The world admires General Vo Nguyen Giap

House number 30, Hoang Dieu street, Hanoi, in the green tree-shaded campus, has been the site of many meetings and visits between the famous Vietnamese general - General Vo Nguyen Giap, with many heads of state and generals around the world.

On July 31, 2006, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez paid an official visit to Vietnam. For him, meeting General Vo Nguyen Giap was one of the successes of this visit. Getting out of the car, the President walked quickly into the living room, showing his anticipation of coming from South America; at the same time, he wanted to save time to have a longer conversation with the person he once admired.

Colonel Tran Hong, photographer and former reporter for the People's Army Newspaper, was also present that day. According to him, this was a very special meeting; one could even say "strange". Diplomatic conventions were almost completely eliminated. The conversation between host and guest was friendly, open, and extremely warm, like family members, away from home for a long time, now meeting again...

General Vo Nguyen Giap said: For a long time, our army and people have considered President Hugo Chavez a close brother, a soldier of the Bolivarian revolutionary ideology; who has fought tirelessly for the Venezuelan Fatherland, for a fair, beautiful world filled with solidarity among nations. The Vietnamese people will forever remember the President's deep feelings for our country. He strongly supported policies to strengthen the friendly relations between the people of the two countries; at the same time, promoted trade cooperation between Vietnam and Venezuela, especially creating many opportunities for companies of the two countries to cooperate in the oil and gas sector...

President of the Republic of Venezuela Chavez presented the General with a sword (version) of the Venezuelan national hero. Photo: Tran Hong

General Vo Nguyen Giap’s meetings with world-famous guests all had their own nuances and meanings, not repetitive or clichéd. They were the warmth from Latin America; the intimacy and affection from Africa; the closeness and sympathy from Asia and the admiration and respect from Europe.

For the brotherly country of Laos, since being assigned by the Central Party Standing Committee to direct the revolution in this country, General Vo Nguyen Giap discussed with the comrades in charge of the Regional Party Committee, the Command of Zones I, X and XII, to find young Lao people to train as cadres to help the friendly country.

In mid-1948, he went directly to Van Lang, Dai Tu district, Thai Nguyen province, to meet comrade Kay-son Phom-vi-han. The meeting had very good results. In front of the General was a young, sincere, intelligent and energetic student. He expressed his wish that the Vietnamese Army would help him return to the Fatherland; and believed that he would find like-minded people to gather into a fighting force.

The above historical event left a deep impression on the General's mind. He wrote: "... Later, I had many opportunities to meet, work closely and intimately with Mr. Kay-son in Sam Neua, Viet Bac, Hanoi, Vientiane, when he was the Minister of Defense in the Pathet Lao Resistance Government, as well as when he was the General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, President and Prime Minister of the Lao People's Republic. Between us, there are many profound memories of our fighting friendship, our close, pure and loyal comradeship".

On the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory (1954 - 2009), the General received 26 military attachés from 23 countries in Vietnam. These were representatives of countries that had helped and supported Vietnam in the resistance wars against invaders and to save the country, including military attachés from the Russian Federation, China, Cuba, the Lao People's Democratic Republic... The US military attaché in Vietnam was also present.

Speaking to the attachés, the General requested that, in the current period, he hoped that the military attachés would actively contribute to the work of building a peaceful, friendly and cooperative relationship between Vietnam and the world. The attachés asked for his autograph on the books written and presented by the General. Everyone was happy, congratulating the victory of the Vietnamese people; at the same time, they promised to carry out the General's wish to connect friends and friendship with all peace-loving countries around the world.

For African countries, which are in the same situation as Vietnam, he has a very special affection. The governments and people of many African countries admire the General, not only because of his excellent military strategy, which contributed significantly to the victory of the resistance wars, but also because of his interest in the cooperative relationship between Vietnam and Africa. The world press talked a lot about the meeting between delegates from 23 countries and him, on the occasion of the friends coming to Hanoi to attend the Vietnam - Africa Conference in May 2003. Mr. K. Angola, Minister, a Namibian, representing 23 African delegations, visited the General, and sincerely revealed that: During the national liberation struggle, the Namibian leaders always carried with them General Giap's books on revolutionary struggle. Mr. K. Angola himself spent a lot of time studying and evaluating the great contributions of the Vietnamese revolution to the cause of national liberation of the people of African countries, including the Dien Bien Phu victory, associated with the name of General Giap.

During the meeting, when mentioning the issue of Vietnam - Africa cooperation, the General said: "That cooperation has developed, but is not yet commensurate with the great potential of the two sides. Therefore, this issue must do more to promote that relationship. I hope that we will not only cooperate in agriculture but also go further in the fields of science, engineering and technology. The Vietnam - Africa solidarity bloc, cooperating with developed countries, will gradually catch up with them in all aspects".

He introduced to the African delegates an experience about the cause of the victory of the Vietnamese revolution with a deep understanding of the slogan of action proposed by President Ho Chi Minh: Unity, unity, great unity - Success, success, great success.

The General's official visits to several African countries left many deep impressions on the people of the neighboring countries.

After the victorious spring, in April 1975, General Vo Nguyen Giap paid an official friendly visit to the Democratic and People's Republic of Algeria. The organizing committee held a large rally in the capital of Algeria. In front of a large crowd of people and members of the National Liberation Front and Progressive Youth, he spoke in French, intimately like brothers in a family, surpassing the usual diplomatic protocol.

During the rally, he talked about the reason for the victory of the Vietnamese people's liberation cause, which was the national spirit, the people factor. As for the generals, no matter how talented they are, if they do not have a correct and wise leadership, a heroic nation and a heroic army, they cannot make any achievements or merits.

In the French Encyclopedia, it is written: “General Vo Nguyen Giap was the organizer of the people's army. He achieved a unique synthesis of Marxist military doctrines, skillfully combining them with the nation's tradition of fighting foreign invaders; skillfully applying them to the conditions of a country with a relatively small territory.”

The US Department of Defense Military Encyclopedia (published in 1993) wrote: “General Giap's strategic and tactical and logistical talents were skillfully combined with politics and diplomacy... The overwhelming economic strength, technological superiority, and overwhelming military strength and enormous firepower of Western countries had to submit to the strategic talents of the general, who was once a history teacher.”

Through the works expressing the content and praises above, we are even more proud of General Vo Nguyen Giap; more mindful and extremely grateful to the great Uncle Ho. Uncle Ho wisely discovered, nurtured, and properly utilized talented people; and soon trusted and assigned him the position of Commander-in-Chief of the heroic Vietnam People's Army.

According to QĐND-DP