 Following Kosygin's rejection, Taraki requested aid from Leonid Brezhnev, the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Soviet head of state, who warned Taraki that full Soviet intervention "would only play into the hands of our enemies – both yours and ours".Brezhnev also advised Taraki to ease up on the drastic social reforms and to seek broader support for his regime.In 1979, Taraki attended a conference of the Non-Aligned Movement in Havana, Cuba.