u/rivainirogue - originally from r/GenZhou
Oh the West knows about Laos but in 2009 the Obama administration simply declared that Laos had ‘‘ceased to be a Marxist-Leninist country.’’

So the Marxism understanders over in the White House just made a declaration and then lifted the ban on Laotian companies from getting financing from the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

So they’re hoping to corrupt the country with capitalistic thought, but so far “in Vientiane, the capital, news of the U.S. policy change was perplexing for Klongmanee Boonliang, an amiable saleswoman in a government-run bookshop. Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin are still best sellers, she said. Every month, schools and offices buy 400 to 500 poster-size portraits of the two men and hang them in prominent places. ‘‘The Smile of Lenin,’’ one of several booklets praising Lenin on the shelves, also sells well.

‘‘He was a brave and smart person,’’ she said, offering an impromptu homily to the founder of Soviet communism. ‘‘Everyone wants to get lessons from him. It’s still important.’’