The Awaited Coup

In the dead of night last week, 60 Laotians stealthily cast off from the Thailand shore of the Mekong River in motor-powered pirogues. They were led by General Thao Ma, 42, onetime commander of the Royal Lao Air Force, who has lived in Thai exile since his 1966 abortive attempt to overthrow the Laotian government. After disembarking at the outskirts of Vientiane, the rebels rendezvoused with about 60 more sympathizers. A coup against Laos' neutralist leader, Prince Souvanna Phouma, had begun.

The rebels rapidly captured the airport, radio station and central bank without firing a shot. Ma headed for the airport, where he and three other pilots commandeered T-28 propeller-driven fighters, which they used to bomb and strafe the army's Chainimo garrison just outside the city.

Vientiane was hardly surprised. For days the capital had whispered of an impending coup, and even the Communist Pathet Lao radio had broadcast a warning twelve hours before Ma's move that there would be an uprising. The reason for all the confident predictions was that right-wingers within the military were upset by the terms of the political deal that Souvanna had all but signed with the Pathet Lao (TIME, Aug. 13). Conservatives grumbled that the prince was giving the Communists too many key posts in the proposed coalition government and allowing them to maintain too many soldiers in Vientiane and in Luangprabang, the royal capital. To seasoned observers of Laotian politics, who recall the spate of right-wing tries at coups in the early 1960s, the only uncertainty was how many of Souvanna's generals would desert him. As it turned out last week, none did.

Hard-lining Thao Ma found himself nearly alone. Instead of rallying to him, the army and its officers at first were confused and disorganized. America's charge d'affaires, John Gunther Dean, exploited this hesitation with quick, decisive action. He saw that Souvanna was rushed to a secure and secret hiding place. Then Dean sped from one group of generals to another, consulted with the Pathet Lao, and even confronted Ma at the airport. Everywhere his message was the same: the U.S. would not abandon Souvanna and would not support the rebels. Since the Laotian armed forces get all of their equipment and money from the U.S., his message carried weight. The army stayed with Souvanna. The only army losses were the two soldiers who died when their Jeep crashed into a utility pole on the road to the airport.

By noon, just hours after the coup erupted, the government broadcast over the radio that "calm reigns in all regions." Ma had been captured after his plane crash-landed on its return to the Vientiane airport. Injured in the crash, he was placed under guard in the back of an open truck. Later, he was executed by an officer who fired a .45-cal. bullet into his temple. The government rounded up eleven other plotters and also shot them. Ironically, the coup's failure could hasten the kind of Laotian peace that it sought to prevent. Souvanna has emerged with his position strengthened by the firm support of the U.S. and the army.

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