I 17d Pere | Poe were On Ene el ew Ne SE PT Peter eeene Tor very Cuba Communists hail gains of revolution HAVANA—In the past two} years, Cuba has been liberated from American political and economic domination, said Blas Roea, general secretary of the Popular Sotialist Party, to a meeting of its central commit- tee, The fetters of semi-feudal Tandlordism have been broken and the country is rapidly and oldly liquidating economic backwardness, and from the @ependence on sugar - cane which existed: under American gomination, is going over to a diversified crop system, Roca told the party committee. Industrialism of the country and the abolition of unemploy-| ment, the growth of culture and: health services, a rise in well-being and the consolida- tion of equality and freedom for the whole: people, are the eharacteristics of Cuba today. This amounts toa radical transformation of the social and economic system in Cuba, he said. The experience of the past two’ years shows that the Cu- ban revolution Is - invincible. Nobody can halt the country’s growth, and nothing can defeat it or take it away from this|_ course, Roca called for a_ bitter struggle to completely liqui- date the counter-revolutionary forces in the struggle between revolution and counter-revolution, he em- phasized, is a struggle to the]; end. He stressed the necesity for planning the economy and pointed to the great signifi- cance for Cuba’s economy of the help» and’ cooperation of the ‘socialist countries. He concluded his report by saying that the Cuban revolu- tion is a practical confirmation of the truths of Marxism-Len- inism, and’ emphasized the im- portance of the unity ofall revolutionary forces in Cuban life for the further develop- ment of the revolution. The unity of the revolution and the whole Cuban people around Fidel Castro and the people’s revolutionary govern- ment is the guarantee of vic- country. The} * tory. Venus | Rocket: Success For Peace’ ‘Socialist ~Br. Daily Worké THE BRITISH DAILY | WORKER, commenting on the newest Soviet success in’ the effort to: conquer space* said this in a front page editorial: . “This is not only.a triumph for Soviet science and. tech- nique, but for all’ mankind. "It. brings nearer the day i. when man wili begin interplan- etary travel, and so take’ a giant’ new step forward in his knowledge of'the universe in which we live. ‘Here is further proof of the superiority of the Socialist sys- tem over capitalism.” U.S. OFFICERS DIRECT INVASION OF LAOS AN EXCLUSIVE BERT WHYTE INTERVIEW BY PEKING—“The war in Laos is not.a civil war between the forces of the legal Phouma government and the Phoumi- Boun Oum clique; it is a war between the people of Laos and United States imperial- ism,” Sisana Sisane, director of the Laotian newspaper Lao- haksat, said'in an interview with the Pacific Tribune here this week. Sisane, 38, a former mem ber of the Laotian National Assembly, was imprisoned and later escaped with Prince Sou- phanouvong, leader of the Pathet Lao’ fighting forces. Their dramatic prison break made headlines around the world last May. Following’ Kong Le’s_ suc- cessful coup August 9, 1960, Sisane returned to Vientiane and resumed publication of his paper, which, as the official ergan of the Neo Lao Haksat party, soon’ became the most popular paper in the country. He left his editorial desk to take part in the defense of Vi- entiane against invading Thai- land troops under direction of. U.S. officers, and when Kong Le’s forces had to withdraw to the north he established the Paper again, after a‘ short in- terval, in Sam: Neua: During our five-hour inter- view in his room at the. Pek- ing Hotel here, Sisane gave de- tailed and straight answers to a series of questions concern- ing the. situatioin in Laos to- day. Here in abbreviated form, are some of the questions and answers: QUESTION: What is your’ reaction to the proposal: of Hammerskjold and the USA regarding the setting up: of a so-called neutral government which would include Phouma (but not as premier) and ex- clude the Pathet Lao? ANSWER: Such a govern- ment would never solve the problem of Laos. It’ would’ be an instrument for further U-S. aggression. _The legal. govern- ment has a’ close unity with the Pathet Lao’ in the fight agairist U.S. imperialism. It’ is necesary to establish a coali- tion government standing for peace and neutrality. But set- tlement of the problem. is purely a Laotian affair and the USA has no right to interfere. QUESTION: Are the govern- ment armed forces completely Laotian? What about reports that you are receiving armed} support from North Vietnam and China? Are the Boun Oum forces purely Laotian, or are other _ countries troops? ANSWER: All our forces.are Laotian and all the people are supporting us. Rumors that Vietnam troops and Chinese troops have helped us have been spread by U.S. propagan- da agencies in order to cover up their own aggression. At first. the Phoumi-Boun Oum military strength was very weak. Under U.S. direction 3,500‘ Thailand troops: invaded supplying our country plus:a number of troops: from South Vietnam and’ remnants of Chiang Kai- shek’s armies; At the time-we lost’ Vientiane* there’ were 99 U.S. officers*in: Phoumi’s ‘head- quarters’ alone... The whole operation was’ directed by a U.S: general named Heintges. In name the U.S. officers are termed’ military advisers: in fact they are directly. control- ling’ the puppet army of the rebel clique. QUESTION: In news reporis the idea of partioning: Laos has been suggested, as was done ‘in Korea and’ Vietnam: What? is your opinion ‘on = this? ANSWER: The purpose- of such g division’ would’ be to provide ‘the U.S. with a spring- board for further aggression in South-east Asia: The: Geneva agreement makes it clear’ that the question of Laos ‘is: differ- ent from’ Vietnam: There is no demarcation line. The two sides which signed the Viet- nam agreement were Phouma and the Pathet Lao. But now they are collaborating to~ de- feat a common enemy. So who would fix a line? U.S. imper- jialism? This is an entirely un- reasonable suggestion; it would be a violation of the royal con- stitution and would never be aecepted by the Laotian people. QUESTION: If all foreign troops were withdrawn from Laos and all outside military aid stopped, could the Laotian people setile thezr internal |problems quickly? ANSWER: Definitely. The rebel clique would be elimin- ated very rapidly because they rely entirely upon outside aid —Thailand and South Vietnam troops. under American direc: tion. Those elements - around Phoumi and Boun Oum who have been misled would be in- vited to come over to us; those who were willing to follow a genuine policy of peace’ and neutrality could even find ‘a place in our government. QUESTION: What measures are being taken to improve the: people’s livelihood in: the liberated. provinces? ANSWER: We now have lib- erated Sam Neua, Xieng Khuo- uang and: Phong Saly prov- inces. and the greater part of Luang Prabang, as- well as many other areas. In‘ all these places the. people now have February 24, 1961—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—P® m™m political freedom but theif ing standards are still | We have turned many & barracks into schools ai® also conducting night for adults. Under French ® ination 95 percent of oul/®b ple were illiterate. We 14° Pu this problem during the » tance and are working °K: today but even so aboll percent of the people af@an illiterate. We are encoul® economic, production al operation and are helpii ply the peasants with 4 tural tools. But mu course, remains to be d@ QUESTION: What ab? proposals io reconven Geneva conference ‘and vate the International © Commission? ANSWER: We believé necessary to reconven! 1954 Geneva confer® though this may prove 2, cult task. As for the IC der the Geneva propos? task was to solve propos tween the legal govel and the Pathet Lao, The ces are now collaborati Geneva agreement als? that no foreign troops * be sent to Laos. So thé task of the ICC today WJ. be to tell Thailand trooP jh U.S. officers to get out Opi country! We agree to *) te vating the ICC but not # the king; it must work F the legal Phouma govel™ ©