The Lao Dong central committee decided in early May 1959 to initiate a new phase of violent revolution in the South with the avowed purpose of overthrowing the Diem regime.
Although couched in the usual Aesopian language of such occa- sions, the message contained in a 14 May Nhan Dan editorial
on this party conference was clear. Utilizingthe "advanta- geous))shift in the world balance of forces and supported by
"an unprecedently f i r m North Vietnam and socialist camp," the party's compatriots in the South were exhorted "to struggle.. . in the tradition of the 1941 and 1945 uprisings.. .and by all necessary forms and measures to achieve the goal of revolution.t1 This decision was implemented in the fall of 1959 and the win-- ter of 1959-1960 by sharply stepping up sabotage and terrorist operations in the South and*.bysharply increasing the flow of cadres and arms to newly activated guerrilla battalions in
South Vietnam.