Czech President Vaclav Klaus is an economist with an open but well-disciplined mind. Schooled in communism, he converted to capitalism and became an advocate of free markets after watching the Marxist model fail. Having represented Czechoslovakia's communist government at international financial meetings, he had ample opportunities to make comparisons.

Klaus joined the ``Velvet Revolution'' led by Vaclav Havel and became minister of finance overseeing Czechoslovakia's transition to a free-market economy. The Czech Republic and Slovakia split in a ``Velvet Divorce'' in 1993, but neither has retreated to communism.

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, Klaus was in Washington last week, meeting with Vice President Joe Biden and State Department officials and hosting a reception.

Playwright and former Czech President Vaclav Havel earned his appellation as a ``man for all seasons'' with his strong continuing advocacy of human rights and ethical politics. Klaus, known as ``the professor'' in Prague, projects the image of a statesman -- knowledgeable, engaging and willing to answer questions even when he knows his answers will be politically incorrect.

Addressing Georgetown University students, he warned against ``utopian thinking'' that perfect societies can be created and sustained. ``Let's recognize that great suffering has been inflicted by efforts to implement ideas,'' he said. The issue in world politics remains ``freedom'' and the threat to freedom remains ``dangerous collectivism.'' He insists the integration of Europe ``to enable the free movement of capital, people and ideas is not the same thing as unification.''

Countering a question about global warning, he asked: ``What is in danger: the climate or freedom?'' The clamor for a centrally directed effort ``to control the climate, is another utopian idea'' one that ``will endanger growth,'' he added.

The Czech Republic has ``the best growth rate of the post-communist nations'' he said. ``We would not be happy to go back to the centralized, unnecessarily organized system we got rid of 20 years ago.'' The ``current economic crisis . . . is not the result of market failure, but of politics playing with the market, a failure resulting from immoderate ambitions.''

Klaus was introduced at Georgetown by Spain's former Prime Minister José María Aznar, who took a hard line against the Castro government in Cuba but lost reelection after supporting the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Klaus criticized the current Spanish government's ``soft'' approach to Cuban issues adding, ``In the Czech Republic we have much more radical thoughts. Those of us in former communist countries were not helped by the soft talk of the Helsinki process and dreams of achieving something by friendliness. [Spain's current Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez] Zapatero's soft talk to Cuban leaders is not the way out.''

Klaus was carefully circumspect when talking about President Obama's decision not to deploy missiles in Poland and the Czech Republic. He said he ``accepts'' the policy change, ``the Czech Republic is part of the trans-Atlantic world, and friendship with the United States is crucial.''

Klaus will soon travel to Brazil and Peru ``where I see a chance to carry on discussions rationally.'' Seeing no chance for rational discussions in Venezuela where President Hugo Chávez has seized control of the nation's oil, steel, cement and sugar industries, ``is precisely the reason, I am not traveling to Caracas.''

So add ``blunt'' and ``outspoken'' to the list of adjectives behind Klaus's name. He is no man of pretense.

Frank Calzon is executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba, based in Arlington.