Word: laotians
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With Phoumi out of the way, the bickering among non-Communist politicians also died down. The fairest parliamentary elections in Laotian history went off without incident in July. Only 25% of the incumbents got themselves reelected, but the government won such an overwhelming victory that when the new Parliament met it gave Souvanna a rousing vote of confidence, with only four abstentions...
...arms that North Viet Nam has had to divert to the Viet Cong next door, isolated by its refusal to take part in the government, driven back by gov ernment armies it once could lick, the Pathet Lao now controls far less land and 600,000 fewer Laotians than it did in 1962. Last week came yet another setback. The Defense Ministry reported that the Royal Laotian army had killed 80 Communist troops in a battle north of the Plain of Jars...
Young Reformers. One important reason for hope is the emergence of a new generation of reformers in Laotian politics. Calling themselves Les Jeunes Nationalistes, they are mostly professional men who are loyal to Souvanna and who worry about such things as education, health and corruption in gov ernment. Apparently, other Laotians are equally concerned, for the Young Nationalists won twelve of the 16 races they entered in the July elections. Their leader, 37-year-old Finance Minister Sisouk Na Champassak, practices what he preaches. "I have fired the entire customs department," he announced shortly after he took office, adding sardonically...
Unlike their Viet Cong comrades in South Viet Nam, the Pathet Lao are a conventional fighting force equipped with trucks and armored cars that bog down in the monsoon mud. Moreover, the Laotian anti-Communists now have effective insurgent bands afield in Red territory. They consist mainly of 6,000 American-supplied Meo tribesmen, tough little primitives skilled in the savage techniques of ambush and night assault. Meo loyalty has been sealed by a U.S. airlift of rice ($6,500,000 worth this year alone), which feeds 160,000 tribesmen. Along with the kernels come rifles, grenades and ammunition...
...suave, smooth Souvanna is far from panicky. Sucking his pipe, he steps gingerly through the subtle maze of Laotian politics, playing the delicate game of nods, winks and selective handshakes. At a recent Soviet reception, Souvanna greeted his Russian hosts warmly, then whisked carefully past the Red Chinese and North Vietnamese to shake hands with the British, French and U.S. ambassadors...