Battle Is Won, but Lithuanian Action Center’s Work Has Just Begun

As Soviet tanks rolled into Vilnius in January to wrest control from the pro-independence Lithuanian parliament, emigres of that tiny Baltic state gathered in a small Atwater Village office, staffing phones and fax machines day and night to keep abreast of the developments in their faraway homeland.

The office was the headquarters of the Lithuanian Action Center founded in May, 1990, to support the Baltic independence movement. The center’s mission was to keep the media and local congressional representatives informed about the struggle in the hopes of generating pressure for Soviet and American recognition of an independent Lithuania.

Last month, the activists were overjoyed by that goal’s attainment when independence was recognized by the Soviet Union’s newly created State Council and then, in short order, by the United States.

But, although the victory has been won, Lithuanian Action Center organizers said their work is far from finished.

“Our role has become much more important than it was before,” said Dalita Trotman, 25, who has been the center’s director since the beginning of this year.

From the small book-lined office shared with a Lithuanian Scouting organization, Trotman and a volunteer corps will now try to help secure U.S. technical and economic support for the new republic, which is beginning to address the pressing problems of economic development.

The center, originally formed to help the Baltic homeland survive a Soviet economic blockade, was first housed in a small real estate office in Santa Monica. Early this year it moved to the Lithuanian Cultural Center’s facility at 3352 Glendale Blvd.

The modest stucco building, erected in 1962 through the sale of $100 shares to the Lithuanian community, is used for meetings of Lithuanian organizations and is rented out for private functions, such as weddings.

It also houses the Lithuanian Credit Union and is a gathering place for community members, including senior citizens who can receive federally subsidized lunches there.

Now, the massive social challenges facing the Lithuanian homeland promise to keep the center buzzing with political activity for some time to come.

In the coming months, the center’s staff will monitor Lithuanian negotiations with the Soviet Union over borders, the dispersal of factories and other Soviet economic assets and the removal of Soviet troops still stationed in the country, said Vincent Zigmas Viskanta, a retired aerospace engineer who helped organize the action center. Viskanta said pressure from the United States could help determine the final outcome of these talks.

During the blockade, center organizers recruited Lithuanians throughout Southern California to lobby their legislators on behalf of their homeland.

Trotman said this network will be used to push for humanitarian and technical assistance so the country can build a new economy after 50 years of Communist rule.

“The economy is in shambles,” said Auris Jarasunas, 21, a UCLA senior who served as the center’s director last summer and spent this summer as an adviser to the Lithuanian parliament. “The move to capitalism is going to be very painful.”