(The following article, entitled "Laos: A Real Victory for the Revolutionists," was published in the April 12 issue of La Gauche, the weekly organ of the Ligue Revolutionnaire des Travailleurs ( Revolutionary Workers League), the Belgian section of the Fourth International. The translation is by Intercontinental Press.]
The Peace Accord of February 22, 1973, has begun to bear fruit in Laos. It was concluded at the end of bloody confrontations between, on the one hand, the Pathet Lao, the military and political expression of the popular forces of the country and, on the other hand, the puppet government of Vientiane, supported by the American forces and
Thai mercenaries.
This agreement, very similar to the agreement signed at the Paris Conference for Vietnam, provides for a cease-fire, an end to all foreign intervention, the formation of a government of national union and a national political consultative council, and free and democratie general elections.
The (provisional) government of na-
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tional union was recently formed. It includes as many ministers from thePathet Lao as from the Vientiane administration.
However, this is not the first time that a comparable reconciliation has occurred in Laos. In 1956-57 and in 1962-63
copain
SOUVANNA PHOUMA
were established coalition governments that sought to follow a "neutralist" policy.
But both times they were overthrown by right-wing forces supported and encouraged to revolt by American imperialism.
The situation after the February 1973 accord is quite different. The Pathet Lao is stronger than ever: It controls 80 percent of the national territory and an important section of the population. But the main factor that has upset the relationship of forces is the new attitude of the Americans. The U.S. imperialists were mainly interested in cutting off the supplies that were reaching the NLF and guerrillas of
[Cambodian Liberation FUNK the
Vang Pao mercenaries, has been greatly reduced.
The presence of Pathet Lao detachments in Vientiane and at Luang Prabang will make possible coups by the reactionaries very difficult. On the other hand, their presence encourages the population of these cities and, in general, of the whole zone formerly controlled exclusively by the Souvanna Phouma government to voice their demands and form political movements that were hitherto inconceivable. Thus 4,000 students recently paralyzed the city of Pakse to protest against corruption, illicit trading and the rise in prices.
The partial victory of the Laotian revolutionists, concretized by the February 1973 accord and the presence of the Pathet Lao throughout Laotian territory, stimulates a dynamic of deepening class struggle that can only favor complete victory for the revolutionists in the short run, all the more because the right-wing forces, abandoned by their main supporter, are paralyzed.
Auto Executives Tighten Their Belts
Announcing that it had taken into account "the regulatory provisions and the spirit of governmental wage controls, General Motors disclosed April 18 that it was holding the line with its top executives pay. Board Chairman Richard C. Gerstenberg, for example, is to receive only a 5.5 percent pay hike. Of course since his pay last year totaled about $875,000, even 5.5 percent works out to a hefty increase- $48,037 to be exact.
Executives at Ford Motor Company did not fare so well. In what is perhaps a belt-tightening campaign, Ford Chairman Henry
Ford II took a $9,567 cut, dropping all the way to $865,000.
By way of comparison, an average
U.S. autoworker earns $11,823 a year. At this rate young workers entering the auto plants at age 20 could —providing they are never sick, laid off, or out on strike-retire at age 98 with the comforting thought that they had finally earned what Richard Gerstenberg rakes in in one year.