Sanchez Denied Entry to Vietnam

Plans by Rep. Loretta Sanchez to meet with Vietnamese dissidents during her current trip to Southeast Asia have been blocked by authorities there.

A message posted on Vietnam’s National Assembly website said the congresswoman was denied an entry visa because her visit “would not serve Vietnam-U.S. relations.”

According to the announcement, U.S. Embassy officials in Hanoi were told Sanchez “lacks objectivity and goodwill toward Vietnam.”

Sanchez (D-Anaheim), a frequent critic of Vietnam’s human rights record, was in Thailand on Friday and unavailable for comment.

Sanchez spokeswoman Paula Negrete said Sanchez was traveling alone and had hoped to meet with several dissidents who were under house arrest.

She applied for a travel visa in May but never heard back from the Vietnamese.

This week, Vietnamese officials told the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi that Sanchez would not be allowed in the country.

Negrete said Sanchez visited Vietnam in 1999 as part of a congressional delegation and the following year as a member of a congressional party accompanying President Clinton.

She met with dissidents on both occasions, Negrete said.

In a written statement issued by her office, Sanchez said she was disappointed Vietnamese officials refused her entry but was not surprised, saying that the government “has proved its intolerance in dealing with people who do not share its point of view.”

Sanchez, a member of the Congressional Vietnam Caucus, represents the largest expatriate Vietnamese community in the United States.

Negrete said Sanchez met with Thai officials to discuss the smuggling of people into the United States who end up working as virtual slaves or sex workers.