Kissinger is the highest American official ever to visit Sweden. His visit must thus be seen as a turn in diplomatic relations between the American and Swedish governments. Tension between the two has been high since 1968 because of the Swedish government's position on the Vietnam war, a tension that was indicated by the withdrawal of the American ambassador from Stockholm on several occasions. But these problems were not at all in evidence during the meeting between Kissinger and Prime Minister Olof Palme. Instead, Kissinger declared that relations between the two countries are now good and on the right keel. Since the foreign policy of the Swedish government has not changed, this represents a change in the attitude of the American government. What is the reason for this visit and for Kissinger's indication of a changed relationship to the Swedish Social Democracy on the part of U.S. imperialism? With the mounting social contradictions in Europe and the ripening of prerevolutionary and revolutionary situations in southern Europe, American imperialism is seeking new means by which to intervene politically, since for the time being Washington finds itself deprived of the possibility of using military force against a revolution in any West European country, It is within this counterrevolutionary optic that Kissinger considers it useful to establish closer and friendlier relations with Olof Palme.
The important role Palme played last year in rallying the support of European Social Democracy to the Portuguese Socialist party, which gave increased credibility to Soares's counterrevolutionary policy, is an indication of this.
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USAS LAON SWEDEN, • LAMNA KOREA SENAST Second, the Swedish government can act as an information and contact link between the U.S. government and the governments of some semicolonial countries and workers states. This was clearly stated by Kissinger: "We agree on many fields, On other fields we can exchange important information thanks to the Swedish policy of neutrality, which allows Sweden to talk with many countries with which we cannot." This was even demonstrated during the visit itself, as Palme delivered a message from Fidel Castro that the Cuban troops would be withdrawn from Angola in the near future. The leaders of the Social Democracy are more than willing to play this role. But it causes some problems with the left of the party, as was ironically indicated by Kissinger himself, who commented, "I hope, Mr. Prime Minister, that I don't get you in trouble if I say that we have had a very friendly discussion. " Before Kissinger's arrival the Social Democratic leaders tried to play down the importance of the visit. Aftonbladet, the largest Social Democratic newspaper, for example, asked, "Who is afraid of Kissinger any longer?" saying that he is on his way out and that his visit was completely unimportant. The 13,000 people who demonstrated against the Nobel Peace Prize winning war criminal and demanded that the government turn him away showed that they did not accept these Social Democratic arguments. In fact, the visit gave rise to the broadest united action ever held by the left in Sweden, involving nearly all the organizations and solidarity committees left of the Social Democracy. It was important, for example, that the 5,000member Swedish Harbor Union, which has been boycotting all ships from Chile since March 1, 1976, condemned the government for receiving Kissinger and urged support to the demonstration. The only groups that refused to participate in the united action were the Maoist Swedish Communist party and some smaller groups around it. They prefered instead to organize a separate contingent "against the super powers"; only 1,000 people participated. L