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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Laos
Index
The Unknown Soldiers Memorial, in Vientiane, was built after the
revolution to commemorate the Pathet Lao who died during the Second
Indochina War.
Courtesy Gina Merris
Souvanna Phouma reaffirmed his position that his was
the legal
government of Laos. In an interview, he spoke bitterly
about his
nemesis, Parsons, and said that "the Savannakhét group"
was
committed to the policy of military confrontation that had
failed
in the past. He believed Laos should conserve its ancient
traditions and monarchy and urged a political settlement
along the
lines negotiated in 1957.
Phoumi's failure to advance on the Plain of Jars made a
deep
impression on the new administration of United States
president
John F. Kennedy. If Phoumi had his difficulties with Kong
Le's
outnumbered battalion, he was no match for the North
Vietnamese.
The North Vietnamese-Pathet Lao counteroffensive that
opened in
January drove Phoumi's poorly motivated troops and their
United
States military advisers back--a retreat that irrevocably
changed
the balance of forces in Laos.
The United States embassy in Vientiane had accurate
intelligence of the numbers and movements of North
Vietnamese
military units in Laos, as opposed to the alarming reports
emanating from Phoumi's headquarters. Central Laos and the
entire
length of the road from the Sala Phou Khoun junction south
to
Vangviang was in North Vietnamese-Pathet Lao hands by
mid-March.
Contact between emissaries of the two sides was finally
made by
officers under a truce flag at the village of Ban Hin Heup
on the
Vientiane-Louangphrabang road. Tripartite truce talks
opened in the
nearby village of Ban Namone, with the ICC, reconvened by
the
cochairmen of the Geneva Conference, Britain, and the
Soviet Union,
present. The three negotiators were Nouhak, Pheng
Phongsavan, and
General Sing Ratanassamay. A cease-fire declared on May 3
did not
prevent the Pathet Lao from capturing Xépôn, an important
crossroads on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, or put an end to the
fighting
in the Hmong country. As part of the plan to find a
settlement, an
enlarged Geneva Conference convened on May 16.
Data as of July 1994
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