In September 2016 Obama visited Laos and became the first U.S. president ever to step foot in the country. Most people don’t know that this visit was of utmost importance and helped to overcome a dark chapter in history. As you can see in the picture above Obama’s visit remains an important event. Many people will never forget how he once bought a coconut at a local shop and walked through the streets of Luang Prabang.
Obama acknowledged what
happened during the Vietnam War
Until now, the Vietnam War remains a dark chapter in the history of the USA, but almost no one knows what happened in Laos back then. That’s sad since the Southeast Asian country suffered severely from the actions of the American army. Since the war spilled across the border millions of tons of ordnance dropped on Laos. A huge amount of this ordnance remained unexploded and affects innocent people in the country until now. Accidents in which even children lose their limbs aren’t uncommon. Although Obama didn’t officially apologize for what happened back then, he acknowledged the involvement of the USA and decided to temporarily double the aid to help Laos to find unexploded bombs to 30 million US dollars a year.
What cities did Obama
visit?
Obama’s first destination wasn’t Luang Prabang. First, he arrived in the capital Vientiane before he decided to visit the cultural center of Laos. While in Vientiane he made an important visit to the COPE Foundation and, until now, he remains one of the most famous visitors of all time. This visit had a symbolic character since the foundation supports people with mobility-related disabilities and many of those are caused by unexploded ordnance.
Obama's visit didn't
only have ethical reasons
Although you can’t deny that the financial support from the USA and the acknowledgment of the bombings were important from an ethical point of view, the main purpose of the visit was to strengthen the relationship between the two countries. Laos may not be an economically strong country, but the increasing influence of China is something the government in the USA isn’t happy about. Therefore the visit was also a measure to counter China’s growing dominance. Irrespective of this, the visit has contributed immensely to improving the relationship between the two countries. There may even be joint economic projects in the future.
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