* The western countries have directly or indirectly given their support to the Diem regime. This has resulted in the establishment in south Viet Nam of another Syngman-Rhee regime which may at any time kindle a new disastrous war.
Times of India, October 21, 1955.
Any conception at variance in the slightest way with that of the President (i.e. Ngo Dinh Diem) is only heresy, subversion, and hence, reprehensible.
La Tribune des Nations, 1955.
The regime in existence in the South (of Viet Nam) is one of the most tyrannical regimes in Asia.
France observateur, June 28, 1956
Pistol bullets silence any Vietnamese who opens his mouth against the Americans in south Viet Nam.
L’Express, October 20, 1956.
Diem is the most isolated of all dictators, the one who has the greatest number of opponents. The Diem government is but a family council... It is remaining in existence thanks to the police apparatus.
Constellation
The atmosphere now prevailing in south Viet Nam is like that of England under the rule of the Church.
The Times, February 14, 1959.
While passing through the streets, Diem use automatic weapons to cope with the people. He rejects the general elections, knowing that he would be defeated... He is not liked by the people. It is a miracle that he can remain in power.
The World (West Germany), late July, 1957.
The republican regime of Mr. Diem is turning south Viet Nam into a large concentration camp…
The war against people who had taken part in the Resistance war against the French is frantically raging without interruption. The rudest illustration of Mr. Diem’s anti-communist activities is the famous law 10-59 which he promulgated last May, and which provides for the establishment of mobile special military courts with the right of sitting everywhere in south Viet Nam and only two sentences to pass: either death or hard labour for life…
Link (India), November 20, 1959.
No longer bearing any criticism, however well-founded, President Diem had either silenced by draconian police measures, or exiled, an opposition movement which included a number of prominent and well-considered personalities.
Under the cover of these dictatorial methods, an atmosphere of terror developed in south Viet Nam over the last few years, and was made even more serious by Mr. Diem’s nepotism in favour of the members of his family.
Le Courrier (Switzerland), November 12, 1960.
Diem has always shown himself a dictator and never listens to competent persons. This becomes obvious when he is out of humour. The officials who dare to speak to him of difficulties, of insecurity, and of the growing discontent of the people will certainly make him angry. He would say that they are not well-informed of the situation; and they should consider themselves happier than to be accused of having been deceived by subversive propaganda.
Réalités Cambodgiennes, October 7, 1960 — article carried by the Delhi Times, November 6, 1960.
The Diem government used to label as Viet Minhs all opponents of the regime.
Paris Presse, November 15, 1960.
* The police regime with the prohibition of the parties of the opposition, and a draconian regime of censure applied to all publications and newspapers, have prevented the Vietnamese from voicing aloud what many persons dare only whisper to one another, that is the necessity of a radical change of policy…
New York Herald Tribune, November 22, 1960.
* The “Can lao nhan vi” (Revolutionary party of Labour) has 70,000 unofficial members scattered all over the territory, who spend the best of their time to supply information on their neighbours to the police. There are persistent rumours of corruption in Saigon higher spheres and the names of Nhu and his wife are invariably involved in these stories.
Time, New York Herald Tribune and Express Documents.
Diem has ruled with rigged elections, a muzzled press, and political re-education camps that now hold 30,000…
Time (U.S.A.), November 21, 1960.
* ... The family firm of Mr. Diem, constituted by his brothers whom ‘he knows well’, is held in contempt by the Vietnamese. The intellectuals have requested Mr. Diem, but without success, to make a small effort to win the people’s love... The regime is showing signs of death, but it is not yet dead as is desired by the people. If the French press shows great discretion towards the Ngo family’s despised regime, the English and American press as a whole is preparing, since the flight of Syngman Rhee and his clique, the burying of the Ngo Dinh Diem’s regime…
News and Reports, June 29, 1960.
… But, discontent is now getting through, and the Saigon people no longer hide their stand although they are running the risk of getting into trouble with the police services which remain vigilant.
Réalités Cambodgiennes, October 1960.
The Vietnamese, who were ignorant of the weakness of the regime, are now conscious that it is possible to overthrow a police regime. It is probable that they also know how to do it.
Réalités Cambodgiennes, September 30, 1960.
Since the beginning of this year, the south Viet Nam countryside has been boiling, but the towns have appeared relatively quiet.
However, the revolutionary movement is beginning to upset urban centres. The demonstrations by catholic refugees in Saigon on September 18, were not the least significant signs of this.
The same remark applies to provincial towns. Demonstrations staged by thousands of people took place successively at Ben Tre (July 29), Cao Lanh (July 30), My Tho (September 29). The demonstrations in the last town, second in importance after the capital, have particularly surprised the Diem authorities. My Tho was in effect selected by the Diem Government as a ‘pilot province’ in the so-called ‘Denounce communists’ campaign. During this operation, almost all the inhabitants were sifted by the police. Thousands of people — especially former resistance members — were jailed. This repressive effort proved to be vain, or to put it more rightly, it whipped up the people’s resentment against the government’s policy. Thus, on September 29, 7,000 persons broke into My Tho, carrying banderoles with explosive slogans:
“Stop the repression!”, “Stop the mopping-up operations!”, “Release the political prisoners!”, “We demand the application of essential democratic liberties!”. The great highway linking Saigon to the western provinces was blocked: A monstrous jam immobilized, in the vicinity of My Tho, several hundred vehicles and a crowd of 50,000 persons. This was by far the most important mass demonstration in the town for five years.
La Tribune des Nations, November 18, 1960.
Discontent in the armed forces and among the people has been rife, though its sources are manifold. The Diem regime is a barely veiled dictatorship but an undisguised despotism…
National Herald (India), November 14, 1960.
This opposition became more serious, and as a matter of fact, ‘unified’ when the Diem Government, panic-stricken in face of the events in Japan and South-east Asia intensified the repression.
La Tribune des Nations, September 2, 1960.
This discontent of the Saigon people turned into hatred in the countryside, especially in the places where ‘agrovilles’ had been set up. The army is also discontented.”
Paris Presse, November 15, 1960.
“This then was a revolt against a despotic and corrupt regime…
“But he (Mr. Diem) would do well to realize that popular discontent will once again seek a violent outlet if he continues to impose on the people of south Viet Nam a thoroughly autocratic regime…
Times of India, November 14, 1960.
The twin frustrations of dictatorship and an unending war eventually turned the paratroopers to revolt.
Time (U.S.A.), November 21, 1960.
“The attempted coup d’etat shows to what extent the regime established by Mr. Ngo Dinh Diem has lost its initial popularity…”
Le Courrier (Switzerland), November 12, 1960.
Mr. Diem is now reaping the bitter fruit of a policy the violently anti-democratic character of which has in the end worried even his American protectors.
Marches coloniaux
* Facts are always facts; Mr. Diem’s mistakes are always Mr. Diem’s mistakes. The consequences of an anti-popular policy are always bad. In any country and any society, the advocates of actions and policies running counter to the people’s genuine ideal will reap more or less bad consequences according to their actions.
Le Nationaliste (Cambodia), August 6, 1960.
N. B. — In case when we cannot get the original text, the quotation — re-translated from French or Vietnamese are marked with an asterisk.
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