40 years later: Communism’s hollow victory in Vietnam

Forty years after it won the war, the Communist Party still rules Vietnam with an iron fist. But with crony capitalism, corruption and inequality now rife, many claim its victory was a hollow one. Critics say the victorious Communist Party is now ideologically bankrupt, with the state abandoning the social equality dreams of its founding president Ho Chi Minh and enforcing tight controls on an increasingly critical public. Public anger with the one-party state simmers over a range of ills, including widening income disparity, land disputes and corruption scandals – often involving wealthy party cadres.

They came to power by adopting the socialism, communism of Marx and Lenin – that’s why they try to continue the ideology. But what we see on the streets of Vietnam is capitalism, not communism.

Le Cong Dinh, a lawyer and government critic

On Thursday, Communist Party rulers will gather for a military parade in Ho Chi Minh City - formerly Saigon - to commemorate the day their tanks rolled into city, prompting the surrender of the U.S.-backed South and reunification of the country. For some older Vietnamese who lived through the war, the ideological cleavage between the communist victors and the southern so-called puppets has not been bridged. Soldiers from the North who fought for the Communists receive pensions and healthcare support, while those from the South are not so fortunate.

Asia-Pacific