Gorbachev Postpones Prague Visit : ‘Slight Cold’ Cited; Official Denies Diplomatic Problems

Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev on Sunday postponed an official visit to Prague on the eve of his expected arrival because of “a slight cold,” a Czechoslovak spokesman said.

The surprise announcement set off speculation about possible problems within the Kremlin, inside the Czechoslovak leadership or between Moscow and Prague, where a conservative Communist regime put in power by Soviet tanks nearly two decades ago is struggling to come to terms with Gorbachev’s reform programs.

However, Ramon Narozny, Czechoslovakia’s deputy foreign minister, dismissed the suggestion that Gorbachev is suffering from “a diplomatic cold.” He said that the Soviet Communist Party leader is expected in the second half of the week, and he promised more details on Wednesday.

Hectored by many skeptical reporters at a news conference, Narozny said: “I’ll give you a simple answer. The possibility of catching cold exists for everyone, including you journalists. We don’t consider it anything unusual that such a cold was contracted by a politician.”

Chernenko Recalled

The last time that a Soviet leader postponed an official visit to a foreign country was in 1984, when Gorbachev’s predecessor, Konstantin U. Chernenko, missed a scheduled trip to Bulgaria for health reasons. He died in March, 1985.

Although Czechoslovak diplomats said earlier that Gorbachev’s visit was due to start today and hand-picked residents of this capital had been named to join the welcoming crowds, Narozny said April 6 was never actually announced as the date for the visit to begin.

In Moscow, the official Tass news agency first reported that Gorbachev’s trip was delayed by mutual agreement “because he contracted a slight cold.” Less than an hour later, however, an almost identical Tass dispatch from Prague made no mention of a cold in announcing the postponement.

Gorbachev, 56, appeared to be in robust health last week during British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s visit to the Soviet Union. British diplomats who saw him when Thatcher paid a farewell call at the Kremlin said he did not appear to be ill.

Official reports said he presided Thursday at a meeting of the Politburo, the top policy-making body of the Soviet Communist Party, but he made no appearances or statements over the weekend.

On at least one other occasion during his two-year tenure, after a strenuous trip to the Far East, Gorbachev was reported to be ill with a cold. He recovered quickly, however.

In accordance with Kremlin tradition, the exact dates of Gorbachev’s visit to Prague were never announced. A report in Pravda, the Communist Party’s major daily newspaper, had said only that he would be visiting the Czechoslovak capital in the near future.

Festooned With Banners

The postponement came as Prague’s ornate buildings, many of which date to the 14th Century, were festooned with thousands of Soviet red flags and red-white-and-blue Czechoslovakian banners.

Portraits of Gorbachev and of Czechoslovak leader Gustav Husak, set off by roses and carnations, adorned shops and restaurants, and a huge red sign fluttered on the national museum bearing the slogan: “With the Soviet Union for All Time.”

Several Czechs interviewed in recent days said they have been closely following events in the Soviet Union, where Gorbachev has initiated a policy of glasnost (openness), and that they hoped Gorbachev’s visit would nudge the Husak regime to make similar reforms.

One office worker said a Communist Party organizer told a meeting of colleagues that Gorbachev’s reforms were like those that were attempted in Czechoslovakia in 1968.

Although the Czechoslovak press has become more open about mismanagement, environmental catastrophes and other problems, it has far to go to meet the standards for glasnost set by the Soviet press, a Western diplomat said.

Similarly, writers and artists said they have seen few changes in the cultural sphere. On the contrary, censorship has been tightened in some publications, they said.

A Western diplomat said over-optimistic Czechs may be in for a disappointment if Gorbachev shows his liberalism by announcing that the Soviet Union feels its Eastern European allies should be free to choose their own paths, depending on their individual conditions.

“This would be music to the ears of the regime if ‘Czechoslovak conditions’ mean more of the same,” he said.

This was scheduled to be Gorbachev’s first official visit to Czechoslovakia since he took office.

In Difficult Position

Although Czechoslovak leaders declare themselves to be Moscow’s most loyal allies, Gorbachev’s rise has placed them in a difficult position, Western diplomats and Czechs alike said. This is because the Husak regime was installed by the Soviet leadership in 1969 to root out the reforms that became known as the “Prague Spring” of 1968.

The Soviets and other Warsaw Pact nations said then that their troops went into Czechoslovakia in response to a call for “urgent assistance against threats from counterrevolutionary forces.”

They said the government headed by Alexander Dubcek had reneged on promises to reinstitute press censorship, prevent the formation of independent political groups, strengthen the police, protect Moscow-line Communists and end its criticism of other Communist states.

The word “reform” has been virtually taboo in the Czechoslovak press since that time, but it has been used increasingly in recent months.

Husak startled observers in March when he declared himself in favor of “a restructuring, or if you wish, reform” of the country’s stagnating, centrally planned economy.

Times staff writer William J. Eaton contributed to this story from Moscow.