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ByNancyBenac The Associated Press HANOI, VIETNAM Eager to banish lingering shadows of the Vietnam War, Pres- ident Barack Obama lifted the U.S. embargo on sell- ing arms to America's for- mer enemy Monday and made the case for a more trusting and prosperous relationship going forward. Activists said the president was being too quick to gloss over serious human rights abuses in his push to estab- lish warmer ties. After spending his first day in Vietnam shuttling among meetings with dif- ferent government leaders, Obama will spend the next two days speaking directly to the Vietnamese people and meeting with civil so- ciety groups and young en- trepreneurs. It's all part of his effort to "upgrade" the U.S. relationship with an emerging economic power in Southeast Asia and a na- tion that the U.S. also hopes can serve as a counter- weight to Chinese aggres- sion in the region. Tracing the arc of the U.S.-Vietnamese relation- ship through cooperation, conflict, "painful separa- tion" and a long reconcilia- tion, Obama marveled dur- ing a news conference with the Vietnamese president that "if you consider where we have been and where we are now, the transfor- mation in the relations be- tween our two countries is remarkable." President Tran Dai Quang said later at a lav- ish state luncheon that he was grateful for the Amer- ican people's efforts to put an end to "an unhappy chapter in the two coun- tries' history," referring to the 1965-1975 U.S. war with Vietnam's communists, who now run the country. The conflict killed 57,000 American military person- nel and as many as 2 mil- lion Vietnamese military and civilians. Quang added, though, that "the wounds of the war have not been fully healed in both countries." Still, Quang said, both sides are determined to have a more cooperative re- lationship. That mindset was evi- dent in the friendly crowds that lined the streets as Obama's motorcade zig- zagged around Hanoi on Monday. And when Obama emerged from a tiny Viet- namese restaurant after a $6 dinner with CNN per- sonality Anthony Bour- dain, the president shook hands with members of the squealing crowd and waved as if he really didn't want to get back in the limousine. Obama was to address the Vietnamese people on Tuesday morning. A White House official said the president would use his address to stress the im- portance of having a "con- structive dialogue" even when the two nations dis- agree — including on hu- man rights. But that is unlikely to mollify activists, who said the president had given up his best leverage for press- ing Vietnam to improve its rights record by lifting the arms embargo. Duy Hoang, U.S.-based spokesman for Viet Tan, a pro-democracy party that is banned inside Vietnam, said that until Vietnam makes progress on human rights, the U.S. should not sell it military gear that could be used against the population. "The U.S. should also re- iterate the message that closer security cooperation is to bolster Vietnam's ex- ternal security and that the proper role of the Vietnam- ese military is to protect the nation, not the current po- litical regime," Hoang said by e-mail. Veterans were split. Ber- nard Edelman, deputy di- rector of government affairs for the Vietnam Veterans of America, cited the good co- operation surrounding ef- forts to account for troops still missing in action. "The war's over," he said, noting his group hasn't taken an official position. But Steve Rylant of Love- land, Colorado, who served at Ubon Air Base in Thai- land during the Vietnam war, said he was "offended." ASIA TRIP ObamabanishingVietnamWar vestige by li ing arms embargo CAROLYNKASTER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS U.S. President Barack Obama, le , and Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang shake hands at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Monday. JAE C. HONG — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., greets supporters a er speaking at a rally in Carson. By Ken Thomas and Mary Clare Jalonick The Associated Press LOS ANGELES Two weeks before Puerto Rico's pri- mary, Democratic presi- dential candidate Bernie Sanders says a deal be- tween House leaders and the Obama administration to help the island out of debt has colonialist over- tones. In a letter to fellow Sen- ate Democrats on Monday, the Vermont senator says the House bill to create a control board and allow some restructuring of the U.S. territory's $70 billion debt would make "a terri- ble situation even worse." House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and the Obama administration are supporting the Republican legislation, which is sched- uled for a committee vote this week. Sanders said the bill would empower an "un- elected and undemocratic oversight board" and crit- icized the legislation for allowing the governor of Puerto Rico to cut the min- imum wage temporarily for some younger workers. "We must stop treat- ing Puerto Rico like a col- ony and start treating the American citizens of Puerto Rico with the re- spect and dignity that they deserve," Sanders wrote. Sanders is trailing Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the presiden- tial primaries and Clinton has outperformed Sand- ers among Latino voters. Both are competing in the June 5 Puerto Rican pri- mary. In a statement last week, Clinton said she has serious concerns about the power of the control board but believes the legislation should move forward, or "too many Puerto Ricans will continue to suffer." So far, Sanders' opposi- tion hasn't swayed Demo- crats who are supporting the bill. Puerto Rico, which has struggled to overcome a lengthy recession, has missed several payments to creditors and faces a $2 billion installment, the largest yet, on July 1. Two government agencies have been under a state of emergency, and the eco- nomic crisis has forced businesses to close, driven up the employment rate and sparked an exodus of hundreds of thousands of people to the U.S. main- land. Sanders criticizes Pu er to R ic o de bt p la n POLITICS InPrintEveryTuesday-Thursday-Saturday Online:Publishes24/7 www.redbluffdailynews.com Threeadditionalonline locations at no extra cost! 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