From the archives: Latvia’s new National Guard confront occupying troops
Latvia, August 1992. The country is still occupied by 60k Russian troops. The newly established Latvian National Guard confronts a drunk, abusive group of them.
This video was filmed in Jūrmala, providing a rare snapshop of the challenges of rebuilding the independent state while occupying troops remain.
Latvia didn't yet have a military or much of a police service, but thousands of volunteers were joining Zemessardze, the new National Guard to help defend the constitutional order.
In this video, the Latvian National Guard are speaking in blue, the Russian troops are speaking in red.
The Latvian guards are patient for a long time, even while challenging the soldiers on atrocities committed by members of the same unit in Lithuania's January Events.
But, just when you think it’s all over, they find out the hard way Latvia is an independent Republic.
