Argentina’s Resumen Latinoamericano newspaper has run an article hailing the 1954 Geneva Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities in Vietnam as the first and extremely important victory of Vietnam's diplomacy after the Dien Bien Phu Victory earlier the same year, creating the premise and legal basis for the long resistance war of the Vietnamese people.
The article, published on July 18 on the occasion of the the 70th anniversary of the Geneva Agreement (July 21, 1954-2024), emphasises that with the signing of the agreement, for the first time in history, France and other powers must recognise the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
This is a victory in Vietnam's steady, courageous, and confident diplomatic struggle to protect justice and national interests, it affirms.
The article appreciates the roles of then Deputy Prime Minister Pham Van Dong, then Deputy Minister of Defence Ta Quang Buu, and Colonel Ha Van Lau who was then special military expert and assistant to Deputy Minister Buu in the tense negotiations.
It quotes former Deputy PM Vu Khoan as saying that the Geneva negotiations demonstrate a solid and persistent but flexible diplomatic struggle. At that time, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam decided to choose the cessation of hostilities and accepted diplomatic solutions, creating favourable conditions for the general offensive and uprising to liberate and reunify the country 21 years later.
Khoan said Vietnam fought with all its might. From the beginning of the negotiations, the Vietnamese side did not take the 17th parallel as the provisional military demarcation line. Then Deputy PM Dong made many proposals, from the 13th, 14th to 16th parallels, to create more favourable conditions for the revolution. However, due to the correlation of forces at that time and the relationship between major countries, the Vietnamese delegation had to accept the final agreement on the 17th parallel along the Ben Hai river in Quang Tri as the temporary boundary between North and South Vietnam
The article affirms that the value of the 1954 Geneva Agreement victory remains valid, demonstrating the desire for peace and friendship of the Vietnamese people, as well as the soundness of President Ho Chi Minh’s diplomatic thinking in which peace must go with independence, freedom, sovereignty, and territorial integrity./.
