Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (PCV), died this Friday in Hanoi at the age of 80, local media in the Asian nation confirmed.
Phu Trong was admitted to the 108 Central Military Hospital, where he had received the Order of the Golden Star from President To Lam the previous day in a solemn ceremony. report the agency Latin Press (PL).
| The third day of the sessions of the Communist Party of Vietnam began with a minute of silence in honour of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Trong, who passed away on Friday. @AsambleaCuba.
Esteban Lazo Hernández, president of Parliament, highlighted his brotherhood with #Cuba. pic.twitter.com/Yq5y6AvZQi
— Cuban Presidency (@PresidenciaCuba) July 19, 2024
This is the highest honour that the Socialist Republic of Vietnam bestows on individuals with significant and particularly distinguished contributions to the Party and the nation.
The local newspaper Nhan Da He said the death occurred due to “his advanced age and a serious illness.” It was reported that the party leader will have a state funeral.
Upon hearing the news, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel lamented the physical departure of the leader through a post on his X account.
“We express our deepest condolences on the death of our dear comrade Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and we extend our condolences to the brotherly Vietnamese people, his family and friends. A faithful friend of Cuba has passed away,” the president wrote.
We express our deepest condolences on the passing away of our dear comrade Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and extend our condolences to the brotherly Vietnamese people, his family and friends.
A faithful friend of mine has died. #Cuba. pic.twitter.com/QRi2LDPXj4
— Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez (@DiazCanelB) July 19, 2024
Meanwhile, at the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP), which is currently in session, a minute of silence was requested in tribute to the Vietnamese leader.
Trong was elected party chief in 2011 and during his tenure, he worked to consolidate the party’s leading role in the national political system.
Various sources point out that after his re-election in 2016, he launched a broad anti-corruption campaign known as “fiery furnace” that affected business and political elites.
Eight senior officials have since been sanctioned, including former presidents Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Vo Van Thuong, as well as former parliamentary speaker Vuong Dinh Hue.
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During Trong’s leadership, what he called “bamboo diplomacy” was established in Vietnam, in reference to the plant’s flexibility, which bends but does not break.
He strengthened relations with Russia and China, despite the differences with the neighbouring nation regarding the sovereignty of the South China Sea, but also with the United States, his former enemy, giving this link a strategic character.
