Gorbachev Scores Declaration by Latvia and Hints of Sanctions

Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev has denounced Latvia’s declaration of independence as a “breach of constitutional norms” and ruled out talks unless full Soviet sovereignty is restored, Tass said Sunday.

The Soviet news agency said Gorbachev conveyed his disapproval in a telephone conversation with Alfreds Rubiks, head of the majority pro-Moscow section of the Latvian Communist Party.

Tass said Rubiks appeared on Latvian television Saturday evening and quoted Gorbachev as saying that the declaration is “a breach of constitutional norms which is leading to the breakdown of state ties between the republic and the U.S.S.R.”

Rubiks said the Soviet leader made no distinction between the Latvian proclamation on Friday, deliberately softened in order not to antagonize the Kremlin, and the March 11 proclamation of independence by neighboring Lithuania.

Rubiks also held out the possibility of sanctions similar to those imposed on Lithuania if the republic strays from the constitution.

“In the event that the republic ignores the U.S.S.R. constitution,” Tass said, “the president reserves the right to take retaliatory political, economic and administrative measures.”

Latvian lawmakers voted 138 to 0 to re-establish the prewar independent Latvian state after an undetermined transition period. More than 50 deputies refused to vote--most of them representatives of the substantial Russian-speaking minority.