ABSTRACT
The exile of American Latvians effectively ended in August of 1991 when Latvia became de facto independent from the Soviet Union. The end of exile was also the end of the American Latvian community's political mission and raison d'etre. This chapter discusses the political lessons, accomplishments and controversies that American Latvians went through during the process of gradually turning from emigres into immigrants or repatriates. American Latvians also contributed to the economic advancement of the Latvian state. American Latvians' investments in Latvia's economy constituted about 20 percent of all investments from exiled Latvians. The independence movements in Latvia began emerging around 1988. They formed in the context of the changes introduced by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the mid-1980s. An emigre journalist pointed out that the American Latvian community had represented an exclusive part of Latvia's society in which moral principles were kept in high regard, while the society of independent Latvia contained all sorts of people.
