est problem is unemployment

_ _ On June 15, Nguyen Van Hieu,
Minister of state of the Provi-
_Sional Revolutionary Govern-
_ ment of South Vietnam, granted
| We first interview with foreign
| Journalists by a minister of the
_ Rew state, since the liberation
_ of Saigon.

_ the excerpts below are from
that interview,
Saigon on June 16 by the Ita-
‘an Communist Party news-
Paper -L’Unita and the French

Ommunist Party newspaper
Humanité,
: e ee

_Q: What is your analysis of
the economic situation?
_ A: The enemy left a heavy
_ burden in this country for exam-
3 le; in March and April 105
Million piasters were withdrawn
from the country’s banks by the
Wealthy so that they could buy
80ld and American currency to
€e. The job ahead of us is an
_ €Normous one. |
Some have asked why it was
that we didn’t re-open the banks
Mmediately after the liberation.
© have to be realistic; they
4 Will be re-opened soon to allow
| ‘00 a recovery of business.
S| py onemployment is aggravated
_ *y the defeat of the enemy be-
Fuse it leaves a million men
| ‘dle from the old puppet army.
| .J€ situation is quite serious;
_ Sut of a population of seven
} Million city dwellers in the
| “Suntry, we estimate about two
_| Million are unemployed.
a € shortages that are evi-
_ “€nt in the Saigon’s slums are
_ Part of the scourge left behind
| 2Y the old regime. This is an-
_ Other Problem we are going to
_ "ve to solve. However I can

‘eee
| Communists in
| On strategies

: The Conference of Latin Ame-

aa and Caribbean Communist
arties was held June 9-13, 1975
te avana — capital of the first
.& fire: territory of America and
| 4 St socialist country in Latin
Al rc: Twenty-four parties in
_ ~~ Were represented.
; ee present as observers
: Hae William Kashtan, general-

ey of the Communist
S y of Canada, and a repre-
_ ““ntative of the CPUSA.
7 Pere Conference demonstrated
ee Powerful unity of Latin
hu et and Caribbean Com-
Ena Sts and their basic agree-

Mt on the description of the
ay national and Latin Ameri-
N situations, as well as their
: tereement on fundamental stra-
why oom the particular tactics
; = serve communists and all
-;volutionaries and: patriots of

| n America and the Caribbean
| pp. elt struggle against the
t Pring;

€ conf: =
Petialisn, erence as Yankee im
; © conference drew up and
ememously approved a state-
tican on the current Latin Ame-
shal.” Caribbean and internatio-
Situation and defined the

Th tives for struggle. ;
| tele ec Statement, which will be
Se ee immediately, ends with
 Dlete to struggle “for the com-
inde National liberation and full
for PoMdence of our homelands,

ia
Fas

conducted in

who participated

Nguyen Van Hieu a 53-year-old native of South Vietnam,
in ‘the revolution of
end of Japanese occupation of Indochina. He worked clan-
destinely for 12 years before rejoining the guerrilla move-
ment in 1958. He participated in the founding of the Na-
tional Liberation Front and was elected general secretary
at its first congress in 1962. After having been the Provi- .
sional Revolutionary Government's ambassador to Phnom
Penh, Nguyen Van Hieu was named a minister of state at
‘the beginning of 1973. He led the delegation to the Paris
Peace Conference. Hieu is also a member of the presidium
of the National Liberation Front.

1945 saw the

Ple enemy — designated .

Above: Surrendered troops from the Thieu army.. Unemployment

is aggravated in South Vietnam by the defeat of the enemy because

it leaves a million such men idle.

tell you that we have enough —

rice reserves to last until the
next harvest, and there will be
enough to meet the needs of the
population.

The letters below were ex-
changed by Canada’s Prime Min-
ister. Trudeau, and Communist
Party Secretary Leonid Brezh-
nev and Premier Alexei Kosygin
of the Soviet Union on the occa-
sion of the 30th anniversary of
the defeat of Hitler.fascism in
Europe. In recalling the alliance
of which both countries were
members, the exchange at the
same time offers hope of greater
cooperation toward the achieve-
ment of political and military

détente. :
To P. Trudeau, from L.'Brezh-

nev and A. Kosygin:

On behalf of the Soviet people
and ourselves personally we are
sending you and the friendly

people of Canada congratula- -

tions on the occasion of the 30th
anniversary of the victory of the
freedom-loving peoples. over
fascist Germany in World War
Two. .

“This event of world-historic
importance is the holiday of the
countries of the anti-Hitler coa-
lition, whose peoples pooled
efforts for the defeat of the com-
mon enemy. The Soviet Union
highly appraises Canada’s parti-
cipation in the anti-Hitler coali-
tion, which made a weighty
contribution to the common
struggle for the freedom and
independence of the countries
subject to fascist aggression.
The possibility of effective co-

operation

Our biggest problem at the
moment is unemployment and
until it is resolved we will be
distributing free rice to those in
need.

The fact that we have inherit-
ed a dependent economy, a neo-
colonial economy, poses great
difficulties for us. Saigon’s fac-
tories are entirely dependent
upon foreign energy and for
80% of their primary materials.

We now have to make our
economy independent. We will
succeed because we have great
resources at our disposal. The
north and the south are now to-
gether and I should say that it
is now possible to plan for the
entire country. The economies
are complementary.

Q: What role will the national
bourgeoisie play in this econo-
my?

A: We are mobilizing all the
country’s forces, including the
national bourgeoisie, for the re-
construction. Those Vietnamese
with capital and means of pro-
duction will be encouraged to
put their factories into opera-
tion.

The Vietnamese market used
to be flooded with; foreign im-
ports. Now we will have to limit
certain imports to protect our
national production.

Q: How do you foresee co-
cperation with foreign nations,
especially the capitalist coun-
tries?

A: We. see our foreign rela-
tions based on mutual interest
and mutual independence. But
we have to define the forms of
that co-operation, with respect
to the exploitation of our coun-

‘try’s riches. We are in the pro-

cess of concentrating all of this
‘and seeing with whom we can
cooperate. We have been made
many offers and we haven’t im-
mediately rejected any. We are
still open.

Anniversary

countries
systems

‘between
with different social
was proved in practice.
Considerable progress has
been made recently in the relax-

ation of international tensions. |

The good relations and growing
cooperation between our coun-
tries ate a positive factor in in-
ternational affairs and they con-
stitute an important contribu-
tion to the consolidation of

"peace and security in the inter-.

ests of all countries and peoples.

We express the firm confi-
dence that the Soviet Union and
Canada will, in the forthcoming
years, join efforts for the consol-
idation of positive shifts in the
international situation, making
détente irreversible, and the
further strengthening of interna-
tional peace and security.

To L. Brezhnev, from P. Tru-
deau: © ;

I was very heartened by the
warm message of May 8 which
you and Chairman Kosygin ad-
dressed to me and to the people
of Canada on the ¢ccasion of the
30th anniversary of the victory
of Allied Powers in Europe.
Your greetings are the more
highly appreciated because the
Canadian people still remember
the contribution made to the ul-
timate victory by the suffering
and hardship of the Soviet peo-
ple. The friendship we see today
between our two peoples stems
in no small part from our co-
operation as comrades-in-arms

in the great struggle. I would
ask you to convey to the Soviet
people our own very warm and
friendly greetings.

It was especially encouraging
to me to see from your message
the importance you attach to
looking to the future. I agree

that we have made considerable |

progress in lessening internatio-
nal tensions and I share your
conviction that. our two coun-

tries, together, can continue to

play an important role in
strengthening positive trends in
this direction. I can assure you
that the energies of the Cana-
dian people will continue to be
devoted to searching, together
with all nations, regardless of
their political and social sys-
tems, for the paths to enlarging
cooperation and _ strengthening
peace and security.

" New Saigon gov't tackles dependent, neo-colonial economy |

But we will have to choose
partners who will offer us the
best conditions within our na-
tional interests, while’ taking
into account their own interests.

It only makes sense to utilize -

the ‘capital and technical re-
sources of certain countries but
it must be on a new basis and
not that which was accepted by
the puppet Thieu regime.

Q: How and when do you

think you will be able to bring —

to‘an end the refugee problem?

A: Our policy is to encourage
the return of the refugees. This
policy arises out of the hopes to
develop agriculture which prior

_ to liberation was _ prosperous.

You must remember that the
land lying fallow in the Mekong
delta alone occupies a half a
million -hectares which have to
be recultivated. The rice paddies
right now can provide work for
a million people. And there will
be more jobs when the rest of
the land is put to use. I believe
that in a few months the farm-
ers will be reinstalled on their
land. We are undertaking an
education campaign geared to
certain numbers of our country-
men who have been accustomed
to city life. It does not consist
of our taking administrative ac-
tion but of pursuading them to
go into the countryside.

Q: There is much talk in Sai-
gon about the reunification of
Vietnam and we have observed
that a great majority of the
South Vietnamese people seem

-to be hoping for this. What do

you think of this?

A: The country’s reunification
is a fundamental aspiration of
the Vietnamese people. It has

only been the imperialists and
the colonialists who have sought

to divide the nation. We must
not forget that without the
American intervention Vietnam

would have been reunited in — :

1956.

Following the liberation of
South Vietnam there are no ob-
stacles to the country’s reunific-

ation which I might add, would _

constitute a normal develop-
ment of our history. As I said
befcre, the economies of the
north and the south are compli-
mentary and it is in the inter-

- ests of the Vietnamese people to —
have a unified economy. Now it

is possible.

Despite the fact that there is
no formal political unification as
yet, on other programs we have

begun a process of reunification

which is both logical and nor-
mal.

This is the problem: we want _
the reunification to occur as ©

rapidly as possible. Of course

we must take into account cer-

tain characteristic realities of
the different zones of Vietnam.
But we are striving in such a

way that we can over-come

these differences for the reuni-
fication of the country.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JULY 4, 1975—Page 5 se

i