Nguyễn Văn Linh (; 1 July 1915 – 27 April 1998), a.k.a. Muoi Cuc, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and politician. Nguyễn Văn Linh was the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam from 1986 to 1991 and a political leader of the Vietcong during the Vietnam War. During his time in office, Linh was a strong advocate of "Đổi Mới" (renovation), an economic plan whose aim was to turn Vietnam’s planned economy to a socialist-oriented market economy. As such, Linh was often touted as the "Vietnamese Gorbachev" after the Soviet leader, who introduced Perestroika.Stowe, Judy: "Obituary: Nguyễn Văn Linh". The Independent. 28 April 1998.
Nguyễn Văn Linh was born in Hưng Yên, a province in the North, but more than half of his life was associated with the South. He was arrested and imprisoned many times by the French colonialists. After 1945, Linh was assigned by the Party Committee to return to Saigon to lead two resistance wars against France and United States. In 1962, Linh was elected leader of the Central Committee for the South, directing strategy during the war until the country was unified.
Nguyễn Văn Linh has held many positions in the Party Central Committee before holding the position of General Secretary. Linh became General Secretary of the Party after the 6th National Congress on 18 December 1986. He is one of the Party leaders who initiated the reform policy, eliminating the centralized bureaucratic subsidy mechanism, shifting to a multi-sector economy, operating according to the market mechanism with State management. In 1987, he spoke and wrote many important articles clarifying his views on innovation, especially the issues he raised under the title "Things to be done immediately" under the pen name N.V.L (which means "Nói và làm” or “Nhảy vào lửa”) to create positive changes in social life Vietnam. With the Doi Moi reform, Vietnam’s economy has gradually developed. After only 1 year, the inflation rate of 774% decreased to only 323.1% and then continued to decrease to only 34.7%. He also promoted diplomatic relations with other countries with the motto "Vietnam wants to be friends with countries around the world". Thanks to that, Vietnam normalized diplomatic relations with China, Japan and Western countries and established diplomatic relations with South Korea and United States thereby promoting the process of bringing Vietnam into ASEAN in 1995. He left the position of General Secretary on 28 June 1991 and then became the late Secretary of the Central Executive Committee until his retirement on 29 December 1997.
Biography
Nguyễn Văn Linh was born in Hưng Yên on 1 July 1915. His original name was Nguyễn Văn Cúc, he would later adopt Nguyễn Văn Linh as his nom de guerre. At age 14, Linh became involved in the underground communist movement against French colonial rule, joining the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union. In 1930 at the age of sixteen, Linh was arrested and incarcerated until 1936 for distributing leaflets directed against the French. After his release, he joined the Communist Party of Vietnam. In 1939 he was sent to Saigon, in the southern part of the country to help establish party cells, causing him to be imprisoned again from 1941 to 1945. In 1945, Vietnam declared its independence from French rule and the First Indochina War ensued. Linh again worked in Saigon for several years. In 1947 he became a member of the Nam Bo Regional Committee (sometimes translated Territorial Committee), the organ controlling the Communist Party in Nam Bo (Cochinchina), the southern part of Vietnam. This was upgraded to become the Central Committee Southern Branch (Trung uong cuc Mien nam), in English usually called COSVN, in 1951. It was downgraded to become the Nam Bo Regional Committee once again in 1955. Linh rose to become secretary (head) of that organization in 1957, and became a member of the Communist Party's Central Committee in 1960.
When the Vietnam War began, Nguyễn Văn Linh as secretary of the Nam Bo Regional Committee was probably the most important single Communist Party leader in South Vietnam. After the regional committee was upgraded to become COSVN again in 1961, he served as secretary of that organization until he stepped down in 1965 to become deputy secretary, first under Nguyen Chi Thanh (1965-67) and then under Pham Hung (1967-75). Most of his duties were organizational rather than military. He also specialised in propaganda, studying and attempting to influence American politics in favour of North Vietnam. He trained special undercover Vietcong spies who infiltrated government organisations in Saigon. In 1968, Linh played an important role in organizing the Tet Offensive against the government of South Vietnam. This surprise attack throughout most South Vietnamese towns and cities was a turning point of the Vietnam War. After the end of the Vietnam War and the re-unification of Vietnam in 1975, Linh was inducted to the Communist Party's Politburo and became party chief of the capital Saigon. He favoured a slow transformation of the formerly capitalist southern part of the country causing him to come into conflict with his party colleagues. In the late 1970s, though considered a promising party politician, he had repeated arguments with Lê Duẩn, Ho Chi Minh's successor as party leader, preventing him from rising further in the hierarchy. In 1982, he was even removed from the Politburo. According to his friends, Linh resigned after an argument over the future of South Vietnam, in which he defended private capital.Shenon, Philip: "Nguyễn Văn Linh, Vietnam's Ex-Party Chief, Dies at 82.". New York Times. 28 April 1998."Nguyễn Văn Linh" in Encyclopedia of World Biography. .Crossette, Barbara: "Vietnamese Chief Building Political Base in South". New York Times. 3 February 1989.
General Secretary (1986-1991) Doi Moi Renovation
In the mid-1980s the Vietnamese economy experienced crisis, making a more liberal, market-based economy more of a sensible option to many politicians. This led to Linh's being re-instated in the Politburo in 1985 (and Permanent Secretariat 1986), under the direction of General Secretary Trường Chinh draft political report and even being made party general secretary the following year. Immediately, he started reforming Vietnam's economy. He was elected General Secretary in the immediate aftermath of the 6th National Congress. Renouncing the ideological decisions that he claimed had caused the problems, he allowed private enterprise and market prices and disbanded agricultural collectives. This change in policy was dubbed Doi Moi, a Vietnamese term meaning renovation.
In the late of May 1987, on the front page of Nhan Dan newspaper appeared a new pseudonym N.V.L with the column Nói và Làm ("Say and Do"). He wrote a series of articles "Things to be done immediately", signed NVL.Lý Thái Hùng. Đông Âu tại Việt Nam. Sacramento, CA: Vietnews, 2006.Trang 404. According to journalist Hữu Thọ:Cố Tổng bí thư Nguyễn Văn Linh: "Nhổ cỏ dại lúa mới mọc lên"
From 1986 to 1991, during his term as General Secretary, Nguyễn Văn Linh made a decisive contribution to turning the situation around, paving the way for innovation. In order to overcome the inadequacies and backwardness of Vietnam's centralized, bureaucratic and subsidized mechanism, he introduced new ideas, new concepts, and new ways of doing things. He abolished what Southerners often called "blocking the river and banning the market", eliminating the power and abuse of a few corrupt state-owned or state-owned traders at that time. Resolutely set an example against bureaucratic behavior, distancing from the people, and giving up special privileges. He abandoned the regime of high-ranking leaders flying domestically and going on business trips by Lada car without air conditioning (standard for Deputy Minister level); From the South to the North, take a plane with everyone; cutting down on security protection,...
Foreign relations In the political sphere, Linh tried to improve relations with both the United States and China. In 1990, he and Đỗ Mười secretly visited China and met Chinese leader Jiang Zemin normalizing diplomatic relations between the two countries after over 10 years of tension, becoming the first Vietnamese leader to do so since the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War. In 1989, he ordered the withdrawal of Vietnamese troops from Cambodia, where they had been sent to remove Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime. However, as far as domestic policy is concerned, Linh felt there was little need for change. "It is not objectively necessary to establish a political mechanism of pluralism and multiparty government," he stated, while always referring to Western-style democratic systems as "demagogic bourgeois democracies". He criticised the old communist policies, blaming them on corrupt leaders. Thus, Linh's policies were the constant target of criticism from the more conservative elements in the Communist Party. Linh stepped down as party leader in 1991 at the 7th National Congress, having announced his withdrawal a year before. His poor health was cited as the cause, as he had been hospitalised for what is suspected to have been a stroke in 1989, but political rivalries probably also played into his decision. He was succeeded by Đỗ Mười, a supporter of Linh's reforms."Like Ceausescu". The Economist. 10 February 1990."Vietnam Communist Party head secretly visited China". Japan Economic Newswire. 17 September 1990."March of the poor and friendless (Vietnamese Communist Party holds its 7th Congress)". The Economist. 29 June 1991."Nguyễn Văn Linh to retire as party chief next year". Japan Economic Newswire. 29 March 1990."Vietnamese leader Linh hospitalised". Japan Economic Newswire. 29 November 1989.
Retirement He was Advisor of the Party's Central Committee from 1991 to December 1997.http://222.255.31.179:8080/tiengviet/tulieuvankien/details.asp?topic=104&subtopic=210&leader_topic=504&id=BT2720640558 Starting with a surprising speech at the 7th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam and then series of letters to the country's newspapers, Linh eventually renounced the effects of his own policies, accusing foreign investors of exploiting his native country and harming socialism. He attacked the growing gap between the rich and the poor and accused American companies of dumping goods on the country rather than helping it with investments and technology. He then wrote a regular newspaper column called "Things That Must Be Done Immediately" attacking corruption and incompetence among the Vietnamese political elite."Nguyễn Văn Linh". San Francisco Chronicle. 28 April 1998.
Death and state funeral
Linh died of liver cancer on 27 April 1998, in Ho Chi Minh City just 3 days before the 23rd anniversary of the liberation of the South, he was 82 years old. His state funeral was held on April 29, 1998, and he lied in state at Thong Nhat Hall, Ho Chi Minh City. In the eulogy of the Party Central Committee, General Secretary Lê Khả Phiêu commented that Linh is a dedicated, innovative, creative leader who tries his best to contribute to the Party. State and serving the people. After the national funeral, in the afternoon of this day he was buried at the Ho Chi Minh City Cemetery.
Contributions to Vietnam