Buenos Aires (VNA) – As Vietnam marks the 81st anniversary of its National Day on September 2, Jorge Gessaga, a 73-year-old former Argentine revolutionary, spoke to the Vietnam News Agency in Buenos Aires about his decades-long connection with Vietnam.
Vietnam – A light from halfway around the globe
The story began in the late 1960s and early 1970s when Jorge was 16 or 17 and growing up in Argentina under military dictatorship. Questions about his country's future, social justice and workers' path to struggle prompted him to search for an ideal to pursue.
From Argentina, the young Jorge of Italian, Spanish and indigenous descent, followed Vietnam's resistance against foreign intervention. Vietnam's steadfastness in defending its sovereignty became a defining lesson: a small nation could achieve what seemed impossible with strong belief and determination under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
Vietnam and Cuba became central inspirations for Argentina's revolutionary youth. Vietnam transformed from a distant country into a symbol of courage and self-determination, contributing to Jorge's decision to join the Workers' Revolutionary Party and the People's Revolutionary Army.
Prison years
In December 1974, at 21, Jorge was arrested. He spent nine years in detention under the military dictatorship. Vietnam remained a source of strength for political prisoners.
He Gessaga recalled how inmates hid revolutionary materials under floor tiles and wrapped thin paper in cigarette-pack foil to protect it from moisture before passing documents between cells. The hidden texts included excerpts from Ho Chi Minh's "Prison Diary", writings on revolutionary morality and materials by then General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Le Duan. Inside the prison, those fragile pages helped political prisoners maintain their resolve.
When news of southern Vietnam's liberation reached the prison on April 30, 1975, the reaction was immediate. "It was the greatest joy for all of us. It was Vietnam's victory, but we also saw it as our own, the victory of revolutionaries," he said.
At 22, still imprisoned, Gessaga promised himself he would one day visit Vietnam.
First visit
After his release in 1983, Jorge waited decades to fulfill that promise. He chose April 30, 2025 - the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and national reunification for his first visit. "No matter what, I must be in Vietnam for this anniversary", he told himself.
He spent a month in the country. In Ho Chi Minh City on April 30, he saw red flags with yellow stars fill the streets as crowds celebrated. Images he had once followed from halfway around the world were now in front of him.
Sitting on plastic chairs along the pavement, drinking juice and watching the city's daily rhythm left a deep impression. "Coming to Vietnam felt very special. I felt as if I was at home”, he said.
From the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Mekong Delta to Da Nang and Hanoi, he observed Vietnam's infrastructure improvements, living standards and socio-economic progress. He noted that Vietnam had moved beyond safeguarding peace to national construction and development.
"President Ho Chi Minh's final wish for a peaceful, reunified, independent, democratic and prosperous Vietnam has been fulfilled by the Vietnamese people", he said.
Second visit
In March this year, Jorge returned. The first trip brought the excitement of finally reaching a country he had long followed; the second felt like returning to a place of deep attachment.
He revisited sites, met Vietnamese people and tracked the country's changes. Each visit reinforced his view that Vietnam today is a dynamic, rapidly developing country moving confidently toward the future.
"Me enamoré de Vietnam," Jorge said in Spanish. "I have fallen in love with Vietnam".
His affection, he said, is shared by many Argentines who supported Vietnam's struggle, followed its development or admire a nation that overcame wars to build a peaceful life.
Preserving memory through arts
Jorge studied fine arts from a young age but put painting aside for decades. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he returned to the easel. His first work after the long hiatus was a portrait of President Ho Chi Minh.
He has since painted multiple portraits of the Vietnamese leader and created artworks featuring the red star, giving them to friends. In his workshop, he also welded a sculpture of an AK-47 from scrap metal, evoking his visit to Cu Chi. Spent bullet casings brought from Vietnam are kept as keepsakes.
More than half a century after Vietnam first captured his imagination, Jorge spoke of the country not as a place he once visited, but as one he still wants to return to.
"Whenever I can, I will return to Vietnam", he said./.
