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Vietnam: U.S. Ignores Agreement

By VVAW

Nguyen Van Thieu, President of the Republic of South Vietnam, has been using every method possible to prolong his position as a dictator. Despite the provisions of the Peace Agreement signed in January of 1973, the Saigon government continues to enforce laws prohibiting freedom of the press and freedom of speech; they continue to hold in prison over 200,000 political prisoners; and in January of this year, Thieu announced that the elections called for in the Paris Agreement would not be allowed to take place. This refusal to hold elections is exactly the same tactic used by President Diem in 1955 after the French were defeated.

Since the January cancellation of elections, Thieu has repeatedly tried to increase the tension in South Vietnam through military operations and public statements in an effort to extract more money from the U.S. Congress. This effort reached a high point on April 16th when the Saigon government refused to negotiate any further with the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) of South Vietnam. The U.S. Congress, however, reacting to mounting public pressure, recently refused Pentagon requests for a $474 million increase an aid to Saigon. Two weeks later, the Pentagon announced the discovery of an "accounting error" which would have permitted them to send an additional $266 million in military aid to Saigon. The Senate responded to this by voting 43 to 38 to prohibit any additional funds from being sent to Saigon for the remainder of this fiscal year ending on June 30, 1974, thereby holding the ceiling for 73-74 at $1.26 billion in aid to Saigon.

Recent statements by Henry Kissinger indicate, however, that the Nixon Administration has no intention of following the Paris Agreement. In a recent letter to Senator Edward Kennedy, Kissinger stated, "We provide the Republic of Vietnam the means necessary for its self defense and for its economic viability," and that this would continue because the U.S. "derived a certain obligation from our long and deep involvement in Vietnam." This support is all in direct violation of the Paris Agreement; and agreement that Kissinger himself helped to negotiate! Whether congress will follow Kissinger's advice and vote to continue aid to Saigon for fiscal year 1974-1975 awaits to be seen.

In reaction to the dwindling support in Congress for continued funding and the bleak prospect that faces President Thieu, the Nixon Administration is working on another strategy to maintain the Saigon regime. Through the international lending institution, the World Bank (of which former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara is now President), the U.S. is making plans for shifting the burden of keeping the Saigon economy alive. In the report of the recent World Bank fact-finding mission to Saigon, it was noted that inflation was running at better than 60% in 1973 and that the regime was forced to devalue the piaster nine times in the course of a year. The conclusions of the World Bank are that "net aid required in 1980 would still be on the order of $770 million a year, or about $100 million higher than seems probable for 1974." In accord with the Nixon Doctrine announced in Honolulu five years ago, the World Bank, in conjunction with the International Monetary Fund and the Japan-led Asian Development Bank, is now seeking to shift the cost of the war to other countries. Through this new strategy the U.S. Government is hoping to provide other nations with a stake in Thieu's survival.

THE LIBERATED AREAS

The liberated areas of the PRG offer a sharp contrast to the chaos of the Saigon-controlled areas. In the liberated areas, elections have been held on a regular basis with candidates made up of peasants, workers and professionals. Today some 1500 villages, 184 district, 44 provinces and six towns and cities have held elections in PRG zones. According to a report in the Far Eastern Economic Review, "The PRG leadership was of the people, for the people. They had to be, for they were entirely dependent on the people for vital information, for protection, even for food. The policies they followed in an area once it was liberated reinforced their identification with the common people."

Once an area is liberated, the PRG makes every effort to set up schools and health clinics and develop the agriculture. A delegation from Swede visited the liberated areas in January of this year. They reported, "The delegation saw a well-organized administration functioning with popular support. There are no traces of famine to be seen. Children look healthy and full of vitality, the food distribution system seems efficient. They have established shops and markets and there is a large number of small traders, so that every village, even remote ones, is supplied. Along the road one can see many small traders selling fruits, vegetables, chickens, piglets, etc."

The other important aspects of the liberated areas are the roles of women and the roles of the armed forces. Women in these areas are provided all of the opportunities that men are provided. They work the land; are village chiefs, electrical engineers, mechanics, teachers and serve in the armed forces. The Peoples Liberation Armed Forces, when not engaged in combat, are busy helping with harvesting crops, building homes and schools, administering free medical care and training. They are all volunteers who receive no salary and no medals. Their only reward is ultimate victory.

The chaotic and undemocratic government of Nguyen Van Thieu is surviving only on the aid supplied by the U.S. Government. We demand that the Peace Agreement signed by the U.S. be implemented. Join us in Washington, DC, this coming July 1st-4th to demand an end to all aid to Thieu and full implementation of the Paris Agreement.