After 1975 and for the next 10 years, Vietnam was a communist prison camp, a tropical Gulag according to my wife who grew up there.
There's a whole catalog of horror stories: midnight house searches; land appropriations (my MIL lost 200 hectares of farmland); rice rationing (in Vietnam!?!?!); abductions (my FIL stayed in a monastery for nearly 10 years to avoid "reeducation"); etc.
The country was going straight down the toilet until 1989, when "do moi" capitalism was introduced.
The Hanoi Stalinsts and their supporters in the South are, fortunately, very susceptible to the charms of the U.S. dollar, so I have ongoing hope that capitalism will eventually prevail.
"...so I have ongoing hope that capitalism will eventually prevail."
Along with capitalism hopefully more freedoms will follow. My old pastor is involved with the underground Christian church in Vietnam. State "Christian" churches are allowed to a certain degree. Bibles are not allowed though as she smuggles some in each trip. Christian leaders are arrested if they don't toe the line - so I imagine not all of the "re-education facilities" have closed their doors.
I view political systems as primarily run by representitives, totalitatians or gangsters. Gangsters are highly preferable to totalitarians. If Vietnam is shifting from totalitarianism to gangsterism, it's a plus.