US embassy cable - 03HOCHIMINHCITY257

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000257 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV, IO/UNP, R, PA/OA 
 
E. O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PINS, PINR, PHUM, PREL, OPRC, MOPS, VM, IZ 
SUBJECT: COMMUNIST YOUTH ORGANIZATION HOLDS PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION 
AGAINST IRAQ WAR 
 
 
1.  Summary:  The HCMC Youth Union organized a boisterous, but 
peaceful demonstration by more than 5000 high school and college 
students at the District One Youth Center on March 17.  The rally 
featured speakers and musical performances to appeal to the kind 
of young audience which frequents the Youth Center for cultural 
events.  Part of an ongoing peaceful campaign of mass organization 
demonstrations against going to war in Iraq, the two-hour 
gathering was well planned and organized, and received extensive 
national press coverage.  End summary. 
 
2.  The Youth Center, located just two blocks from the U.S. 
Consulate, was packed with young people carrying banners made of 
red bunting lettered with anti-war slogans, as well as cut-out 
letters spelling N-O-W-A-R, and hand-drawn posters with images and 
slogans in English like, "Peace For Iraq", "No War", and "Stop 
Bombing."  The mood was boisterous, as protestors jumped up and 
down and swayed their signs to the beat of the music, but under 
control.  The rally started at 6:00 pm and ended promptly at 8:00 
pm, with participants collecting piles of white birds folded from 
paper, symbolizing peace. 
 
3.  As with other demonstrations we have seen (reftel) -- 
demonstrations in Vietnam are almost always organized by Communist 
Party mass organizations, like the Youth Union -- the speeches 
outlined Vietnam's oft-repeated anti-war policy.  The event was 
filmed by the national television station and carried by the three 
newspapers with the largest readership in Vietnam (Saigon Giai 
Phong, Thanh Nien and Tuoi Tre). 
 
4.  On March 18, ConGen received a fax from the Fatherland Front 
Committee of the province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau addressed to the 
governments of the U.S. and the U.K.  The letter said that the 
people of Ba Ria-Vung Tau had suffered during the Vietnam War and 
empathized with the people of Iraq.  The Committee had organized a 
meeting the day before and decided to send this letter advocating 
the same points raised in reftel, as well as asking for an end to 
the economic embargo against Iraq and more time for the UN weapons 
inspections team to ensure that Iraq complies with UNSCR 1441. 
 
5.  Comment:  This is not the first example of the Communist Party 
of Vietnam organizing a demonstration to show public support for 
its policy positions, but it seemed to be one of the more genuine 
outpourings of peaceful concern.  Nearly 70 percent of the 
population of Ho Chi Minh City is under 30 years-old, and most 
students can easily be mobilized to attend these events through 
school networks and busing.  In this case, many of the banners 
were in English, though next day press reports noted only two 
Westerners in attendance.  In a country where opportunities for 
public expression are extremely limited and orchestrated, this may 
have been one occasion where GVN official policy actually 
reflected sentiments close to the students' own. 
 
YAMAUCHI