For the Laotians is this Black May?
Communist Pathet Lao forces on Tuesday (20 May) entered the Mekong River town of Savannakhet - the last key stronghold of the Laotian rightists.
Background: Communist Pathet Lao forces on Tuesday (20 May) entered the Mekong River town of Savannakhet - the last key stronghold of the Laotian rightists.
Most of the town's 50,000 people were out in the streets to greet the Pathet Lao as they rumbled into town on tanks garlanded with flowers.
Some cheered wildly but most applauded politely or were silent.
The triumphal entry was organized by students who have virtually taken over the town, occupying administration buildings and confining six US Aid officials and their families to their homes.
The Pathet Lao said they entered the town to maintain security "in collaboration with the Vientiane side".
The Pathet Lao's entry into Savannakhet, 150 miles (240 kms.) south of Vientiane followed earlier moves into the town of Pakse in the south and Thakhek in the central region, and the effective collapse of the rightist position with the resignation of four of its representatives in the Government.
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