1968 Viet Cong Map of Vietnam War Progress Published in Cuba

A map of the utmost rarity and sheer revolutionary coolness. This is a 1968 map of Vietnam published in Havana, Cuba, by the Misión Permanente del Frente Nacional de Liberación de Viet Nam del Sur en la Républica de Cuba (Permanent Mission of the National Liberation Front of South Viet Nam in the Republic of Cuba), essentially the Việt Cộng mission to Cuba. In June of 1968, following the Tet Offensive, the mission published Viet-Nam del Sur Vencera a Spanish language newspaper highlighting the achievements of the Việt Cộng against American and other 'capitalist' forces - this map is the centerfold, although the entire newspaper is included in this offering. A remarkable example of pro-Việt Cộng propaganda, the broadsheet consists of three different maps of South Vietnam highlighting the North Vietnamese conquest of South Vietnam between 1961 and 1968. The largest map, situated on the right, depicts the gains of the Việt Cộng in South Vietnam following the Tet Offensive, one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. The area shaded red on all three maps highlights the 'Liberated Zones' controlled by the Việt Cộng. Imporant cities and towns are labeled throughout South Vietnam, including Saigon, Da Nang, and Hue.

The Việt Cộng

The Việt Cộng, also known as the National Liberation Front, was a Communist inspired political organization in South Vietnam and Cambodia active during the Vietnam War. The Việt Cộng fought against the United States and the South Vietnamese governments for control of South Vientam. They had their own army, the People's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam (PLAF) and both guerrilla and regular units. While the United States and the South Vietnamese insisted that the Việt Cộng were simply puppets sent from Hanoi, communists and anti-war activists considered the Việt Cộng an indigenous South Vietnamese insurgency. The best-known Việt Cộng action was the 1968 Tet Offensive, a gigantic coordinated assault on over 100 South Vietnamese urban centers. The first use of the phrase Việt Cộng appeared in a Saigon newspaper in 1956, a contraction for a Vietnamese phrase meaning 'Vietnamese Communist' or 'Communist Traitor to Vietnam', American soldiers, using the NATO phonetic alphabet, referred to the Việt Cộng as Victor-Charlie, or simply V.C.

Cuban-Vietnamese Relations

Diplomatic relations between Cuba and Vietnam began on December 2, 1960, when Fidel Castro reached out a hand to his 'comrades' in Southeast Asia. By the following year, Castro instituted an exchange program for Vietnamese students to study at Cuban universities. This program continues to this day, with over 3,000 Vietnamese students having taken part. The National Ballet of Cuba visited Hanoi in 1964, where it was received by Ho Chi Minh himself. Fidel Castro became the first Head of State to visit the 'liberated zones' of South Vietnam in 1973.

Census and Publication History

This map was published in Havana, Cuba as part of the June 1968 issue of the Spanish-language newspaper Viet-Nam del Sur Vencera, published by the Misión Permanente del Frente Nacional de Liberación de Viet Nam del Sur en la Républica de Cuba. We have been unable to locate any other known examples in institutional collections or in private hands. We have also been unable to trace any other issues of Viet-Nam del Sur Vencera, but we believe it is likely that others exist, due to the presence of an issue number on the front page.