Meeting between Raúl Castro Ruz and Ho Chi Minh, in October 1966. foto: Granma Archive
“You have been the architects of the military science of people’s war, capable of halting, defeating, and forcing the imperialist aggressor to taste the bitterness of defeat. This legacy to the peoples of the world is a historic achievement, yet another contribution by Vietnam to the global revolutionary movement, for which it will forever be recognized.”
Havana, September 6, 1985
Comrades:
It is with deep emotion that I receive from you, dear representatives of the heroic people of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Order bearing the glorious name of the founder of your homeland and exemplary revolutionary of our times, the unforgettable Ho Chi Minh. I am equally honored to express the gratitude of the generals and officers decorated today.
This precious recognition also holds special significance, as it is awarded in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day, a date that transcends contemporary history because it marks the beginning of the collapse of the global colonialist system and the emergence, precisely in this month of September—but in 1945—of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
From that point on, the young, triumphant revolution and its vanguard party, under the wise leadership of Comrade Ho Chi Minh, had to face new and difficult trials. First, for eight years it confronted the aggression of the French interventionists, who were futilely determined to return that country to a colonial status. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu, which moved all of progressive humanity, marked the irreversible defeat of French troops at the hands of the revolutionary fighters.
However, U.S. imperialism, the main prop of the regime of exploitation and oppression established in South Vietnam following the country’s division, launched an aggression against the Vietnamese people in 1962, which became one of the cruelest, most unjust, and most ruthless wars in history.
Over long years of struggle, the fighters of the People’s Liberation Army and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam wrote enduring pages of heroism and courage, and learned, at the cost of their own blood, to develop a system of people’s war against which imperialism’s finest troops and most sophisticated means were shattered, until its final defeat in 1975.
For our people and Party, the experiences you have gained constitute an inexhaustible source of lessons in every respect, and we can assure you that, if the beloved Soviet Union is our teacher in the art of socialist warfare, Vietnam has been our teacher in the organization of the All-People’s War—fundamental pillars of our military doctrine and unbreakable defensive system in which the men and women of our homeland actively participate.
You have been the creators of the military science of people’s war, capable of halting, subduing, and forcing the imperialist aggressor to taste the dust of defeat. That legacy to the peoples of the world is a historic achievement, another contribution by Vietnam to the world revolutionary movement, which will forever be attributed to it.
Dear Vietnamese comrades:
It is a source of deep satisfaction and a great honor to receive this valuable decoration, and we express our gratitude on behalf of our Party and the Cuban revolutionaries, whom we represent on this solemn occasion.
This esteemed and cherished gesture is a symbol of the enduring friendship that unites the peoples of Cuba and Vietnam, solidly forged in the crucible of the unyielding struggle waged yesterday and today under the inspiration and invincible banners of Marxism-Leninism.
Allow me, on an occasion such as this, to recall the words of our Commander-in-Chief when he was on Vietnamese soil, when he stated that “it does not matter that we are far apart; it does not matter that it is day there and night here at this very moment; that simply means that it is always day in the realm of revolutionary ideas, that the sun always shines on the Revolution, in Cuba and in Vietnam.”
Thank you very much.
Source: Granma, translation Walter Lippmann