Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
right-wing Committee for the Defence of National Interests, known as the CDNI, and with-
held aid from Souvannaphouma's government, forcing its collapse in July. Power in Vien-
tiane had shifted from the National Assembly to the American Embassy.
With the collapse of the government, any hope for a neutral, united Laos was rapidly dis-
integrating. After a right-wing government - led by
Phoui Sananikone
- took charge in
August, the truce put in place by the Geneva Accords began to unravel. Civil war seemed
inevitable. In January, claiming that a North Vietnamese invasion was imminent, Phoui de-
manded and received emergency powers for a year, effectively shutting the Pathet Lao out of
Vientiane's political arena and opening the door for the Royal Lao Army to gain control of
the Ministry of Defence. A ruthless and powerful military figure,
GeneralPhoumiNosavan
,
assumed the post of vice minister of defence. The story goes that in 1949 he drew matchsticks
to decide between staying on with Prince Souphanouvong in his alliance with the Viet Minh
or travelling to Vientiane to cooperate with French forces. A decade later, no such indecision
hampered Phoumi as he eagerly auditioned for the role of strongman. Immediately stepping
up harassment of the Pathet Lao's political front, he did not disappoint the Americans.
After negotiations to integrate two Pathet Lao battalions into the Royal Lao Army stalled,
one battalion slipped back to Hua Phan, where the communist forces were preparing to re-
sume their insurgency. The government considered the leftist troops to be in rebellion and
responded by arresting Pathet Lao leaders in Vientiane, including Souphanouvong. As skir-
mishes signalled a return to the battlefield, the country's two most powerful political figures,
Prince Phetsarath and King Sisavang Vong, died within a fortnight of each other in October
1959.
Phoumi's coup and the growth of the Pathet Lao
Phoui's failure to rein in the increasingly powerful military had sown the seeds for his oust-
ing. With a helping hand from the vehemently anti-communist CDNI, General Phoumi, by
now in charge of the ministry of defence, staged a
coup
in December. His troops took to the
streets of Vientiane under the pretext, yet again, of a Pathet Lao attack. Although Phoumi
failed to take charge of the newly formed government, it was nonetheless controlled by the
military and staunchly aligned with the US and Thailand. Rigged elections held in April left
the leftists without a seat, much to the satisfaction of the US.
The
corruption
of the generals and politicians in Vientiane and the purge of communist
cadres in the countryside gave the Pathet Lao propaganda machine ample material with which
to win hearts and minds. With Souphanouvong biding his time in jail, Kaysone Phomvihane,
as head of Pathet Lao military operations, expanded his control over the organization's lead-
ership. Communist forces were active throughout most of the country, and by 1960 roughly
twenty percent of the population was no longer under government control.
