Top 15 Kaysone Phomvihane Quotes

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

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.

The creation in Laos of highly productive so­cialist economy, based on socialist production relations and large-scale industry, entails the for­mation of a large-scale national economy equip­ped with the latest technology, with a well-de­veloped and rationally organised division of soci­al labour, and with a high level of productivity able to promote the continuing expansion of production.

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.

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.

Despite many problems to be resolved, we continue to progress confidently in developing and defending our beloved country, for the path to socialism is already open before us.

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

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

Our struggle, itself an integral part of the world revolutionary process and taking place at an important time in the history of Southeast Asia, the scene of violent revolutionary upheav­als and conflict between the forces of revolution and the forces of reaction, is a struggle being waged not only on behalf of the people of Laos, but also on behalf of the revolutionary move­ment in the region and throughout the world. Each victory won by our revolution encouraged the popular struggle both in Indochina and throughout the world, contributing to the further consolidation of the socialist system.

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.

Therefore, now that we have won power, our duty is to consolidate the dictatorship of the pro­letariat with all the available forces, to perfect the instruments of revolutionary violence, to improve vigilance, and to always be prepared to rebuff enemy attempts to sow trouble and start a coun­ter-offensive. Only in this way can we ensure the further peaceful development of the revolution.

Although we took power by means of revo­lutionary violence, at the same time preserv­es peace in the country, this in no way sig­nifies that we shall not resort to force in the future to defend peace. The reactionary classes suffered a serious de­feat, but this does not mean that they simply agreed to retreat and forever abandoned their intentions to fight the revolution, arms in hand.

In our time, a time marking the transition from capitalism to socialism, a time in which a powerful offensive is being launched by the three revolutionary streams of today, the world is constantly witnessing changes of truly histo­rical significance, which highly favour the devel­opment of revolutionary movements in different countries. But could we take advantage of the favourable situation to raise the revolution in our country to a new height? This depended pri­marily on the efforts of our people, and also on the resoluteness and ability of the Party to act speedily and effectively in such situations.

By virtue of the class nature of the struggle during the coalition, the enemy, even though occasionally compelled to take progressive measures in the interests of the popular masses and to give some important posts in the govern­ment bodies to the revolutionary forces, none­theless always left himself the right to actual control over government activities and retained a coercive apparatus so as to overtly and covertly hamper coordinated progressive reforms being put into practice.

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.