Fidel’s visit to Vietnam
Fidel’s visit to Vietnam
Cuba recalls the historic moment, fifty years ago
Cuban news this week has featured commentaries on Fidel’s historic visit to Vietnam in September 1973, four years after the death of Ho Chi Minh and two years before the final triumph of the Vietnamese Revolution for sovereignty and national reunification. The visit included a secret visit to territory under the control of the National Liberation Front and the Provisional Government of South Vietnam, making Fidel the first foreign head of state to visit said territory.
Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castro led people’s revolutions on the basis of a synthesis of Marxism-Leninism and anti-colonial Third World nationalism. As Fidel declared in an address in Vietnam on September 12, 1973:
¨President Ho Chi Minh, understanding the extraordinary historic importance and the consequences of the glorious October Revolution, and assimilating the brilliant thought of Lenin, saw with complete clarity that in Marxism-Leninism there was the teaching and the road that ought to be followed in order to find the solution to the problem of the peoples oppressed by colonialism.
“Comrade Ho Chi Minh, in a brilliant manner, combined the struggle for national independence with the struggle for the rights of the masses oppressed by the exploiters and the feudalists. He saw that the road was the combination of the patriotic sentiments of the peoples with the need for liberation from social exploitation.
“National liberation and social liberation were the two pillars on which his doctrine was built. But he saw, in addition, that the countries that had fallen behind due to colonialism were able to leap forward in history and construct their economy through socialist paths, sparing themselves from the sacrifices and the horrors of capitalism. . . .
“Comrade Ho Chi Minh knew how to adapt brilliantly the eternal principles of Marxism-Leninism to the concrete conditions of Vietnam. History has shown that he was right, because in no other manner would a people have been able to write a page as heroic and glorious as that written by the people of Vietnam, overthrowing first French colonialism and then Yankee imperialism.”
Vietnam and Cuba have in common a long struggle against colonialism and imperialism, for which their peoples have paid a high price. They have during their struggles continuously offered support and solidarity to one another. For this reason, there are special feelings of affection between the peoples of Vietnam and Cuba.
Please see previous commentaries on Vietnam.
“The advance of socialism in Vietnam: The Doi Moi policy renovates socialist construction,” July 5, 2022
“The universal meaning of Vietnam: A heroic struggle for independence and socialism,” July 08, 2022
“Imperialist wars in Vietnam: Western imperialism makes evident its decadence,” July 12, 2022
“Ho Chi Minh: A theoretical synthesis forged in revolutionary practice,” July 15, 2022
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Thanks, Charles, For this reminder. Imperialism was set back. A road to peoples power was opened. But the long struggle continues. All power to the people, still.