YURI TO BE WITH US FOR A WHILE: U.S. DOCS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000100170018-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 1, 2010
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: July 10, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/01 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000100170018-5
14
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
10 July 1983
Yuri to. with us fora while:
Us Sm -do,
power in the Kremlin; it always behaves the same.
Andropov's rule has not dramatically differed
-from the ' last years - of Brezhnev, when many
By LABS-ERIK NELSON
innovations would occur as soon as the Old Man
died
Washington (News Bureau)-WhenSovietPres., ANDROPOY, 'THOUGH firmly in Command,
ident Yuri Andropov turned u looking is-like Brezhnev-no dictator. He must rely on
up pale and frail last .week, the American intelligence :con. ^--
niunity's "ghoul squad," _..a group of - doctors e cu consensus of his colleagues. #ieeannot~ {
trainAl -4n d: -'-'- L_-_?
v--~???? ??..?..a,, ova cagu aGauc :IIUTA
afar, sprang into action.-..
After- peering at news films of Andropov's
performance at a meeting with West German
Chancellor Helmut Kohl, the spy doctors gave
this prognosis on the W year-old former-.KGB
chief: He has moderately serious heart and lung
problems, but has a 90% chance of living out this
-year. Americans might as well get used to dealing
with him for the foreseeable future. -
Andropov, who replaced Leonid Brezhnev last
December, has forcefully established himself as
the Soviet Union's preeminent leader. In addition
to replacing Brezhnev as general secretary of the
Communist Party, Andropov also inherited Brezh-
nev's role as chairman of the Defense Council and,
BUT HIS APPARENT difficulty in walking, his
unexplained absences and a tremor in his left
hand have made his health a question -mark,
prompting some analysts, like former-national
security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, to conclude
that Andropov is only a temporary leader
soon to
,
,
wou
d shake when it
be replaced by healthier-but probably not was at rest. We saw his hand at rest. It didn't
younger--colleagues. tremble."
"The current regime is more transitional than ' Further, political analysts of Soviet affairs
any that has followed the death of a Soviet ruler," voiced strong doubts that Andropov's Politburo
Brzezinski said last week. "It is more transitional colleagues would have entrusted him with su-
than (Georgi) Malenkov after the death of Stalin- prgme power if he were known to be seriously ill.
The man (Andropov) is clearly very ill. Bat all his If the medical experts are wrong and Andropov
associates are his own age, and they are not. dies soon or becomes incapacitated, his successor
prepared to step aside for a younger generation.- Is almost certain to come from his own age group
So whoever replaces Andropov would also be in the Politburo. "The Kremlin is still a geron-
transitional. The Soviet Anion is in for an un- tocracy " one analyst said. "It is not about to move
stable, uncertain period." down to the younger generation."
his uncertainty u-
the United States to be cautious in dealing with suer would be Defense Minister
D
it
.
>n
2y
the Soviet Union. Its leadership, he says, is in no Ustinov-or even Foreign Minister Andrei Gromy-
mood for dramatic or sweeping changes in the ko. Grigori Romanov, Leningrad Party leader, is a
U.S.-Soviet relationship. Andropov might also not perennial long-shot _
be well enough to, entertain the thought of a Toon predicts a "troika" formed of -Brezhnev's
possible summit meeting with President Reagan. former crony Konstantin Chernenko, Romanov
Former Ambassador to Moscow Malcolm Toon- and Mikhail Gorbachev, an agricultural specialist.
argues that it does not really matter who holds top I A U.S. intelligence analyst says Ustinov, with
his military background, and Gromyko, who has
concentrated on foreign affairs, are both too
narrowly focused for top power. His guess is trade,
union leader Viktor Grishin..But Andropov, he
says, is likely,to be around for a while.
Brzezinski predicts that Andropov's likeliest
Government experts do not dispute that Andro-
-
pov's death might touch off a prolonged and
,possibly paralyzing struggle for power. But they
say the evidence does hot suggest that his health- s
.in imminent danger.
"He does not have serious kidney ailments,.
Alzheimer's disease (senility), Parkinson's disease
-or Hodgkin'S.rlisease," one expert said, dismissing
virtually' all 'the long-range diagnoses made...of
.Andropov during the week. "He has a cardiovascu.
larkproblem kerious enough to require occasional
? bed.rest"
This expert challenged reports from the West
German delegation that Andropov was forced to
'
miss Kohl
s. arrival because he was undergoing
kidney dialysis. "There is no known disease that
can be treated by a one-shot dialysis," be said. "If
you need dialysis at all, you need it two or three
times a week. And he has shown no sign of that."
AS FOR REPORTS that the tremor in Andro-
pov's left hand indicated serious illness, the
"
expert said,
If he had a serious enough illness to
cause his hand to shake
it
l
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/01 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000100170018-5