Hillary Clinton on Wednesday became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Laos since 1955 and mainly focused on the damage done and aftermath of the Vietnam War.
“Here in Laos, the past is always with us. I just finished touring [Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise, which is funded by the U.S.], a painful reminder of the legacy of the Vietnam War era,” she said, according to a transcript.
There are “an estimated 80 million unexploded cluster bombs remain scattered across Laos, and they continue to kill or injure about a hundred people a year,” she said, adding that the number of people who have been injured has declined in recent years.
Of the millions of tons of explosives dumped on the communist, Southeast Asian country, around 30 percent did not detonate.
The United States has spent $59 million since 1995 to clean up the unexploded devices and is adding another $4 million to the effort this year.
“I hope others in the international community will join us in our efforts to bring this legacy of the Vietnam War era to a safe end,” Clinton said.
In the past 40 years since the end of the war, around 20,000 Laotians have been killed or maimed due to left over explosives from the bombing runs, according to the United Nations.
The last secretary of state to visit the country was John Foster Dulles, who visited the then-monarchy in 1955. The country was overtaken by Soviet-backed communists in 1975.
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