On June 4, 2007 agents within the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) concluded a six-month investigation resulting in the arrests of 10 for violating the US neutrality Act and fomenting war. The alleged conspirators, former Hmong rebels were conspiring to overthrow the contemporary Laotian government. As a result, US authorities charged Vang Pao, a former General in the Royal Army of Laos.
Since the movement’s leadership has been apprehended, it is unlikely that a related revolution will occur in Laos.
The Plot
ATF authorities apprehended a group of individuals led by Vang Pao, a former Laotian General and cultural leader, along with Harrison Jack, a former Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army, on charges of plotting to overthrow the communist Laos government. Allegedly, Pao intended to revitalize and empower a greater ethnic movement drawing on the Hmong people of south-central Asia.
With the help of Harrison Jack and his military contacts, Vang Pao began making arrangements to accumulate a stockpile of weaponry while residing in the United States. ATF agents recorded requests for nearly US $1.5 million in small and heavy arms including AK-47 assault rifles, C-4 explosives, mines, missiles, and shoulder-fired anti-tank/anti-aircraft rockets. Jack allegedly acted as the materiel go-between, operating along with Pao from California. However, an undercover agent acting as the group’s primary arms dealer effectively mitigated the plot in the initial planning stages.
In addition to equipment, Pao allegedly intended to have followers infiltrate the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and use these trained officers to establish a new Laotian police security force once the Laos government was overthrown.
Historical Application: The Hmong Reviewed
The Hmong played a key role during the Vietnam War by repeatedly attacking the Ho Chi Minh trail and disrupting supplies from entering Vietnam through Laos. Many senior Hmong relocated to the US following the end of the war. Thousands remain in Laos and in surrounding countries.
Following the conversion of Laos and Vietnam to communism and the US regional departure, Hmong survivors fled to Thailand. Those that remained in Laos faced heavy persecution and were often imprisoned in so called “re-education camps” inspired by Chinese Maoists. Later, Thailand, with the blessing of the US and United Nations (UN), deported Hmong refugees back to Laos where ongoing human rights violations were reported by UN monitoring agencies as recently as 2006.
Progressive Stabilization of Laos
Although the immediate threat against Laos’s current government has been mitigated, the Hmong diaspora will likely remain a regional concern. Thailand and Laos especially can expect long-term security problems from the Hmong that could be exacerbated by recent events.
Laos’s primary concern, however, is economic denationalization and Vietnamese influence. With Vietnam military contingents still posted on its soil following the Vietnam War, Laos has struggled to establish a political identity and still relies on its eastern neighbor for a level of territorial administration. Additionally, although Vietnam forced Laos to sever economic and political ties with China in the 1980’s, normalized trade relations with the US throughout the 1990’s and into the present has significantly improved the Laotian economy.
Despite a positive economic turn toward capitalism along with Vietnam and China, Laos will continue to experience social and political backlash from a Vietnamese military presence and ethnic persecution in the near-term. However, the immediate threat of rebellion or coup appears to be contained.