Kaysone Phomvihane Quotes

The victory of the revolution in Laos and the victories of the fraternal peoples of Vietnam and Kampuchea make up one common victory of truly historic and epoch-making significance. This great victory signifies the failure of the bit­terest counter-offensive of the chief imperialist power against the world revolutionary move­ment since the Second World War, a reduction of the imperialist and expansion of the socialist sphere, a breaching of the positions of American imperialism in an important part of Southeast Asia, and the breakdown of its global counter­revolutionary strategy.

Political and ideological unity must be rein­forced by organisational unity. Without it, polit­ical and ideological unity loses any practical meaning and cannot survive.

One can make concessions to the enemy in relation, for instance, to the number of people in the government, as well as to the specific posts, qualifications and certain organisational forms accepted both by the enemy and our­selves.

The alliance of the working class and the peasantry is one of the fundamental principles of Marxism-Leninism, one of the essential condi­tions of any revolution carried out under the leadership of the working class. The peasantry, comprising the overwhelming majority of the people of Laos, is the direct producer of mate­rial wealth for society. At the same time, it endures tremendous oppression, and thus constitutes an enormous force with a developed revolutionary character and great potential.

Comradely relations based on the common ideals and aims of the difficult struggle we all share are our most sacred posses­sion as Communists.

Strengthening the unity of all the nationalities and ethnic groups is a task of great strategic im­portance that is decisive for the fate of the revo­lution in our country. We must, therefore, pay more attention to the national question, regard work with different nationalities and ethnic groups as being of crucial importance and take the national question into account in every sphere of activity. Effective steps must be taken to raise the level of political and ideological work among the various nationalities and ethnic groups and to improve education, cultural facili­ties, medical services, develop production and raise the living standards for the different na­tional groups.

From the day the. revolutionary flag first began to flutter in the Vientiane sky as a symbol of our people's right to independence, to the day when it became the flag of the People's Democratic Republic of Laos, we traversed a difficult path full of ordeals and self-sacrifice. How many selfless heroes laid down their lives for their country, and how much effort and energy was expended, and blood spilt, by the patriots of Laos for the sake of our glorious victory!

The work of the people of Laos in defending their country and building socialism will triumph!

Our fighters, cadres and Party members used the method of "armed propaganda": while hitting the enemy, they carried on propaganda work, forming a mass base and expanding the revolutionary forces in every possible way. As a result, support bases were set up in many parts of the country, where we established revolutionary power and formed popular armed forces together with mass organisations. Gradually, stage by stage, suitable methods were applied to do away with feudal and prefeudal forms of exploitation, and an improvement came about in the material and cultural life of the peasant masses; the unity of all the nationalities grew stronger and stronger.

Our Party and people are, therefore, faced with extremely urgent and complex problems. The former modes of production must be trans­formed and new economic relations and division of labour introduced. The material-technical base necessary for economic reconstruction must be laid and the cultural level of the people raised so that our country can advance firmly and rapidly along the road to socialism.

Our ancestors had to withstand the aggression of 45 feudal states at more or less the same level of socio-economic development as our own. But our latter-day enemies were great imperialist powers with a colossal military and economic potential, a century ahead of us in technology and arma­ments and with a great deal of experience in conducting wars of aggression. The people of Laos, the makers of their history, have never before achieved a victory so splendid, so com­plete and final as that of today. This victory did not just restore the independence of Laos, an independence that had been flouted for more than two hundred years. It also made our multinational people the genuine master of their country after long years of living in slavery, poverty, backwardness and ignorance. They are masters of a country that is now fully independ­ent, free, and on the road to socialism. In our deeply loved motherland, this victory made the cherished hopes and aspirations of the Lao people come true.

In each historical period, the class which represents the most advanced mode of produc­tion also represents the nation and has the potential to become its standard-bearer. In Europe, for example, the bourgeoisie at one time represented the most advanced mode of production, and therefore carried the banner of national democracy. It headed the bourgeois revolution and, having overthrown the decayed feudal system, set up the capitalist system based on the principles of bourgeois nationalism and democracy. But after capitalism grew into imperialism, the bourgeoisie began to hinder the development of their nations and took to enslaving other peoples, fully losing their leading historical role.

In a semi-feudal country suffering from colonial oppression, such as Laos, with an insufficiently clear-cut differentiation into classes and with an as yet poorly developed capitalist class and working class, the intermediary forces play a very important role in all spheres of activity, especially the social and the cultural. The position and interests of these strata were encroached upon by the American imperialists and their stooges. Therefore, they developed patriotic and progressive tendencies and in certain conditions demonstrated their ability to accept the line set by our Party in the national democratic revolution.

In Laos, the development of this militant alli­ance has gone hand in hand with the entire revo­lutionary struggle and the growth of our revolu­tionary forces. It caused a radical shift in the ba­lance of power between the opposing forces in our country, creating the conditions necessary for the success of our revolution and its final vic­tory.

Inspired by the successes of socialism and faced with the deep and insoluble crisis of capi­talism, millions of workers in capitalist countries are waging a vigorous struggle under the slogan, Peace, Democracy and Social Progress, directing the spearhead of their attack at the reactionary rule of monopoly capital and against the op­pressive and aggressive policies of their leaders.