Laos Regime’s Failures Blasted: Vietnam’s Communist Puppet Regime Denounced
A month-long series of national events were concluded today by a coalition of Laotian and Hmong organizations in Washington, D.C., regarding communist Vietnam’s ongoing illegal occupation and exploitation of Laos--as well as Vietnam’s continued violation of Laotian national sovereignty, dignity and human rights. The national activities also sought to highlight and condemn 30 brutal years of exploitation, occupation and impoverishment of Laos by corrupt military and security forces of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), a situation with similarities to the Syrian regime’s invasion and occupation of Lebanon.
Washington, D.C./California Thursday, December 22, 2005
Contact:
Tele. ( 202 ) 543-1444, Paul Christopher
Center for Public Policy Analysis 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 318 Washington, D.C. 20006
or
Oudom Southivongnorat, United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. Tele.( 571 ) 224-6735
Zong Vue, Lao Veterans of America, Inc. Tele. ( 559 ) 252-3561 _________________________________
A month-long series of national events were concluded today by a coalition of Laotian and Hmong organizations in Washington, D.C., regarding communist Vietnam’s ongoing illegal occupation and exploitation of Laos--as well as Vietnam’s continued violation of Laotian national sovereignty, dignity and human rights. The national activities also sought to highlight and condemn 30 brutal years of exploitation, occupation and impoverishment of Laos by corrupt military and security forces of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ( SRV ), a situation with similarities to the Syrian regime’s invasion and occupation of Lebanon.
A U.S. Congressional letter spearheaded by U.S. Congressman Mark Green ( R-WI ), and other Members of Congress, to the Bush Administration on the persecution and killing of the Hmong and Laotian people, especially in Saysamboune Special Zone was discussed and lauded especially in the context of Vietnam’s recent troop and security force deployments.
Commencing on December 3, a broad based, mass demonstration was staged at the front entrance of the communist Lao Peoples Democractic Republic ( LPDR ) embassy in Washington, D.C., by hundreds of Laotians and a coalition of Lao and Hmong human rights and pro-democracy organizations. Cosponsors and participants included: the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc.; the Lao Veterans of America, Inc.; Laos National Federation; the Laos Institute for Democracy; the Lao National Council for Democracy; the Lao Huam Phao Association; Lao Students for Democracy; the Lao Nationalist Reform Party; the Lao Association of Washington, D.C.; Royal Lao Airborne Association; leaders of the Vietnam Democracy and Freedom Movement; the Center for Public Policy Analysis and others.
“We are here today, in the name of the sacred Lao nation and its voiceless and persecuted people, demonstrating against 30 years of communist dictatorship in Laos; It is deplorable that Vietnam’s communist regime has desecrated, violated and ruined our beloved nation, now one of the poorest countries on earth; We want communist Vietnam out of Laos as well as the removal of the puppet Pathet Lao regime which has exploited and impoverished the people of Laos with their Stalinist policies and corruption,” stated Bounthanh Rathigna, President of the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc.
The events also sought to memorialize the tens of thousands of innocent Lao and Hmong people, including religious and political dissidents, who have been brutally persecuted, starved and murdered by the Lao regime in recent years. Vietnam pro-democracy and human rights organizations—including dissident and opposition leaders—also participated urging the pull-out of Vietnamese troops, paramilitary and secret police units from Laos.
“We are here to remind the world that for thirty years the innocent blood of the Laotian and Hmong people has dripped from the cruel and evil fingers of the communist, Vietnam-backed, Pathet Lao puppet regime,” stated Colonel Wangyee Vang, National President of the Lao Veterans of America, Inc. “The Pathet Lao military regime’s failed political and economic system have caused the disasterous impoverishment of the Lao and Hmong people, systemic corruption, national bankruptcy and an unhealthy national addiction to billions in foreign aid, while thousands of Lao and Hmong civilians and dissidents continue to be starved to death and massacred by the regime’s military and security forces; We want Vietnam’s troops and secret police out of Laos and we want the provisions of H.Res. 402 implemented as enacted by the U.S. Congress, which includes the deployment of human rights monitors as well as internationally monitored free and fair elections,” Wangyee Vang continued.
Protestors denounced U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum’s ( D-MN ) betrayal and efforts to appease and support the Pathet Lao regime with U.S. taxpayers dollars—as well as her ill-timed legislation seeking to grant Normalized Trade Relations ( NTR ) status to the despotic regime as it massacres and starves unarmed Hmong and Laotian civilians and its security forces gang rape and brutalized underage Hmong children ( as documented by Amnesty International and other independent human rights organizations and independent news media sources ).
“We remember the suffering and killing of our Laotian people today, for 30 long years, and the violation and economic exploitation of our Lao territory by Vietnam’s brutal military and secret police,” stated Oudom Southivongnorat, of the United League for Democracy in Laos.
Delegations from across the United States attended including participants and speakers from Minnesota, California, New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Rhode Island and many other states.
Following the demonstration at the Lao Embassy a policy conference and reception was organized in the Washington metropolitan area which included keynote remarks by guest speaker Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis ( CPPA ). Laotian ethnic food was served followed by traditional music and dance. National policymakers and members of the international community where reminded and educated about the economic, political and moral failure of the aging Pathet Lao regime which is a staunch supporter of the regime’s in North Korea, Cuba and Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.
“The Pathet Lao regime’s staunch, high-level support for North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and the hardline regime in Pyongyang as well as other repressive regimes worldwide suggest that the Pathet Lao regime is out of touch with reality, and will remain poor and repressed, until it becomes a transparent and open society,” stated Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy in Washington, D.C. Smith compared Vietnam’s role in Laos to the Syrian role in Lebanon--with the ongoing exploitation and manipulation of Lebanese politics, its economy and society by Syrian secret police. “Laos is, in some ways, the Lebanon of the Far East in terms of the role of neigboring state, in this case Vietnam, in invading, manipulating and exploiting its smaller neigbor; the moral and legal imperative set forth in the text of H.Res. 402, recently passed by the U.S. Congress, sets forth a clear and reasonable roadmap for positive change in Laos that the Pathet Lao regime and the old generals in Hanoi should pay close attention to, especially as new and more abundant evidence of the atrocities and violations they are committing comes to light in the international community,” concluded Smith.
Meetings with Members of the U.S. Congress, Congressional staff and U.S. policymakers concluded this week.
###
Contact( s ):
Center for Public Policy Analysis 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 318 Washington, D.C. 20006
Tele. ( 202 ) 543-1444, Paul Christopher
or
Oudom Southivongnorat, or Mr. Bounthanh Rathigna United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. Tele.( 571 ) 224-6735
Mr. Zong Vue or Col. Wangyee Vang, Lao Veterans of America, Inc. Tele. ( 559 ) 252-3561
If you have questions regarding information in this press release contact the company listed below. I-Newswire.com is a press release service and not the author of this press release. The information that is on or available through this site is for informational purposes only and speaks only as of the particular date or dates of that information. As some companies / PR Agencies submit their press releases once per week/month or quarter, make sure check the official company website for accurate release dates as our site displays the I-Newswire.com distribution date only. We do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of information on or available through this site, and we are not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in that information or for actions taken in reliance on that information.
