The Vegan Marxist
1st May 2010, 20:19
Communist Vietnam celebrates 35th anniversary of the war's end
BEN STOCKING
AP News
Apr 30, 2010 02:35 EDT
Communist Vietnam marked the 35th anniversary of the end of its war Friday with a dramatic re-enactment of the day North Vietnamese tanks smashed through the gates of the former Presidential Palace and ousted the U.S.-backed South Vietnam government.
The celebration took place as signs of the emerging market economy are everywhere in the city once known as Saigon and communist banners now compete with corporate logos.
A crowd of 50,000, many waving red and gold communist flags, lined the parade route, which was adorned with a massive poster of Ho Chi Minh, the father of Vietnam's revolution.
The proceedings brought back vivid memories for Do Thi Thanh Thuy, 49, who watched the tanks roll by her home on April 30, 1975, when she was a junior high student. She and her neighbors on the outskirts of the former Saigon ran into the streets to cheer.
"When I saw those tanks, I felt so happy," said Thuy, who carried a red and gold flag adorned with communism's hammer and a sickle symbol. "The South had been liberated, the country was united, and the war was over."
The fall of Saigon marked the official end of the Vietnam War and the decade-long U.S. campaign against communism in Southeast Asia. The conflict claimed some 58,000 American lives and an estimated 3 million Vietnamese.
The war left divisions that would take years to heal as many former South Vietnamese soldiers were sent to communist re-education camps and hundreds of thousands of their relatives fled the country.
Friday's celebration featured patriotic songs, some of them put to a pulsing disco beat. And in the day's re-enactment of the war's end, everyone in the former Saigon greeted the troops with jubilation.
Most of those in attendance were war veterans, party cadres and others selected by local communist organizations. The area was sealed off from ordinary citizens due to security concerns and police carefully monitored the foreign media in attendance.
Leading the delegation of dignitaries in attendance was President Nguyen Minh Triet, who presented Ho Chi Minh City with the highest honor he can bestow, a Gold Star medal. Also in the crowd were leaders and dignitaries from Cuba, Russia, Cambodia and Laos.
Former Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, the legendary war hero who led Vietnam's campaigns against the French and the Americans, was too ill to attend the celebration, at which he is usually an honored guest. The general, who is now 98, sent a bouquet of flowers to mark the occasion.
Huynh Van Quan, a 70-year-old war veteran, sat along the parade route beneath a portrait of Ho Chi Minh, one of hundreds dotting the crowd. He has attended all 35 celebrations since the war ended.
"It's a very important day for the Vietnamese nation," said Quan, who helped build the famous Cu Chi tunnels outside Saigon, an elaborate underground network where the communist Viet Cong guerrillas sought refuge from American bombers.
"Everyone in Cu Chi helped dig the tunnels," Quan said. "We were very skilled at fighting the Americans."
Friday's speeches were sprinkled with timeworn communist slogans and many quotes from Ho Chi Minh, including perhaps his most famous, which was invoked by Le Thanh Hai, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Party chief: "There is nothing more precious than independence and freedom."
But Hai focused his remarks on Vietnam's economic achievements, for which Ho Chi Minh City has served as the engine. The city generated more than 20 percent of the nation's Gross Domestic Product last year and 30 percent of its tax revenues, Hai said. The city's economic growth has averaged more than 10 percent a year since 1986.
Much of Vietnam's growth is being fueled by foreign investment and trade, and in recent years, the United States has become Vietnam's main trading partner.
"The U.S. is a friend of Vietnam now," said Do Phuoc Man, 17, who woke up at 3 a.m. to attend Friday's festivities, which began at 6:30 a.m. "We've seen growing investment from the United States, which is to our mutual benefit."
Although the two nations have grown much closer since the war, they still have disagreements over issues such as human rights and press freedom.
The Communist Party tightly controls the domestic media, and security officers prevented foreign journalists from conducting interviews along the parade route.
In his anniversary speech, Lt. Gen. Le Thanh Tam, the chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Veterans Association, warned that Vietnam must be wary of "hostile forces who use democracy and human rights as a pretext to sabotage Vietnam."
"We affirm that the Communist Party of Vietnam is the only party which has the prestige to lead the Vietnamese people to stable development and international integration," Tam said.
http://wire.antiwar.com/2010/04/29/vietnam-celebrates-35th-anniversary-of-wars-end/
BEN STOCKING
AP News
Apr 30, 2010 02:35 EDT
Communist Vietnam marked the 35th anniversary of the end of its war Friday with a dramatic re-enactment of the day North Vietnamese tanks smashed through the gates of the former Presidential Palace and ousted the U.S.-backed South Vietnam government.
The celebration took place as signs of the emerging market economy are everywhere in the city once known as Saigon and communist banners now compete with corporate logos.
A crowd of 50,000, many waving red and gold communist flags, lined the parade route, which was adorned with a massive poster of Ho Chi Minh, the father of Vietnam's revolution.
The proceedings brought back vivid memories for Do Thi Thanh Thuy, 49, who watched the tanks roll by her home on April 30, 1975, when she was a junior high student. She and her neighbors on the outskirts of the former Saigon ran into the streets to cheer.
"When I saw those tanks, I felt so happy," said Thuy, who carried a red and gold flag adorned with communism's hammer and a sickle symbol. "The South had been liberated, the country was united, and the war was over."
The fall of Saigon marked the official end of the Vietnam War and the decade-long U.S. campaign against communism in Southeast Asia. The conflict claimed some 58,000 American lives and an estimated 3 million Vietnamese.
The war left divisions that would take years to heal as many former South Vietnamese soldiers were sent to communist re-education camps and hundreds of thousands of their relatives fled the country.
Friday's celebration featured patriotic songs, some of them put to a pulsing disco beat. And in the day's re-enactment of the war's end, everyone in the former Saigon greeted the troops with jubilation.
Most of those in attendance were war veterans, party cadres and others selected by local communist organizations. The area was sealed off from ordinary citizens due to security concerns and police carefully monitored the foreign media in attendance.
Leading the delegation of dignitaries in attendance was President Nguyen Minh Triet, who presented Ho Chi Minh City with the highest honor he can bestow, a Gold Star medal. Also in the crowd were leaders and dignitaries from Cuba, Russia, Cambodia and Laos.
Former Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, the legendary war hero who led Vietnam's campaigns against the French and the Americans, was too ill to attend the celebration, at which he is usually an honored guest. The general, who is now 98, sent a bouquet of flowers to mark the occasion.
Huynh Van Quan, a 70-year-old war veteran, sat along the parade route beneath a portrait of Ho Chi Minh, one of hundreds dotting the crowd. He has attended all 35 celebrations since the war ended.
"It's a very important day for the Vietnamese nation," said Quan, who helped build the famous Cu Chi tunnels outside Saigon, an elaborate underground network where the communist Viet Cong guerrillas sought refuge from American bombers.
"Everyone in Cu Chi helped dig the tunnels," Quan said. "We were very skilled at fighting the Americans."
Friday's speeches were sprinkled with timeworn communist slogans and many quotes from Ho Chi Minh, including perhaps his most famous, which was invoked by Le Thanh Hai, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Party chief: "There is nothing more precious than independence and freedom."
But Hai focused his remarks on Vietnam's economic achievements, for which Ho Chi Minh City has served as the engine. The city generated more than 20 percent of the nation's Gross Domestic Product last year and 30 percent of its tax revenues, Hai said. The city's economic growth has averaged more than 10 percent a year since 1986.
Much of Vietnam's growth is being fueled by foreign investment and trade, and in recent years, the United States has become Vietnam's main trading partner.
"The U.S. is a friend of Vietnam now," said Do Phuoc Man, 17, who woke up at 3 a.m. to attend Friday's festivities, which began at 6:30 a.m. "We've seen growing investment from the United States, which is to our mutual benefit."
Although the two nations have grown much closer since the war, they still have disagreements over issues such as human rights and press freedom.
The Communist Party tightly controls the domestic media, and security officers prevented foreign journalists from conducting interviews along the parade route.
In his anniversary speech, Lt. Gen. Le Thanh Tam, the chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Veterans Association, warned that Vietnam must be wary of "hostile forces who use democracy and human rights as a pretext to sabotage Vietnam."
"We affirm that the Communist Party of Vietnam is the only party which has the prestige to lead the Vietnamese people to stable development and international integration," Tam said.
http://wire.antiwar.com/2010/04/29/vietnam-celebrates-35th-anniversary-of-wars-end/