Word: phouma
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...more important, they had the backing of the Communist-led Pathet Lao, whose soldiers lounged around the compound throughout the occupation. The Pathet Lao presence, in fact, became significant when, after several days of protest, a group of 200 Laotian USAID employees sent a delegation to neutralist Premier Souvanna Phouma to ask that the siege be called off. Though politely received by the Premier, the delegation was rudely dispersed soon afterward by pistolwaving Pathet Lao troops, who arrested and briefly held four people...
Angry protests lodged at the Laotian Foreign Ministry by U.S. Chargé d'Affaires Christian A. Chapman did no good. In fact, the Laotian Cabinet-still nominally under the leadership of the neutralist Premier Souvanna Phouma -legitimized the students' demands by insisting that the U.S. end all but formal diplomatic activity in Laos and that it turn over to the government all USAID material in the country. Left with no choice but compliance, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger announced that there will be a "substantial reduction" of U.S. personnel in Laos...
...neutralist Premier of Laos was characteristically expressionless as he spoke, but his words were grave. "Important changes have taken place that some had not expected so suddenly, but they are here," Prince Souvanna Phouma told his countrymen during ceremonies on Constitution Day. "[The new situation] is a great chance to preserve our nation from further bloodshed that would surely take place if one continued to ignore the march of historic events. The war has reached...
...leftist student and labor groups. More basic, however, has been the right's increasing sense of futility as it has witnessed the coalition - which technically was supposed to divide power equally between the two factions - work almost solely to the advantage of the Pathet Lao. Ailing Prince Souvanna Phouma, the 73-year-old neutralist Premier, has consistently pressured the demoralized and leaderless rightists into accepting the demands of the Pathet Lao Cabinet members. Last summer, for example, the rightist-dominated National Assembly was suspended and later formally dissolved because some of its members had called for the withdrawal...
Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (D-Mont.) was another softliner on a number of issues. The day after Kennedy's inauguration, Mansfield relayed to him Laotian Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma's complaints about U.S. overreaction to Laotian communists and obstruction of Phouma's neutralist policy. "These shortcomings, in my opinion, exist not only in Laos but elsewhere in comparable situations around the world," Mansfield added...