ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by discussing the structure that Lakoba and his group created in early Soviet Abkhazia to control the procurement and sale of tobacco, an extremely valuable commodity of which Abkhazia was a primarily producer in the USSR. It then discusses the political conflict that emerged around a very critical external commission report about the situation in Abkhazia, that accused Lakoba of creating a “personal regime” and controlling Abkhazia like a “Soviet Princedom.” Dissatisfied with the personnel changes that Lakoba was compelled to undertake as the result of this report, a group of Abkhaz government officials rebelled against Lakoba’s leadership (called the “Rif Revolt,” a reference to an uprising in Spanish Morocco that was covered extensively at the time in the Soviet press). Backed by Lakoba’s rivals Eshba and Nikolai Bakhtadze, this group attempted to form a rival Abkhaz ethnic grouping that could potentially replace the Lakoba group. In the end, Lakoba was able to use support from his patrons in the center (primarily in Tiflis) to derail this attempt. Before their defeat in this confrontation, however, the Abkhaz officials submitted 41 serious allegations against Lakoba and his family and clients, many of which would reappear in future reports and denunciations.
