The Venezuelan Embassy in Vietnam held a meeting in remembrance of Vietnamese hero Nguyen Van Troi to mark 50 years since the Nguyen Van Troi campaign (October 9, 1964) and commemorate the 50th death anniversary of the heroic Nguyen Van Troi (October 15, 1964).

Last minutes of hero Nguyen Van Troi

The Nguyen Van Troi campaign, organised by Venezuelan guerilla fighters to rescue the young Vietnamese patriot, was an important event in the Venezuelan people’s armed fight against imperial intervention in the 60s and represents a milestone in the country’s relationship with Vietnam, a ceremony heard on October 15.

Charge d’ affairs ad interim Katiuska Maestre extolled the Vietnamese people’s patriotism in their struggle for liberation in general, and the sacrifice of the martyr in particular.

Nguyen Van Troi was an inspirational patriot for people around the world, she said.

At the event, a documentary film on Nguyen Van Troi and the campaign was screened. The film tells the story of how Caracas guerillas abducted US lieutenant colonel Michael Smolen on October 9, 1964 in an effort to leverage the release of Nguyen Van Troi, who had been sentenced to death by the US and Saigon regime for his assassination attempt on US Defence Secretary Robert McNamara.

However, three days after the Caracas guerillas released the US hostage on October 12, the US and the Saigon government killed Nguyen Van Troi in order to suppress the emerging anti-US movement in Vietnam and around the globe.

Source: VNA