This Day In 1970's History: Tuesday February 12, 1974
- Patty Hearst contacted her parents for the first time since her abduction, by way of a tape sent by the kidnappers to Berkeley radio station KPFA. The Symbionese Liberation Army requested that Randolph Hearst donate $70 worth of food for each needy person in California before the kidnappers will consider releasing Patricia, in a message preceding Patricia's conversation on the tape. Miss Hearst discussed her physical and mental condition and her captors' demands. Randolph Hearst said he doesn't know if he can comply with the demands for food donations, which would cost over $130 million. [CBS]
- Dissident Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was arrested on unknown charges. The arrest came after the publication of his latest book which denounces Soviet prison camps. Some U.S. experts see the arrest as an attempt to crush the Soviet intellectual movement completely.
Solzhenitsyn interviewed Alexander Dolgun, now in America, for his new book. Dolgun says he fears for Solzhenitsyn's life. Asked if imprisonment and exile would be the only punishment, Dolgun replied that he can't predict the exact punishment, but noted that tortures and beatings have occurred previously. Dolgun believes that the government intends to stop Solzhenitsyn's literary activities one way or another. Only one book of the many written by Solzhenitsyn has been published in the USSR. Solzhenitsyn received the Nobel Prize in 1970 but wasn't allowed to accept it. After the publication of "The Gulag Archipelago", the Soviet government denounced Solzhenitsyn. The White House declined any comment on the situation. [CBS]
- Thirteen oil-consuming nations continued their conference in Washington. French foreign minister Michel Jobert refused to go along with Secretary State Henry Kissinger's proposal for consuming countries to unify as a group and meet with OPEC. Ambassador David Bruce attempted to calm the differences. West German financial minister Helmut Schmidt admitted that underlying political considerations have played a part in the dispute. Jobert and Kissinger later met privately but no agreement was reached. Jobert declared that he doesn't plan to change his stance, and he stated that no compromise will be made if an agreement can't be reached. [CBS]
- The leaders of Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Algeria will meet in Algiers to discuss further troop disengagement with Israel and the possible easing of the oil embargo against the United States. President Sadat of Egypt is said to favor both actions. Iraq announced that it will not lift its embargo against the U.S. [CBS]
- More plans are brewing in the Mideast for takeovers of American oil companies in the region. The Christian Science Monitor reported that Saudi Arabia intends to expropriate a large oil company which is owned by Exxon, Texaco, Mobil and Standard of California. [CBS]
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