ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS OF THE LIEN VIET IN NGHE AN PROVINCE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R014800170010-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 18, 2003
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: November 14, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

FEB 1952 51-4AA
INFORMATION REPORT REPORT NO.
CD NO.
COUNTRY Indochina
DO NOT CI r ?'U11 TC
1~1 111, G
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DATE DISTR. 14, November 1952
.SUBJECT organization. and Functions of the Lien V- et NO. OF PAGES 3
in Nghe An P'r ovi .ce
DATE OF
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25X1 PLACE
ACQUIRED
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NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
1. In accordance with standard Demo?::ratic Republic of Vietnam (mV) organization,
the Lien Viet Committee of Nghe An Province consists of.
a. Two delegates from each people?s organization. Thus there are delegates
from the .following groups: .Youth (Tharih Nien Cuu Quoc), Old People (Phu
Lao Cu.u Quoc), Laborers (Nong Dan Cuu Quoc) , Soldiers ? Mothers (Nguoi Me
Chien Si), the Labor Party (Lao Dong), the Democratic Party (Dang Dan Chu)
and others. The Buddhists (Phat Giao) sent delegates to the Lien Viet for
the first time in late 1951. The Catholics (Cong diao) of Nghe An have
never sent delegates.
b. One delegate from each district (phu or huyeri)
c. One delegate from each ethnical minority groups
In Nghe An Province the Lien. Viet Committee consists of 32 members, including
a President and six Vice-Presidents . The Committee meets once every three
months, to review the activities of the past three months and draw up an action
program for the following three months.
However, actual control over all. Lien Viet affairs in Nghe An is exercised by a
Permanent Committee consisting. of six persons who are paid. by the.DRV Government.
This Permanent Committee is composed of the following persons:
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President To Te My, a Communist sympathizer.
Vice-Presidents TaVan Dat
Ngu.ye.n Truong Khoat, a Communist.
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Mrs . Tran Van Cung, a Communist, member of the
DRV National Assembly.
Le Xuan Xhuong, a Communist.
Le Huy ling, a Communist
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4. As in other p:rovinces.'thePermanent Committee moves constantly and does not have a
fixed headquarters. It is-usually in the same region as the. Provincial Administxati e
and Resistance Committee. The Permanent Committee is- now at. Lang Si, Phu Dien Chau
(105-35; 1& 59),'and the Administrative and Resistance Committee is only two kilometers
away. Displacements of.the Permanent Lien Viet Committee are followed by the provin-
cial committees of all the peoples' organizations.
.5. The Lien Viet is most important at the provincial and village echelons. At the
district and -n:terzone levels its function is simply to serve as intermediary between
higher and lower echelonso
At, the district :level, there is a Lien Viet Committee of nine members', and a Permanent
..Lien Viet Committee of three members: President, Vice-President, and Secretary-
General. These three officials are paid by the Government.
At the village level there is a Lien Viet Committee composed of three men: President,
Vice-President, and Secretary, all paid by the Government.
The essential function of the Lien Viet is to serve as intermediary between the
authorities and the peopleo For propaganda purposes, the DRV emphasizes that the
people can criticize the authorities through the Lien Viet. In fact, however, the
Lien Viet is an extremely effective instrument for implementing Government directives.
When directives. such as the mobilization.of civilian laborers for public Forks (Dan
Cong) are received from the Administrative and Resistance Committee, the Lien Viet
Committee is responsible 4-through the people's organizations which constitute it -
for preparing public opinion and insuring public support. To do this, the Lien.Viet
makes extensive use of propaganda, discussion groups, lectures.justifying the new
directive, and other measures.
In this way the Lien Viet often succeeds in making a Government, decree appear to
derive f:rom.and express the will of the people. At Lien Viet committee meetings,
decisions are taken only after a vote.. Members of the Committees are free to express
their opinions, and debate is often intense. In the end, however, the Communist
majority always wins the day and the will of the-authorities is always done. A
recent example is the agricultural tax (Thuc Nong..Nghiep), the collection of which
has been-principally the responsibility of the Lien Viet.
Lao Dong Party
10. The Lao Dong Party functions very discreetly. The only official manifestation of
this party in Nghe An Province occurred en 10 July 1951, when the Provincial.Com-
mittee was announced. This committee consists of Le Huy Diep as Secretary-General,
and Nguyen Truong.Khoat and Pham Chieu as delegates. The organization of the Lao
Dong Party does not extend, beneath the provincial echelon: it has no committees on
the district or village levels.
Administrative and Resistance Co aittee
11. The Administrative and Resistance Committee of Nghe An Province consists of the.follow-
ing individuals:
President Le Nhu
Vice-President Nguyen Truong Khoat, youth leader.
-Members Nguyen Ho
Nguyen Due Thi
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Pham Thanh Vinh, former President of the Association
of Vietnamese Students, former Cabinet Director to
Phan.Arih, non-OCommunist DRV Minister of Economy.
Intrrac ion of DRV Organizations
12. Relations between the various DRV administrative organizations, as they operate through-
out the DRV zone, can be conceived as follows-.
a. The Central Committee of the Lao Dong Party prepares general directives, based on.
reports received from the Provincial Lao Dong Party committees and from the members
of the Lao Dong Party who hold positions in the DRV Government a
be These general directives are presented to the DRV Government, which transforms th-em
into detailed projects.
ce- These projects are then transmitted to the Lien Viet for execution. However, the
Lao D-ong Party closely follows and in fact controls the execution of the -projects
through its members on committees at all echelons of the administration.
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