General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong (Photo: VNA) It explains the unique conditions Vietnam has had to deal with and how itapproached these conditions with Marxist-Leninist perspective, Amiad Horowitz, areporter of the People’s World and member of the Communist Party USA, told a VietnamNews Agency correspondent in a recent interview in Washington D.C.
Following is the interview.
Whatdo you think about the writing of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong?
I think this is anextremely important piece, not just for Vietnam and the CPV, but also forcommunists around the world. It explains the unique conditions Vietnam has hadto deal with and how it approached these conditions with Marxist-Leninistperspective.
From the outside, many people will look at Vietnam and not understand how amixed market economy is an integral part of building socialism in Vietnam.There is a lot of anti-communist propaganda that tries to slander Vietnam andclaim that it has abandoned its Marxist principles or given up on buildingsocialism.
Anyone that really wants to understand the path Vietnam and the CPV are takingto building socialism and improving the lives of the people of Vietnam, mustread this very important article by General Secretary Trong.
What content do you pay much attention to?
A number of points stood out to me. Firstly, the importance that socialismin Vietnam is rooted in material reality with the goal of making the lives ofthe people of Vietnam materially better. The goals of building a free,prosperous, happy life for the people are practical goals that talks to the veryneeds of all humanity. As we have seen through the past few decades, the CPVhas lead Vietnam steadily in this direction, every year improving on the yearbefore.
Secondly, it is important that General Secretary Trong highlighted the specificdifficulties of Vietnam’s path. Marxist-Leninist do not hide from difficulties.The mixed market approach comes with specific challenges. As General SecretaryTrong laid out, the goal of the CPV is to understand them and respond to themappropriately.
Lastly, General Secretary Trong reminds the reader that the essence of thevanguard party is to serve the people. This is an important point to rememberthat without being connected to the people and their needs, a party cannot bethe vanguard and will fail to achieve its goals. However, the CPV always seeksto ensure that the connection remains strong and this is a big part of thesuccesses we have seen in Vietnam under the leadership of the CPV.
How do you evaluate achievements Vietnam has gained in the process ofdeveloping a socialist-oriented market economy?
The achievements are truly remarkable. In just a few decades, Vietnam hasgone one of the world’s poorest countries to a country with one of the mostdynamic and fastest growing economies in the world.
Even more remarkably is that all the progress Vietnam has made happened in aworld that remains hostile to communists. Despite these difficulties, becauseof the continued principled use of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought,the CPV has lead Vietnam to many great successes.
What opportunities and challenges does Vietnam face to realize its goals ofbuilding a society of wealthy people, strong country, democracy, justiceand civilization; owned by the people; of a highly developed economy based onmodern production forces and appropriate, progressive production relations; andadvanced culture imbued with national identity, and having friendly andcooperative relations with countries around the world?
One great opportunity thatVietnam has is that stands as an example to people around the world. Since theGreat Recession in 2008, and even more so in the last year and a half duringthe COVID-19 pandemic, people around the world are waking up to the fact thatcapitalism has failed them and that it only serves the bourgeois elite. As therich countries of the world have watched their economies nearly collapse andhad to bury millions of dead, the people of the world are able to look atVietnam and see that despite material difficulties, the people of Vietnam havecontinued to prosper and have lived safer lives.
The main challenge that comes to mind is that anti-communism remains a powerfulforce globally. The capitalists will do everything they can to hold on to theirwealth and will continue to try and cause Vietnam to divert from the path ofbuilding socialism. However, the CPV has always demonstrated that through itscontinued principled leadership, with its strong connection to the people ofVietnam, it is able prevent this from happening./.
VNA
