The Beatles in Belarus

The website of BELINTOURIST, the state tour operator of Belarus, is a rather curious proposition. While Lukashenko and cronies respond to their opponents with tear gas and baton charges, Belintourist attempts to sell 'Europe's last dictatorship' as "the country of unlimited tourist opportunities" and "the country which one could not help falling in love with!" Key attractions include a tour of 'The Stalin Line', the remnants of a network of fortifications built along the border of the USSR to protect against German invasion (and like France's Maginot Line, utterly useless against the mobile warfare of the Wehrmacht); and 'medical tourism' at the ELEOS rehabilitation centre ("the part of grandiose joint project of the State and Orthodox Church") - treatments include out-patient surgery, hirudotherapy (treatment with leeches) and "alternative methods of tonsilitis and laryngitis treatment".
Forming a trinity of tourist weirdness with Stalin and the quacks are The Beatles. According to BELINTOURIST, "Since 2004 the city of Minsk is the official partner of THE BEATLES MOVEMENT in the world granted for its valuable contribution in promoting THE BEATLES as a phenomenon." The 'partnership' consists of a Beatles Cafe, "The only Beatles Cafe in all former USSR countries" and, since 2004, an annual Beatles Festival ("always sponsored by Siemens"). Performers have included Liverpool-based Beatles tribute band, The Blue Meanies. This year's event is scheduled to take place in Minsk on May 20th. "Imagine all the people living life in peace." John Lennon wasn 't joking when he called that song "communism with a sugar coating".