted for over 70 years. The U.S. never recognized the forcible incorporation of Latvia into the U.S.S.R., and views the present Government of Latvia as a legal continuation of the interwar republic. Latvia has enjoyed Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) treatment with the U.S. since December 1991. It now receives about $3 million annually from USAID in technical assistance and professional training.
Principal U.S. Officials
Ambassador--Larry C. Napper
Political Officer--John Withers
Economic Officer--Maryruth Coleman
Administrative Officer--Susan Pazina
Consular Officer--Robert Tatge
USAID Director--Howard Handler
Public Affairs Officer--Philip Ives
The U.S. Embassy in Latvia is located at Raina Boulevard 7, Riga [tel. (371)782-0046].
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