VIETNAM, NEWS ANALYSIS, OCTOBER 14, 2000.

Duong Thu Huong, the well known woman writer and dauntless dissident in today’s Vietnam, once again voices her opposition against the Communist rulers in Hanoi in an interview with "Kicon.com" media network in southern California serving the overseas Vietnamese community.

Ms. Thu Huong was heartily serving the North Vietnamese Communist forces during the Vietnam War. But she has become an anti-Communist activist since she arrived in Saigon right after the fall of South Vietnam on April 30, 1975. She confessed in an interview lately that only when she saw the capital of South Vietnam and quickly apprehended the very truth of life in the South and of the war, did she realize what the Communist regime really was, and so she turned against the Hanoi tyranny.

In the telephone interview last week, Thu Huong accused the Vietnam Communist Party (VCP) leaders of only calling on the poor to contribute to the relief of flood victims but doing nothing to have the corrupt leaders to contribute something from their ill-gotten fortunes.

To the question of how people in North Vietnam were doing to help flood victims, Thu Huong said that in the last few years, there have been many flood disasters in Vietnam as well as in other countries. The poor have had to suffer more hardships caused by the floods.

Like in other floods in the past, this time all Hanoi City's wards are collecting contributed money for the relief. Her neighborhood is a housing project where low income dwellers are living. They are common government cadres and lowest rank workers, earning from VN$ 200,000 to 300,000 (about US$ 15 to 20) a month. But they are eager to donate.

"Meanwhile," she said, "why the leaders who have been stealing several hundred millions of dollars of the people haven’t 'coughed some of their riches up' to help the victims as Mr. Do Muoi once donated to the disabled children?" (cough up: giving back some of what was taken).

"Many people asked me why do they keep soliciting such poor people for donation while actually in this country there are many people with 'pink pants' (the rich), or people of the red bourgeoisie (who should have contributed)? I still remember that a few years ago, there were many successive demonstrations of retired party cadres to demanded the party to explain the source of former party General Secretary Do Muoi's one million dollars that he had 'coughed up' and donated to the disabled children."

According to Thu Huong, the veteran party cadres were very angry and made several public protests. They argued that the salaries of Mr. Do Muoi and other Communist leaders in their whole life put together cannot amount to one million dollar. Their question was that where did he steal that money.

Thu Huong also claims that even if Do Muoi has stolen ten or twenty million dollars, the money is still much, much smaller than that of his comrades such as Vo Van Kiet, Phan Van Khai, not excluding Le Duc Tho and his brothers.

The outspoken woman writer added, "Everyone knows that all those leaders' names are in the list of 26 Vietnamese Mafiosi who have accounts in major banks in the world. The farmers may not have known the list. But people in Hanoi have spread the rumor and compiled the list from A to Z."

"Rumors do not seem 100 percent accurate. But lately, I've been certain that all the veteran revolutionaries are agitated by the news saying that the VCP central committee demands Vo Van Kiet and Le Duc Anh to write their self-criticisms concerning corruption."

"Rumors are running that Vo Van Kiet has gotten 500 million dollars and Le Duc Anh 120 to 250 million dollars. Both Kiet and Anh argue that they wouldn't go on self-criticizing, because if they do so anymore, they will drop dead from apoplexy," Thu Huong said.

"Such political jokes are pervading all coffee shops and tea houses. Normally, jokes like that could have made people laugh." But she said, "At this time, nearly half of the country is suffering from inundation not only in the Mekong delta but also in Central Vietnam and in the northwest areas, and a great number of beggars are pouring into Hanoi. The joke of Kiet's and Anh's possible death from apoplexy makes people swear at them, not laugh."

Thu Huong has only one question, that is "Why the Communist leaders are so neglectful. They think the people don't know anything about their behavior and why they keep squeezing money out of the hungry paupers."

She commented that it is a human rights issue. People all know such stealing but none talks about them. The party owns all newspapers, radio and TV stations. "So the one-party regime benefits its rulers. Though people are nursing choking grievances, they have to keep silent. The state-run media keeps harping shamelessly on the same string all day long."

Thu Huong concludes, "The fortress of a mono-party system prevents people from expressing their grievances, while the brazen-faced leaders' hearts cannot be touched by extreme misery of the people."

This is one of the strongest attacks that Ms. Duong Thu Huong has ever directed at the Communist leaders. Although the VCP Politburo has launched an anti-corruption campaign, it still keeps silent about the corruptive practices of Do Muoi, Vo Van Kiet, Le Duc Anh, Pham The Duyet and Phan Van Khai, as denounced by many faithful veteran party members.

***