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UPDATE FROM VIETNAM  
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Juliet Ucelli
May 15, 2026
The New Liberator
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_ The nation sets ambitious goals to improve people's standard of
living, protect the environment, and promote international solidarity.
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Ambassador Do Hung Viet (third from left) with Vietnam Mission staff
and representatives of Viet Left Power and Democratic Socialists of
America,

 

On April 23 in New York City, Vietnam’s United Nations
Representative Do Hung Viet briefed US friends about the outcomes of
the Communist Party’s 14th Congress (held every five years) and the
first session of the 16th National Assembly. He also took a wide range
of questions about Vietnam’s analysis of and responses to recent
world events.

By 2030, which is the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party’s
founding, Vietnam aims to move from being a low middle income country
to a high middle income country with a per capita GDP of $15,000. This
will entail expanding beyond labor-intensive output (many of our
clothes in the US bear “Made in Vietnam” labels) to more
scientific and technical products, with incentives for an innovative
private sector under the state’s leading role. And the congress
vowed to do this while protecting the environment, a primary focus of
the congress for the first time; improving workers’ lives and access
to goods, education, and health care; and continuing to strengthen the
party, fight corruption, and teach cadre to be maximally responsive to
public needs.

Advancing these goals requires juggling many contradictory pressures.
Ambassador Do noted the challenge of “creating a better playing
field for the private sector in terms of interest rates and other
guarantees, while not widening income inequality.” It’s
encouraging that over the past 50 years, Vietnam has a better record
on doing this than any other country. Data centers for technical
production will require at least a 12% increase in power generation,
so there are plans to increase the use of sustainable energies like
solar and offshore wind as well as nuclear power. The vision is of a
just energy transition and becoming carbon neutral by 2050. Vietnam is
switching to electric vehicles and building the required
infrastructure of charging stations. People working in fossil-fuel
based, dirty energy will have retraining opportunities.

Of course, Vietnam has never been focused only on internal well-being.
The 14th congress explicitly elevated international integration and
diplomacy to be on par with national defense and security. And in
fact, as Ambassador Do noted, “Diplomacy and the international
solidarity of people’s movements have played a crucial role
throughout Vietnam’s history in defending the nation and gaining
independence.”

At the end of the briefing, Ambassador Do addressed questions from
those in attendance._ _When asked how the US-Israeli war on Iran was
affecting Vietnam, he stated that “The worst effect of the
US-Israeli aggression is undermining a rules-based international
order, violating agreements like the UN Charter. This threatens the
sovereignty of all nations and creates a precedent for more
aggression.” Coming after punitive tariffs, the war has also hurt
Vietnam’s economy by blocking much trade, especially in crucial
energy and fertilizer. “Vietnam has oil but needs to import refined
oil; we are trying to control the price internally so as not to hurt
production and workers,” he said. The shortage of jet fuel has meant
that many commercial flights won’t come into Vietnam because they
fear not being able to refuel and leave.

Another attendee pointed out that Ambassador Do was about to preside
over the 11th Review Conference of the of the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (April 23-May 22). Vietnam’s
representative was entrusted to do this by the 191 States-parties
(signers) to the Treaty, with the endorsement of the Non-Aligned
Movement, in recognition of Vietnam’s consistent commitment to
multilateralism, nuclear disarmament, and constructive international
cooperation.

Ambassador Do emphasized that Vietnam is also deeply committed to
extending international solidarity, especially to Cuba. “We’re
sending equipment for four solar power plants that can power 80,000
households and we are helping them to start growing rice, for which
Cuba has good conditions. We remember how the Cubans helped us with a
friendship hospital, building the first new hotel after independence,
and sending us dairy cows.”

A People-Centered, Sustainable Society is Possible

 
Amidst heightened US aggression, international hostilities, and
rampaging capitalist greed, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam shows us
that it’s possible to build a more people-centered, sustainable
society—coming out of massive destruction and suffering. To secure
its independence, Vietnam defeated two great powers, France and the
US, which bombed it with more tonnage than dropped in all theaters of
World War II combined, and poisoned its land and millions of people
with defoliants (Agent Orange). Since then, Vietnam has established
food self-sufficiency, over 90% literacy, and universal elementary and
secondary education, and raised life expectancy to 75 years.

As our movements in US communities, campuses, and workplaces come to
recognize the linkage of anti-human policies in the domestic and
international arenas, it’s crucial that we support Vietnam’s right
to self-determined internal development and unhindered participation
in global trade, and unite with its efforts toward global peace and
cooperation.

 

_Juliet Ucelli helped to organize the NYC celebration of the 50th
Anniversary of Peace and Social Progress in Vietnam, and serves on the
International Developments Work Team of Liberation Road._

 

_The New Liberator is Liberation Road's newsletter of movement
insights and strategic analysis for the freedom struggle. Subscribe
for free to receive new posts and support our work._

* Vietnam
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* Self-determination
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* carbon neutral development
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* peace
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* international solidarity
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* Vietnamese Communist Party
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