Condolences extended over death of Vietnam’s US friend Merle Ratner
On behalf of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, Le Hoai Trung, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Chairman of the committee’s Commission for External Relations, has sent condolences to the family of Merle Ratner, a left-wing and anti-war activist in the US and a close friend of Vietnam, over her death.
Merle Ratner, a left-wing and anti-war activist in the US and a close friend of Vietnam (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – On behalf of the Communist Party ofVietnam Central Committee, Le Hoai Trung, Secretary of the Party CentralCommittee and Chairman of the committee’s Commission for External Relations,has sent condolences to the family of Merle Ratner, a left-wing andanti-war activist in the US and a close friend of Vietnam, over her death.
Ratner passed away in a traffic accident inNew York on February 5 evening.
Merle Evelyn Ratner, born in 1956 in New York City, had aspecial love for Vietnam. She took to the streets to protest against the Vietnam Warwhen she was 13 years old and became famous for hanging anti-war slogans on theStatue of Liberty. She was a co-founder and coordinator of the Vietnam AgentOrange Relief & Responsibility Campaign (VAORRC) in the New York area.
She actively participatedin protests against the US war in Vietnam since the late 1960s, theanti-imperialist movement in the 1970s and 1980s, and anti-racism campaigns in theUS today.
After 1975, Ratnercampaigned for the normalisation of the Vietnam - US relations and supportedVietnam’s international activities. She visited the Southeast Asian country formany times and engaged in joint work with mass organisations, the VietnamFatherland Front, and the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics.
Ratner was awarded the"For the Development of Vietnamese Women" insignia in 2010 and the“For Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange” insignia in 2013./.
Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations (UN), has thanked Merle Ratner, a close and long-time friend of Vietnam, and her family for their tireless contributions to the Vietnam-US relations over the past decades.
Merle Ratner, a renowned left-wing and anti-war activist in the US and a close friend of Vietnam, passed away February 5 evening in New York in a traffic accident.
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Merle Ratner, a left-wing and anti-war activist in the US and a close friend of Vietnam (Photo: VNA) 
