GRANMA
June 1, 2007 Five questions about Vietnam ARNALDO MUSA 1.-What is the country like? With a surface of 229 556 square kilometers and a population of 80 million, Vietnam has rainforests and plenty of rivers and reservoirs. Agriculture stands as the main occupation for the country’s 60 nationalities, the largest being the Viet or Kinh (87%) who live mostly in the plains and along the coast. Vietnam is rich in mineral resources like anthracite, lignite, coal, iron ore, manganese, bauxite and titanium in the north, and abundant oil in the south. 2.-What are its most relevant historical events? “Also taking part in the fight were, and will be again, as bravely as the bravest, the poor Annamese, those who live off fish and rice and wear silk garments, in faraway Asia, along the coastline below China”. Thus was José Martí’s description of these courageous people in his chronicle Un paseo por la tierra de los anamitas (A stroll in the land of the Annamese).Their history dates back to over 4000 years ago and records several victorious wars against foreign invasions, like that of Gengis Khan’s Army, the Japanese militarists and the French colonizers, in addition to the United States, the greatest imperialist power in history, under president Ho Chi Minh’s guidance. During the 15-year-long U.S. aggression, more tons of bombs were dropped on Vietnam than in the whole Second World War, and the Pentagon put terrible chemical and bacteriological weapons to the test in an attempt to “take Vietnam back to the Stone Age", as general Curtis Lemay roared in May, 1964. The United States spent 150 billion dollars in Vietnam, destroyed 70% of the towns in the North and rendered 10 million hectares of land useless. Four million Vietnamese had to die before Saigon was finally liberated by the revolutionaries on April 30, 1975 and the country unified the following year, on July 2, 1976, on the principle that the Party rules, the State administers, and the people are the owners. It was the birth of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. 3.-What results have been achieved in the struggle for development? Vietnam was awarded by the United Nations for being the first country to reach the target of the Millennium ten years in advance, as it reduced poverty from 60% in 1990 to 19% in 2005. A public health network provides free medical care to 88% of the poor; elementary schools have sprung up throughout the country, and 32 of the 64 provinces boast universal secondary education until ninth grade. An impossible problem to solve without the abovementioned renovation policy to construct a characteristic socialist system which last year assured an economic growth of 8,17% (7,7% in the first quarter of 2007). Vietnam’s foreign currency reserves increased to 12 billion dollars in 2006, around 4 billion more than the previous year. 4.-What were the major tasks put forward by the 10th Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam? Held last year, the 10th Party Congress of the Party established guidelines to be followed by this Indochinese nation to undertake a construction and transition process intended to overcome underdevelopment and turn it into a basically industrialized country by 2020. According to the report to the Congress, Vietnam’s economic growth has been inconsistent with its potential capacity; quality, efficiency and competitiveness are still insufficient, and the adjustment of the country’s economic structure shows a sluggish rate of growth. Efforts to renew socio-cultural policies are behind schedule, and there are pressing social issues yet to be dealt with. However, having set its sights on socialism, Vietnam has been making strides toward development and working to improve people’s living standards, achieving obviously good results in this process. 5.-How can relations between Vietnam and Cuba be described? Vietnam is willing to develop friendship with all countries of the world, as it plays an active role in the struggle for peace, national sovereignty and development, everything in line with the tradition of friendship and fraternity with Cuba. Today both countries adopt the most suitable ways to foster economic, scientific, commercial, technological and cultural cooperation. As they have demonstrated with their solidarity, the Vietnamese cherish in their hearts the way Cuba offered support in the times of war against the Yankees for national salvation. Vietnam and Cuba established diplomatic relations 42 years ago, but these fraternal ties with the dear Asian people, as José Martí expressed, have grown stronger in the course of time and transcended in the thoughts and actions of Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castro. These links are based upon solid, crystal-clear principles, and stand as an example of how strong bonds between two nations can be. A sign of the current status of such bilateral links is the visit that CPV Secretary-General Nong Duc Manh will pay to Cuba as of today. In recent statements to [Cuban press agency] PL, he said that Vietnam will strive to develop and reinforce those relations even more in every field. This is Manh’s second visit to Cuba in his capacity as Secretary-General General of the Party. He first came to this Caribbean island in February, 2004, a trip that, as he remembers, left very profound traces and impressions in his heart. “I am fully confident,” he assured, “that through the will and effort of both Parties and peoples, relations between Vietnam and Cuba will become both stronger and deeper.” ---ooOoo---
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