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Articles by Francois HoutartSubscribe to Francois Houtart

VIETNAM-Rehabilitation of Prostitutes and Drug Addicts

Vol. 12, Issue No. 53, 31 Dec, 1977
Francois Houtart, Genevieve Lemercinier

quo and far so instilling our people with the frenzy of patriotism and chauvinism as to make it at least temporarily difficult for them to distinguish between the ideology and reality of nationalism. The rulers obviously know What they are doing. Let the intellectuals not sacrifice their conscience for transitory petty gains. Whatever its sins in the past, the Indian Council of Historical Research needs to be saved from the government for the sake of intellectual freedom and autonomy.

VIETNAM-Reorganisation of Agriculture in the South

Vol. 12, Issue No. 52, 24 Dec, 1977
Francois Houtart, Genevieve Lemercinier

VIETNAM Reorganisation of Agriculture in the South Genevieve Lemercinier Francois Houtart THE reorganisation of agriculture is one of the vital problems of South Vietnam; a rapid increase in agricultural production.is necessary, not only to lessen import of essential, com modities, but .also to give employment to, millions of, unemployed, (During the last years of the war, the old regime; imported annually some 700,000 tonnes of foodstuffs,) For example, the city of Saigon needs daily 1,000 tonnes of rice, 300 tonnes of vegetables, 200 tonnes of meat or fish. At the time, of the. liberatoin out of over three million inhabitants, over one and a half million were out of work, Of these, about 700,000 were able to return to their villages where they were absorbed in the new. economic zones. All the towns in the South had to face the. same problem on a greater or lesser scale.

VIETNAM-The Catholics

Vol. 12, Issue No. 50, 10 Dec, 1977
Francois Houtart

December 10, 1977 ONE of the concerns of the Catholic world is the fate that has overtaken the Catholic community in the South after the liberation. The part played by this minority in the establishment of the Diem regime at the beginning and, later, in the administration and in the army of those that succeeded it is well known. Both the Presidents, Diem and Thieu, were Catholics. The former derived his strength very largely from the Catholic refugees from the North. The Parliament of the South had a large majority of Catholics; so had much of the higher administration and the senior staff of the army. A considerable number of priests and some of the Bishops WERE heavily involved in anti- Communist campaigns. Religious institutions had multiplied, and many of them had erected large buildings, thanks to international (especially American) aid. In short, one might have expected that the change of government would have meant the beginning of severe repression against a religious group which had been politically so heavily compromised.

VIETNAM-Agricultural Economy Rebuilt

Vol. 12, Issue No. 48, 26 Nov, 1977
Francois Houtart

November 26, 1977 VIETNAM Agricultural Economy Rebuilt Francois Houtart BEFORE the war the southern part of Vietnam sent its rice surplus to the north, and even had some left for export. By the end of the Thieu regime, it was forced to import 700,000 tons of rice annually. One might be inclined to think that it was the increase in population which produced such a change, but this was not the case. The Mekong delta is one of the most fertile areas in Southeast Asia. Besides this there are still thousands of acres of uncleared land. Where irrigation is available, it is possible to obtain two or even three crops per year. So it was certainly the disorganisation of the agrarian economy, both by war and by the social system, which was the cause of the situation inherited by a reunified Vietnam.

VIETNAM-Problems of Reunification

Vol. 12, Issue No. 47, 19 Nov, 1977
Francois Houtart

Problems of Reunification Francois Houtart TODAY Vietnam is one country. But in actual fact big differences still exist and will continue to exist for a long time between the North and the South. The two kinds of currency with unequal values, the different forms of land-tenure

VIETNAM-A City Struggling to be Born

Vol. 12, Issue No. 45-46, 05 Nov, 1977
Francois Houtart

November 5-12, 1977 funken, Daimler-Benz, MAN and Kloeckner-Humboldt-Deutz.
"Despite the biggest arms purchase in European history", wrote the Wirtschaftswoche, recently "The German armament establishments continue to complain." There has been talk of a lack of sufficient orders, particularly since 1975, due to the general economic slump; and, the entrepreneurs see in export the only way to overcome their difficulties. Even the workers' representatives in the armaments industries support the demand of their employers.

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