In 1976 a national referendum ratified a new constitution, with 97.7% in favour, which secured the Communist Party's central role in governing Cuba.
Communist rule in Laos began in March 1975 after the Khmer Rouge army took power with the support of the North Vietnamese after the Fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War.
In December 1975 King Sisavang Vatthana was forced to abdicate and the Lao People's Democratic Republic was pronounced, and a very authoritarian system introduced – non-communist newspapers were closed, and a large-scale purge of the civil service, army and police was launched.
The Democratic Party of Vietnam was formed and, due to failed negotiations between anti-communist French, led to the First Indochina War.
The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was founded on April 30, 1978, following the Saur Revolution, a military coup led by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), overthrew the government of President Mohammed Daoud Khan, who had established a republic in 1973 after ending the monarchy.