VIETNAM paid tribute to the role of Venezuelan guerillas for their role in the kidnapping of US Lieutenant Colonel Michael Smolen in a bid to halt the execution of Nguyen Van Troi nearly 60 years ago.

A ceremony was held at the Vietnamese embassy in Caracas with the general secretary of the Communist Party of Venezuela Oscar Figuera and its international secretary Carolus Wimmer among the attendees.

Troi was captured by South Vietnamese forces while trying to assassinate then US secretary of defence Robert McNamara and future ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge during a May 1964 visit.

Venezuela’s National Liberation Armed Forces (Faln) forces kidnapped Lt Col Smolen in Caracas, threatening to kill him unless Troi was released.

Despite a brief reprieve, Troi was executed by firing squad in October 1964 while Smolen was released unharmed.

Troi refused absolution by a priest, saying it was the US and not him that had sinned.

His execution by firing squad was filmed and he remained defiant until the end. His last words were “long live Vietnam.”

Vietnamese ambassador Le Viet Duyen expressed his “deep appreciation” to the former Faln combatants who took part in the 1964 operation, calling their action “a show of sacrifice, courage and solidarity that the people of Vietnam will remember forever.”