| SV ALEXANDER GUBER

MOSCOW

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1963 these enterprises produced 100 percent of the country’s tin, more than 50 percent of all the apatite and superphosphates, about 90 percent of its coal, metal cutting machines, 100 per- cent of its tinned fish and high quality tea and a_ substantial part of its medicine.

Under the treaty on trade and navigation, signed on March 12, 1958, the USSR and the DRV guaranteed one another most favored nation treatment. Over 80 percent of Soviet exports to the DRV consists of equipment, machines and spare parts, met- als and oil produce. In the de- cade 1955 to 1964 annual goods

Reported ‘deal’ complicates things for U.S.

From an article in U.S. News and World Report:

A Russia-Red China “deal” on war in Vietnam, now con- firmed, complicates the U.S. problem, reduces any chances of negotiation and seems sure to force President John- son to review war policy.

The agreement of the Rus- sians with the Chinese as- sures free and complete pas- sage of Soviet military equip- ment across China to North Vietnam. This passage is as- sumed by rail or by air.

To keep members of the Red Guard or other groups from interfering with the movement of Russian war supplies, the North Vietnam- ese will take “physical con- trol” of such supplies at the Russian-China border. There- after, transit will be a matter of China’s cooperation with the Vietnamese — their allies — eliminating friction that had developed between Pex- ing and Moscow.

and to peace. Each step toward a just settlement of the conflict may influence all other factors in the international situation. It may make for the development of new relations of peaceful co- Operation among nations, further the progress of the working- class and liberation movements and even influence the situation in China and, China’s attitude.

Conversely, if no headway is made along these lines every aspect of the international situa- tion will become aggravated. In short, Vietnam is something more than the battlefield of a vast national-liberation fight. It is also the main pivot and turn- ing point of the international Situation.

This jmplies that the only cor- rect strategy for us in this

turnover between the two coun- tries increased from 3.3 million to 73.8 million rubles. It is quite characteristic that out of the sum of 320 million rubles, grant- ed by the USSR to the DRV as financial-economic aid up until 1965, aid free of charge amount- ed to 94.5 million rubles.

Workers in hundreds of Soviet industrial enterprises give pref-

erence to the orders placed by .

the DRV. They try to carry out such orders with top speed and efficiency. Mine winches from the Donbas, medical equipment from Zhdanov (Ukraine), elec- tric motors from Novosibirsk (Siberia), rolled stock from Mag- nitogorsk (Urals), and _ press- forge equipment from Chimkent (Kazakhstan) flow in an endless stream to Vietnam.

The Soviet trade unions have sent to that country free con- signments of medicine, medical equipment, foodstuffs, fabrics, and ambulances to a total sum of about 1.5 million rubles. As many as 30 million young peo- ple took part in the All-Union Young Communist League “Sun- day Outing of Solidarity with Vietnam” last October. In Len- ingrad alone 240,000 young men and women participated in the outing. The money earned dur- ing the outing was handed over to the Vietnam aid fund. Soviet consumers’ cooperative organ- izations, with their 53 million members, last year sent 1.8 mil- lion rubles worth of consumer goods free of charge to Vietnam. Extensive aid to Vietnam is also being rendered by numerous other Soviet public groups.

Soviet cultural workers like- wise contribute to the cause of helping Vietnam. The Moscow Art Theatre had a showing of Maeterlinck’s play “The Blue Bird,” and all the money from the tickets sold (1,300 rubles) was sent by the actors to the Vietnam aid fund. The Molodaya Guardia publishers put out a book of articles entitled “Thank

struggle should be one inspired by the great principles of peace- ful coexistence, that is, what we have always maintained — a struggle to establish internatio- nal relations ruling out the pros- pect of atomic conflict, foil every attempt at resorting to the pol- icy of aggression, and create the atmosphere of peace and de- tente that is particularly favor- able, as the experience of the past two decades has shown, to the advance of the liberation movements and to democratic progress,

Efforts today should be de- voted above all also to isolating the extremist imperialist groups of America still further. Import- ant steps in this direction can and must be made throughout the capitalist world to set new

You, People’ prepared by the well known writers Sergei Mik- halkov and Konstantin Simo- nov. All the royalties (2,000 rubles) from the book were handed over by the authors to Vietnam aid.

Mikhail Novoseltsev, a work- er at the Arkhangels timber pro- cessing combine, contributes 50 rubles a month to the fund. “I shall keep on giving this amount until the day of victory of the Vietnamese people over the ag- gressors,” he writes. Numerous other Soviet citizens also give regularly from their earnings.

Being trained ‘in the Soviet Union are 2,300 Vietnamese students and postgraduates, all of whom are maintained com- pletely by the Soviet state. In ‘addition the USSR has offered to enroll in its vocational train- ing schools in the next few years up to 6,000 Vietnamese.

The strengthening of friend- ship and solidarity with Viet- nam is promoted in many ways by Soviet literature and art.

‘During the year 1966 10 books

large segments of public opinion in motion.

We reject the theses contra- dicting this strategic objective. One of them calls for “counter- escalation”, and we consider it absurd. It is absurd because it reveals the tendency to see only the military aspects of imperial- ism and its material strength, forgetting that imperialism is also a political system, a system of alliances and hegemonies hav- ing a foothold among the masses. Anyone who forgets or under- estimates these elements is vir- tually renouncing the struggle, which is difficult, of course, but indispensable for defeating the policy of imperialism, and in the final analysis is laying the whole burden of the struggle on the socialist countries.

May 12,

How the Soviet people are helping Vietnam

by Vietnamese writers were published in the Soviet Union. Molodaya Guardia, the biggest Soviet publishing house, has put out the book “Nguyen Van Troil As He Was” in an edition of one million copies. The book is about an outstanding guerrilla fighter.

Millions of Soviet people and. visitors to the USSR have seen the Soviet films “Mekong in Flames,” “You Have Faithful Friends With You, Vietnam,” and “The Country of the Thun- dering Skies.” The Soviet play- wright Ivan Kuprianov has writ- ‘ten a play about the struggle of the patriots of Vietnam entitled “Two Steps from the Equator.”

Many Soviet authors are writ- ing books and articles about the. heroic resistance of the Viet - namese people to U.S. aggre-s- sion.

ALEXANDER GUBER is a journalist on the staff of the Novosti Press Agency. He has made five trips to Vietnam and other countries of Soyttlheast Asia.

. e f= Coexistence and ‘counter-escalation

This means also declining the principal request the Vietnamese comrades are addressing to their friends all over the world, ask- ing them to press forward the political movement aimed at in- creasingly isolating the extrem- ist groups of U.S. imperialism and at stripping them of the sup- port they are getting from gov- ernments and various political and social forces.

In practice, all application of the theory of ‘counter-escala- tion” is sheer folly because its ends result could be nothing but an atomic world war.

—From a report by Ernesto Berlinguer, one of the leaders of the Italian Communist Party, to a recent meeting of his party’s central committee.

1967—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 3