តួអង្គ ខ្មែរ (និងតួអង្គ យួន)

នៃវៀតណាមនីយកម្ម (អាណានិគម យោធា យួន)

PRK Cast of Characters of Vietnamese Military Occupation:

Cambodian and Vietnamese

The Cambodian Cast of Characters

The Cambodian communists had their origin, training, support from the Vietnamese communists since Ho Chi Minh’s Indochina Communist Party—save the couple of years in 1977, 1978 when the KR broke from unified communist Vietnam.

Hun Sen (center back), Chea Sim (white shirt front), Heng Samrin (front L)—of the Khmer Rouge —defected to Vietnam (fearing being the next purged) where Vietnam grouped them with the Khmer Viêt Minh already in Hanoi—Chan Si (2nd R), Pen Sovan (front center) among others—and propped them up as the Cambodian face during its invasion of Cambodia in Dec. 1978 and subsequent military occupation.

Front (Left to Right from Khmer): Bou Thang, Mat Ly, Ros Samay, Hun Sen, Mean (Men?) Sam An (f), Chuok Chim (f).

Back Row (Left to Right from Khmer): Say Phouthang, Som Kim Suot (f), Keo Chenda, Chea Sim, Heng Samrin, Nuch Thon, Ong Phon, Pen Sovan (glasses), Nou Beng, Chan Ven, Chay Kanha (f).

Vietnam's hidden hand in Cambodia's impasse

By Hassan A Kasem / Asia Times Online | 9 October 2013

Dr Markus Karbaum, a German academic, revealed in an April Southeast Asia Globe article that Vietnamese officials shared dossiers kept on Cambodia's current ruling elite with the former East Germany's Stasi soon after their defection from the Khmer Rouge in 1977. A young Hun Sen, whose real name according to his dossier was "Hun Bonal", referred to himself as "Hai Phuc", a Vietnamese name, apparently to ingratiate himself with Hanoi. He had served as a Khmer Rouge battalion commander but downplayed his role in commanding over 2,000 soldiers along their shared border at a time the Khmer Rouge had launched many violent cross-border assaults into Vietnam.

The Stasi archive reveals that Hun Sen and other current CPP leaders were first placed in a detention camp and ordered by Vietnamese authorities to write their own biographies. Vietnam's own assessments of those who sought to shift their allegiance to Hanoi were often unforgiving. Current CPP stalwart and president of the Cambodian Senate Chea Sim, for instance, was characterized as "conciliatory, craven and undecided". Heng Samrin, CPP honorary president and a National Assembly chairman, is referred to in the Stasi archive as of "a low education .. [He] does not talk a lot and sometimes he has an inferiority complex ... his political understanding is limited".

1. Pen Sovann

Vietnam-trained revolutionary, Vietnam propped him up as the first PRK secretary-general, PRK vice-president, PRK minister of defense and in 1981 prime minister.

Vietnam imprisoned its first propped-up Cambodian prime minister Pen Sovan in solitary confinement in Hanoi when he refused to implement Le Duc Tho’s Vietnamization policy. (He was only released as a condition set in the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements to free all political prisoners.) Vietnam replaced him with Chan Si, its propped up defense minister. Vietnam had him killed in Dec. 1984 when he refused to continue to implement the K5 plan, a success legal genocide targeting Cambodian males between the ages of 18-48. In January 1985, Vietnam filled the prime minister position with its favorite son, then its propped foreign minister Hun Sen (a position he retained additionally). 1985 would see the explosion of K5 genocidal deaths of the Cambodian male population. The rest, as they say, is history. But as they also say, the past is not dead; it’s not even past.

2. Heng Samrin

Khmer Rouge military commander of Eastern Zone, fled to Vietnam fearing the next purged in 1978. Vietnam propped him up as the first president of the PRK and head of state; PRK secretary-general in 1981 (replacing Pen Sovann); member of PRK Politburo; vice-president and now president of the National Assembly.

3. Chan Si (Sy)

Trained in Hanoi, returned to Cambodia in 1979 as chief of PRK political department of the army, member of the PRK Politburo. PRK minister of defense in 1981 replacing Pen Sovann. PRK prime minister in December 1981 until his murder in December 1984.

The Post: After you, the next Prime Minister was Chan Si. In Margaret Slocumb's book The People's Republic of Kampuchea 1979-1989 [pp 143-144], she wrote that you believed Chan Si was killed by Hun Sen at a banquet in Phnom Penh in 1987. How did Chan Si die?

Pen Sovann: I could not give any comments about how the former Prime Minister Chan Si died because I could get in trouble if I speak. This [story] has a lot of secrets.

- Realpolitik with Pen Sovann, Phnom Penh Post, Issue 16 / 04, February 23 - March 8, 2007

4. Hun Sen

Khmer Rouge military commander of the Eastern Zone; one of the first to defect to Vietnam in 1977, fearing the next purged. Vietnam propped him up as PRK minister of foreign affairs at age of 26 in 1979 and member of PRK Politburo. Due to his loyalty to Vietnam and ambition, PRK deputy prime minister in 1981 and prime minister in January 1985.

Hun Sen in the 1980s as Vietnam's propped PRK foreign minister at 28 years old, meeting with the Vietnamese ambassador every morning to get his orders from Hanoi; he added PRK prime minister to his duties, retaining foreign ministry, in January 1985.

From Deliver Us From Evil, by William Shawcross

Sacravatoon

Lots of Love for Big Brother Vietnam, his Maker

Not so much for Little Brother King Norodom Sihamoni -- him, the Kingmaker

(During the Khmer New Year ceremonies every April at the Khemarin Palace where all the government ministers attend and kneel before the King, Hun Sen who used to attend when King Father Sihanouk was alive and kneeled, no longer attends and does not kneel before King Sihamoni.)

RFA interview, 13 Sept. 2019

14 September 2019

Who is insulting the King?

Royals are just like normal people: some are strong and some are weak.

The previous king and the current one are chalk and cheese. King H.M. Norodom Sihanouk used to intervene in favour of weak and suffering citizens who are victims of injustices by the powerful and the rich. For example, in 1996 the King welcomed at the Royal Palace a group of workers led by Sam Rainsy and he helped solve a series of industrial disputes that were paralysing a large number of textile factories in Phnom Penh where working conditions were appalling at that time. The King also used to issue royal statements to defend our people’s and our country’s interests. In particular he used to defend Cambodia’s independence and territorial integrity as well as the freedom and human rights of his people, which led to his defence of democracy. He was also the champion of national reconciliation because he wanted to strengthen our nation through national unity. An example we should not forget is the fact that he never accepted to inaugurate any new term of the National Assembly without the presence of all political parties having won legislative seats. Just after the 2003 national elections, even though the CPP and Funcinpec had agreed to cooperate for the start of the National Assembly’s 3rd term, the King refused to show up to endorse the event as long as the Sam Rainsy Party did not also join the official opening. The monarch wanted to make it clear that he considered himself as King for the entire Cambodian people, and not just for a segment.

If we now turn to the current King we notice that he has never bothered to intervene in favour of the people who are victims of various abuses and injustices such as land grabs, the arrest and detention of innocent people, or the shooting and violent beating of weak citizens who dare to ask for justice. This King has never opened his eyes to see the sufferings of his people. He has always blindly accepted and endorsed any unjust and repressive laws initiated by Cambodia’s dictator Hun Sen. This means he is perceived as Hun Sen’s accomplice, meaning a puppet King who is only interested in his own safety and comfort. The notable example we should remember is the letter he wrote, apparently on the order of someone he must fear, whereby he called on the Cambodian people to take part in the fake election held on 29 July 2018 without the participation of the opposition. After that, he shamelessly went to inaugurate that controversial 6th term of the National Assembly where only the CPP is represented. That single-party Assembly doesn’t represent the entire Cambodian people; it shockingly ignores the CNRP, which represents – as reflected in the last elections in which it was allowed to participate in 2013 and 2017 – practically half of the Cambodian electorate. A King like the one we have now doesn’t deserve our love and our respect.

But it is Hun Sen who has been the most disrespectful to the King: he is actually holding him hostage and seriously insulted him when he threatened to abolish the monarchy and proclaim a republic if the monarch refused in 2005 to endorse a traitorous border treaty that recognised and legitimised the loss of large portions of Cambodia’s territory to a neighbouring country.

Please listen to the harsh words spoken by Hun Sen’s in 2005 at http://youtu.be/xyJ3uHceNGE

“I have been accused of lèse-majesté by Prime Minister Hun Sen. I accuse Hun Sen of taking King Norodom Sihamoni as a hostage to try to legitimate his illegal government arising from the false election of 2018. My views reflect those of a large part of the population and it is not a crime to state them. Unlike his father Norodom Sihanouk, this king has never opened his eyes to see the sufferings of his people. This king has always blindly accepted and endorsed the unjust and repressive laws initiated by Cambodia’s dictator Hun Sen. This means he is perceived as Hun Sen’s accomplice, a puppet king who is only interested in his own safety and comfort.” http://twitter.com/rainsysam?lang=en

កាលពីមុន ការបោះឆ្នោតក្លែងក្លាយ ថ្ងៃ ២៩ កក្កដា ២០១៨, ខ្ញុំ សម រង្ស៊ី បានអំពាវនាវ ទៅកាន់ ប្រជារាស្ត្រខ្មែរ សូម កុំ ទៅចូលរួម ការបោះឆ្នោតបែបនេះ ដែលរៀបធ្វើឡើង ក្រោយពី ហ៊ុន សែន បានរំលាយ គណបក្សសង្គ្រោះជាតិ។ តែ ប៉ុន្មានថ្ងៃប៉ុណ្ណោះ ក្រោយពី សេចក្តីអំពាវនាវ របស់ខ្ញុំនេះ ស្រាប់តែ ហ៊ុន សែន បានបញ្ជា ឲ្យមហាក្សត្រ សព្វថ្ងៃ ធ្វើសេចក្តីអំពាវនាវ ផ្ទុយពី សេចក្តីអំពាវនាវ របស់ខ្ញុំ, គឺ ព្រះអង្គ ជម្រុញ ឲ្យប្រជារាស្ត្រ ទៅចូលរួម ក្នុងការបោះឆ្នោត ក្លែងក្លាយនោះ ទៅវិញ។ ថ្មីៗនេះ ខ្ញុំ បានទទួល ព័ត៌មាន ថា ហ៊ុន សែន ត្រៀមបញ្ជា មហាក្សត្រ ឲ្យធ្វើសេចក្តីអំពាវនាវ មួយទៀត ដែលមានបំណង ទប់ស្កាត់ មិនឲ្យ ប្រជារាស្ត្រ ទៅទទួលស្វាគមន៍ខ្ញុំ ថ្ងៃ ០៩ វិច្ឆិកា ខាងមុខនេះ ពីព្រោះ ហ៊ុន សែន ភ័យខ្លាច មាតុភូមិនិវត្តន៍ របស់ខ្ញុំ ខ្លាំងណាស់។ ដូច្នេះ អ្វីៗ ដែលមហាក្សត្រ សព្វថ្ងៃ ធ្វើ គឺ ព្រះអង្គ ធ្វើតាមបញ្ជាពី ហ៊ុន សែន ទាំងអស់។

A few weeks before the fake election held on 29 July 2018 without the participation of the CNRP -- which Hun Sen dissolved in 2017 -- I, Sam Rainsy, appealed to the Cambodian people to boycott such a shameful election. But only a few days following my appeal, Hun Sen ordered the current King to issue an opposite appeal urging the Cambodian people to participate in that fake election. I have recently learned that Hun Sen is to order the King to issue another appeal to try to dissuade the people from going to welcome me on the day of my return to Cambodia on 9 November 2019 because Hun Sen is very afraid of my return. Therefore, whatever our puppet King does, he only does it under Hun Sen's orders.

- Sam Rainsy, 22 Sept. 2019

5. Men Sam An

President Truong Tan Sang (R) meets with Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Men Sam An (Photo: VNA)

Politburo member since October 1985 and most influential woman in PRK leadership . . . alternate member of Central Committee since 1981, full member since 1984 . . . protege of Le Duc Anh, major factor in meteoric rise to Politburo . . . Defense Minister Bou Thang also may be patron . . . has received unusually large amount of foreign publicity as occasional party spokesperson . . . head of KPRP's Propaganda and Education Commission, 1984-85 . . . chairman of Central Organization Committee of party Central Committee since last October, powerful position in charge of building party and making all party appointments. . . joined Khmer Rouge in 1970 . . . studied Communist doctrine in Vietnam . . . in mid-1970s apparently worked as agent in Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge for anti—Khmer Rouge Cambodians . . . after 1979 ouster of Khmer Rouge, served as chairman of a unit in PRK Ministry of Defense . . . about 33 years old . . . married to Peng Patt, who possibly is Vice Minister of Economic Cooperation.

- CAMBODIA: How Viable the Heng Samrin Regime? CIA Intelligence Assessment, 1986

ខួប មួយឆ្នាំ ដែលគណះប្រតិភូ កងទ័ពយួន មកគោរព វិញ្ញាណក្ខន្ធ សព ប្តី ម៉ែន សំអន (៣ មិនា ២០១៦ - ៣ មិនា ២០១៧)។​  A delegation of Vietnamese military leaders come to pay their respects to Men Sam An on the one-year anniversary of the death of her husband, 3 March 2016 - 3 March 2017

The current Deputy Prime Minister Madam Men Sam An is a Vietnam loyalist. When Hun Sen was at his nadir in December 2013 (after months and months of nearly daily peaceful, pro-democracy demonstrations and gatherings at then-Democracy Square, contemplating making room for the Cambodia Spring, Vietnam threatened to replace him with Madam Men Sam An if he didn’t pull himself together. There were multiple visits from Cambodia to Vietnam and Vietnam to Cambodia of the highest government and military officials in December 2013. Finally, Hun Sen did pull himself together by Vietnam’s carrot-and-stick prodding/threats in the Veng Sreng bloodletting on 3-4 January 2014 against garment workers. Vietnam’s Prime Minister paid another visit shortly after in that same January to offer congratulations of a job well done.

(Sept. 2015): Hanoi's current favorite is Deputy Prime Minister Men Sam An, first woman to this post. Remember when earlier in June of this year when the culture of dialogue was at its most promising point, Hun Sen showed openness revisiting the 2005 and other border treaties with Vietnam and when the 'Foreign Affairs Ministry last week sent a strongly-worded missive to Vietnam demanding it “respect the borderline”', Hanoi reacted and threatened to replace Hun Sen with their (wo)man, Men Sam An. The culture of dialogue began to unravel from that time onward. And Hun Sen returned to his cowering position of prostrating before Big Brother Vietnam and violence against his own people.

Madam Men Sam An also oversees all the countless Vietnamese associations spread across Cambodia.

Vietnam supports peace building in Cambodia: senior official

VietNam Net Bridge | 22 June 2017

Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia Men Sam An, who is also Chairwoman of the Cambodia-Vientam Friendship Association

Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia Men Sam An has emphasised Vietnam’s assistance in building peace in her country during a recent interview with Vietnam News Agency on the threshold of the 50th founding anniversary of the countries’ diplomatic ties (June 24, 1967).

She said over the last five decades, Cambodia and Vietnam have built up traditional solidarity, friendship and cooperation. They have been side by side as brothers, comrades and neighbours and have obtained enormous victories in cooperation in all spheres.

During wartime, the two countries joined together to fight the common enemies of French colonialists and American imperialists and successfully liberate their nations, thus gaining independence, autonomy and freedom.

The Cambodian people always keep in mind the support of the people and volunteer soldiers of Vietnam, who sacrificed their lives to help free Cambodia from Pol Pot’s genocidal regime on January 7, 1979. After Cambodia was liberated, Vietnam strongly assisted the country to organise local administration and build state power at grassroots levels. It also sent many technical experts to help build a new country of Cambodia and prevent the return of the genocidal regime, she noted.

“The great friend Vietnam helped build peace in Cambodia,” the Deputy PM stressed. She said people of the two countries have had relations in all aspects, especially goods exchange. Travel activities in border areas are also increasing as both sides agreed to boost transport connectivity in all forms, from roads, waterways to aviation.

Men Sam An said on behalf of the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Association and the Cambodian people, she thanked the Party, State, army and people of Vietnam for greatly supporting the Cambodian people throughout history.

With regard to the milestones in bilateral ties, she noted the two peoples and armies have been good and faithful neighbours assisting each other in hardships. The two countries have developed very close-knit friendship and cooperation and mutual understanding. The Communist Party of Vietnam and the Cambodian People’s Party also have similar policies which highlight the friendship spirit and not intervene into each other’s internal affairs.

To enhance their relations, Vietnam and Cambodia should maintain all-faceted cooperation, particularly mutual visits to learn from each other’s experience, the official said, adding that they need to together resolve problems and difficulties by peaceful measures and avoid the use of force or weapons.

It is also necessary to educate younger generations to respect each other and love peace, Deputy PM Men Sam An noted.

6. Say Phouthang

A Vietnam-trained revolutionary. An ethnic Thai, native of Koh Kong who joined the Khmer Rouge military, rebelled against Pol Pot in 1973. Lived along the Thai border during the Khmer Rouge years. Vietnam brought him back in 1979 as member of PRK Politburo and chair of PRK Central Organization Committee.

Pen Sovan recalled when Hun Sen and Say Phouthang accompanied Vietnamese soldiers to arrest him as 1st Vietnamese-installed Prime Minister at his residence in Phnom Penh, bounded him onto plane for solitary confinement in Hanoi. Vietnam installed Chan Si (or Chan Sy), then its propped-up Defense Minster, as PRK’s 2nd Prime Minister. '

He was later murdered in December 1984 for his refusal to continue implementing the K5 Genocide, the killing off of Cambodian males; according to Pen Sovan, between the ages of 18-48 years.

Vietnam filled the vacant PM position with Foreign Minister Hun Sen in January 1985.

Vietnam also at this time replaced the Hanoi Khmers (ex. Pen Sovan, Chan Si) with the more battle-hardened Khmer Rouge (Hun Sen, Chea Sim) into senior, executive leadership.

Psychologically they were more ready to please and kill compared to those who had been away from the battlefields in the safety of Hanoi since the 1950s. The K5 plan took off with even greater fury.

In December 1981, it was not politically viable to kill Pen Sovan even if sickness was given for his absence from the scene in the shroud of darkness. Also the K5 plan had not been fully off the ground. Chan Si, however, had to die. As Defense Minister, having overseen for 3 years the conscription en masse, he knew intimately the cost to lives, particularly Cambodian men’s, particularly massive deaths’ fury in 1984.

Click to read complete chapter on his imprisonment, on Facebook.

Hun Sen and other senior CPP leaders visiting Say Phouthang in hospital in Bangkok (Hun Sen's Facebook)

កាលពីប៉ុន្មានថ្ងៃ មុននេះ ខ្ញុំ បានដឹកនាំ ក្រុមគណៈប្រតិភូ ទៅមើល សួរសុខទុក្ខ លោកអុំ សាយ ភូថង អតីត អនុប្រធាន ក្រុមប្រឹក្សារដ្ឋ (អនុប្រធានរដ្ឋ) ដែលសម្រាក ព្យាបាល នៅទីក្រុង បាងកក ប្រទេសថៃ។ លោកអុំ សាយ ភូថង គឺ ជាឥស្សរៈជន ដឹកនាំ ដ៏សំខាន់ម្នាក់ របស់ គណបក្ស ប្រជាជន កម្ពុជា ដែលបាន លះបង់ និងបូជា គ្រប់យ៉ាង ក្នុងការ ចូលរួម រំដោះប្រទេស ពីរបប ខ្មែរក្រហម។ គួរ ឲ្យ​សោកស្តាយ ខ្លាំងបំផុត ដែលលោកអុំ សាយ ភូថង បានទទួល មរណៈភាព នៅថ្ងៃនេះ ដោយរោគាពាធ ក្នុងជន្មាយុ ៩៦ឆ្នាំ នៅទីក្រុង បាងកក។

នេះ គឺ ជាការ បាត់បង់ នូវមេដឹកនាំ ដ៏សំខាន់ បំផុតម្នាក់ របស់ កម្ពុជា។ គុណបំណាច់ និងការលះបង់ ដ៏ឧត្តុង្គឧត្តម របស់ លោកអុំ សាយ ភូថង ចំពោះ ជាតិមាតុភូមិ គឺ យើង ទាំអស់គ្នា ចងចាំ ជានិច្ច។

ខ្ញុំ នឹកឃើញ គ្រប់ស្ថានភាព និងគ្រប់កិច្ចការ ទាំងអស់ ដែលយើង បានរួមគ្នាធ្វើ ដើម្បី ការរស់រាន និងការ រីកចំរើន របស់ជាតិ។ នឹកឃើញ ដល់ការស្រឡាញ់ របស់អុំ ចំពោះខ្ញុំ និងកូនៗខ្ញុំ នៅពេល ពួកគេ នៅជាកុមារ។

ក្នុងនាមខ្ញុំ ផ្ទាល់ ជាប្រធាន គណបក្ស ប្រជាជន និងជានាយក រដ្ឋមន្រ្តី នៃព្រះរាជាណាចក្រ កម្ពុជា, ខ្ញុំ សូម ចូលរួម រំលែកទុក្ខ យ៉ាងក្រៀមក្រំ ជាមួយ ក្រុមគ្រួសារ សព និងសូម បួងសួង ដល់ដួងវិញ្ញាណក្ខ័ន្ត របស់ លោកអុំ បានសោយសុខ ក្នុងសុគតិភព កុំបីខាន៕

- Hun Sen on Facebook

CPP ‘main hero’ Say Pouthang dies aged 96

Phnom Penh Post | 14 June 2016

The fifth-highest ranked member of the Cambodian People’s Party’s politburo, Say Phouthang, an influential member of the country’s government in the 1980s, died yesterday while receiving treatment in Bangkok.

Prime Minister Hun Sen confirmed the 96-year-old’s death in a Facebook post calling Phouthang one of the CPP’s “main heroes who sacrificed everything to liberate the country from the Khmer Rouge regime”.

According to historian Margaret Slocomb’s The People’s Republic of Kampuchea – which details the regime which ran Cambodia in the 1980s – Phouthang fought French colonial forces as a Khmer Issarak commander before receiving training in Vietnam.

He returned to Cambodia with the Khmer Rouge, but was among the first to rebel against Pol Pot, Slocomb writes.

Following the Khmer Rouge’s toppling, Phouthang was “unarguably the most influential leader of the PRK” though the party elder’s influence began to wane as the decade continued and powerbases surrounding Hun Sen and late party president Chea Sim grew stronger.

hardman shows soft side: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen wipes away tears as he and Defence Minister Tea Banh, left, lead mourners at the funeral for Say Phouthang.

Tearful farewell for the Thai-born kingmaker who crowned Hun Sen

Say Phouthang played a guiding role in the most turbulent years of Cambodia's history

Bangkok Post, 26 June 2016

It's rare to see Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen break down in tears. But at a funeral in Trat last week, the political strongman openly wept for Thai-born Say Phouthang, who purportedly nominated Hun Sen for the top political post in 1985.

At Khlong Yai Temple in the border province, Hun Sen presided over the funeral of Say Phouthang, once regarded as one of the five most influential figures in the politburo of the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party. The party went on to become Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party.

Say Phouthang was one of the leaders of the Vietnam-backed alliance to oust the Khmer Rouge in 1979, in the wake of the brutal rule of Pol Pot. ...

Hun Sen paid tribute to Say Phouthang on Facebook shortly before he died, calling him one of the CPP's "main heroes who sacrificed everything to liberate the country from the Khmer Rouge regime". Hun Sen also posted a photo with the bedridden Say Phouthang at Rama IX Hospital in Bangkok. ...

The eulogy read by his relative, Yuth Phouthang, a former governor of Koh Kong, said Say Phouthang was a disciplined and isolated man who assumed several important political roles including as a member of the Central Organisation Committee of the party, which had the authority to select important political positions in Cambodia.

His political and military career began in the 1950s when he joined Khmer independence forces fighting the French colonialists. After Cambodia gained independence in 1953, he,along with other soldiers of the Khmer Liberation force, went to Vietnam to attend military training and study Marxism-Leninism.

According to Cambodia After the Khmer Rouge, Inside the Politics of Nation Building by Evan Gottesman, Say Phouthang returned to Koh Kong in 1970 to join the Khmer Rouge military, which would soon overthrow the Marshal Lon Nol government.

In 1973, Say Phouthang and Tea Banh rebelled against KR leader Pol Pot as Cambodia descended into bloodshed and chaos. They spent most of the Khmer Rouge period in Thailand or along the border.

During that period, Jakkrit said, Say Phouthang was introduced to Thai military officers, including Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and Gen Vichit. At the time, the Thai military was helping supply the Khmer...

Gottesman wrote, "Brought back to Phnom Penh by Vietnamese agents in the spring of 1979, Say Phouthang served as a member of the Politburo and as chair of the Central Organisation Committee of the Party. Following the arrest of Pen Sovan in December 1981, Say Phouthang was perhaps the most powerful Cambodian leader."

Hun Sen came into the picture after prime minister Chan Sy died in late 1984. The central committee had to elect a new prime minister.

Heng Samrin asked Say Phouthang for advice. Say Phutong pointed to Hun Sen, who was foreign minister at that time, said Jakkrit. The rest of the central committee members agreed.

"Say Phutong viewed that Hun Sen was more qualified due to his youth and leadership. Hun Sen was only 32 years old," he said. "Hun Sen seems to be grateful to Say Phouthang for believing in him to this day."

The eulogy described him as a dual citizen who is survived by three children living in Thailand.

7. Bou Thang

Bou Thang (Roland Neveu, Jan. 1981)

Bou Thang (CPP website uploaded 2015)

Despite being president, Mr. Samrin was described as the top Cambodian leader “in title but not in reality,” while Bou Thang, the longtime governor of Ratanakkiri province, was known as “the bulldozer” for his heavy-handed management style. (Hun Sen ‘Unpredictable and Easily Angered,’ CIA Files Say, The Cambodia Daily, 23 January 2017)

Minister of Defense and a vice chairman of the Council of Ministers since February 1982 . . . Politburo member responsible for defense since May 1981 . . . member of party secretariat known as "the bulldozer" because of management techniques joined anti-French Issarak Movement in 1954 and left to study in Hanoi same year . . . became Khmer Rouge district commander in northeast in 1970 . . . turned against Pol Pot in 1974 and organized guerrilla movement in northern Cambodia . . . speaks Vietnamese and Laotian . . . about 48 years old ( CIA Intelligence Assessment, 1986 -- CAMBODIA: How Viable the Heng Samrin Regime? Appendix)

Six families in Ratanakkiri province's Banlung district have accused CPP lawmaker Bou Thang of laying claim to land they have lived on since 1998 and threatening them with an AK-47 assault rifle, villagers and a rights worker said Monday. (Bou Thang, a CPP lawmaker, threatened villagers with an AK-47 assault rifle (The Cambodia Daily, 18 July 2006)

...the son-in-law of Bou Thang, lawmaker from the Cambodian People's Party, is turning himself into a most arrogant protector of illegal small-size sawmills. It is said that just in Ban Lung district alone about 40 sawmills of this type are operating smoothly under the warm protection of Yu Kanvimean, deputy chief of the local forest administration district... (translated from Moneakseka Khmer, 19 April 2007)

A Vietnam-trained revolutionary from Cambodia's northeast; member of Tapuon minority. Returned to Cambodia in the early 1970s, joined the Khmer Rouge military, returned to Vietnam in 1974. Chair of the PRK Central Propaganda Committee, member of PRK Politburo, PRK deputy prime minister (1982-1992), PRK minister of defense (1982-86). To this day, member of the CPP Politburo, CPP Member of the National Assembly.

8. Nhim Vanda

Khmer Rouge militia leader in Eastern Zone, fled to Vietnam in 1978 fearing the next purged. As PRK deputy minister of defense, he oversaw the K-5 genocide. Currently, member of the National Assembly for Prey Veng since 2003. 59 years old in 2007.

Nhim Vanda Promoted to Rank of 4-Star General

The Cambodia Daily | 5 October 2007

The Vietnamese Cast of Characters

1. Le Duc Tho

Le Duc Tho & Henry Kissinger

North Vietnamese Politburo Member Le Duc Tho, left, with National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger during peace talks on the Vietnam War at Gif-sur-Yvette near Paris, France, Nov. 23, 1973. The Nobel Peace Prize 1973 was awarded jointly to Henry A. Kissinger and Le Duc Tho. Le Duc Tho declined the prize. - ABC News

My Conversation with Relative

25 October 2016

Close Male Relative: I met Le Thuc Tho once. In 1979. I was a translator, personal assistant to the Minister of Education Chan Van. It was when all the Ministers stayed in one place every night for at least a couple of months in a military base where the Ministry of Education is now, behind Hun Sen's current residence near the Independence Monument.

Theary: Really? All the Khmer ministers propped up by Vietnam didn't sleep with their family at night but stayed together at a particular location?

Relative: Yes, for security reason, but only for several months.

Theary: Le Duc Tho was quite something; he refused the Nobel Peace Prize given to him and Kissinger. And this senior diplomat who was the chief negotiator with Kissinger in Paris was the political commander of Cambodia during occupation.

Relative: The Vietnamese expert who was the deputy Minister of Education Nguyen Hu Dung (with a "y" sound, rather than the D sound when there's a slash across the D) -- deputy to the Vietnamese Minister of Education who was this beautiful Vietnamese woman, from France, she spoke flawless French -- Nguyen Thi Binh -- he told a group of us that at one Paris meeting, after Kissinger and Le Duc Tho shook hands, Kissinger immediately took out his hankerchief and wiped his hands. At the next Paris meeting, after Kissinger and Le Duc Tho shook hands, Le Duc Tho immediately wiped his butt with that hand.

Theary: Tell me more about the Vietnamese experts.

Relative: At our Ministry of Education at the old location [where PUC is now located near Malis Restaurant] Vietnamese experts came every day -- the deputy Minister of Education Nguyen (Hu Dung, I think) and several other Cabinet members. At night, they all stayed together with the Khmer ministers at the military base near the Independence Monument behind Hun Sen's house. They'd would return to Vietnam for several days and come back for several days, constantly moving back and forth.

Relative: The Khmer ministers would make passionate, lengthy speeches thinking their Vietnamese experts are listening and taking their words to heart. So naive. I know. I was the translator. They'd speak for lengthy periods of time and MAYBE one word or phrase of theirs would make it into the official document, controlled by the Vietnamese.

The news reached Ieng Sary in Hanoi soon after 10 a.m. ...

Sary telephoned the office of the Vietnamese Workers' Party Central Committee and asked to be put through to Le Duc Tho, the Politburo member who the previous year had shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Henry Kissinger for ending the war in Vietnam. Tho had ultimate responsibility for relations with the Cambodian communists. ...

Sary's chagrin was short-lived. A few hours later, Tho arrived in person, wreathed in smiles, accompanied by aides bearing enormous bouquets  of flowers --with a request, slipped in deftly between the Vietnamese leadership's congratulations, that the new Cambodian authorities allow free passage across their territory to Vietnamese troops coming south for the final offensive against the American-backed regime in Saigon.

- Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare by Philip Short (Prologue)

Le Duc Tho in POL POT by Philip Short. Read more here.

Initially, the occupation was dominated by Le Duc Tho. Remembered for his condescending lectures to the Cambodian leadership, Tho was seen by Cambodians and Vietnamese alike as the embodiment of Vietnamese arrogance.

- Evan Gottesman, Cambodia: After the Khmer Rouge

2. Le Duan

Brezhnev and Le Duan. Moscow 1975

Le Duan succeeded Ho Chi Minh. Vietnam's aging leadership in the 1980s: (from left to right) Phạm Văn Đồng, Trường Chinh who succeeded Lê Duẩn when he died in 1986.

Upon Ho’s death in 1969, Le Duan, as first secretary to the Vietnam Worker’s Party, assumed party leadership—a position that he retained after the party’s reorganization as the Vietnamese Communist Party in 1976. At that time, his official title became secretary-general. After the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, Le Duan led the party through a difficult period that witnessed the formal reunification of Vietnam, the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia, and the country’s break with China and the expulsion of much of its ethnic Chinese community. Vietnam under Le Duan entered into a close alliance with the Soviet Union and became a member of Comecon (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance). - Encyclopaedia Britannica

Le Duan, left, general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, with Ho Chi Minh at a rally in Hanoi in 1966

The real leader was Le Van Nhuan, who later took the name Le Duan, a nondescript party official from humble origins in central Vietnam. Largely out of sight from American intelligence, Le Duan ruled the party with an iron fist from the late 1950s until his death in 1986. No general secretary before or after him was

… Le Duan’s operations in the South and his partnership with Le Duc Tho proved critical in his rise to the top and influenced his policies once there.

Le Duan in POL POT by Philip Short. Read more here.

3. General Vo Nguyen Giap

Read more about Gen. Giap in POL POT by Philip Short on Facebook.

4. Le Duc Anh

(AFP, 23 April 2019)

HANOI (AFP) - General Le Duc Anh, a Communist Party hardliner and former Vietnamese president who led the invasion of Cambodia which led to the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime, has died aged 99....

He is best remembered for playing a commanding role in the invasion of Cambodia that drove Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge out of Phnom Penh in 1978, earning him the nickname "Tiger of Cambodia".

Former Vietnamese President Le Duc Anh Passes Away at 99

A four-war veteran, Anh led the Vietnamese troops deployed in Cambodia after Pol Pot genocidal regime was defeated in 1979. Although Vietnam withdrew from the neighboring country in 1989, Ahn is credited with the final defeat of the Khmer Rouge in 1998.

Le Duc Anh was a Minister of Defense from 1978 to 1991 and he assumed the presidency of Vietnam in 1992, until he resigned five years later due to health problems.

Wikipedia:

From 1991 (to 1993) Anh controlled Vietnamese policy towards Cambodia and China and therefore was involved in the normalisation of Vietnam's relations with China in November 1991.

In 1981 he was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense and Head of the Political Department in the Ministry of Defense (Bộ Quốc phòng). In the same year he was appointed commander of the Vietnamese army during the occupation of Cambodia and there in 1984 promoted to general.

Read more about Le Duc Anh in Nayan Chanda's Brother Enemy, here.

The closing of Cambodia, even if the term was not uttered, was implied in the statement made in December 1984 by General Le Duc Anh, a member of the Communist party central committee and vice-minister of defense: "Since they [the Khmer guerillas] are opposed to the revolution and undermine it by force of arms, we must destroy them by military attacks, razing their bases, constructing and consolidating our lines of defense. constructing and consolidating the domination, by our friends [the Heng Samrin government], of the border regions."

[Theary: The timing of the statement, December 1984, efficiently coincided with the assassination of Chan Si who posed an obstacle to the Vietnamese genocidal vision, and opened the premiership for Hun Sen to assume in January 1985. Thereafter, the K5 Genocide, first documented and explicitly requested of then premier Pen Sovan to carry out by Le Duc Tho in 1981, exploded with a fury.]

Read the complete chapter 8: "The Vietnamese Occupation and the Resistance" in Cambodia: A Shattered Society by Marie Alexandrine Martin here.

The Vietnamese military experience in Cambodia depended a great deal on rank. For those in the central Vietnamese command, service in Cambodia proved to be a fruitful career move....

Le Duc Anh, commander in chief of the occupying Vietnamese forces, was one of the beneficiaries.... Anh served under Le Duc Tho as deputy commander of the Central Office for South Vietnam, rose to four-star general in 1974, and was eventually selected by Tho to command the invasion of Cambodia. As chief of 478, the central Vietnamese command center, he not only directed the occupation and the war against the resistance but advised the Cambodian general staff and shaped the formation of the Cambodian army.

Conservative and ideologically rigid, Le Duc Anh equated war with revolution. Speaking of Cambodia at the end of 1984 [Chan Si was killed in Dec. 1984 opening the premiership for Hun Sen and the fury of K5 Genocide], he stated that the revolution "must undergo a comprehensive struggle politically, militarily, economically and diplomatically in order to defeat the counterrevolution and protect national independence and revolutionary gains and to build the fatherland on its transitional path toward socialism." These views helped Le Duc Anh into the highest echelon of the Hanoi leadership, where he became minister of defense, Politburo member, and eventually, head of state.

Read more about Le Duc Anh in Evan Gottesman's Cambodia: After the Khmer Rouge, here.

Published Articles re Vietnamization - 7 Parts

អត្ថបទ បានបោះពុម្ភផ្សាយ អំពី វៀតណាមនីយកម្ម - ៧ ផ្នែក

1. Cambodia 1979-1984 (Genocides under Occupation, Jan. 7, Orwellian)

កម្ពុជា ១៩៧៩ - ១៩៨៤ (អំពើប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍ ក្រោមការកាន់កាប់, ៧ ខែមករា, «បង​ធំ»)

2. Cambodia 1985-1990 (K5 Genocide, Vietnam Security Intelligence Monitoring My FB, Blacklisted)

កម្ពុជា ១៩៨៥ - ១៩៩០ (ឧក្រិដ្ឋកម្ម ប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍ ក៥, ស៊ើបការណ៍សម្ងាត់ យួន ត្រួតពិនិត្យ ហ្វេសប៊ុកខ្ញុំ, បញ្ជីខ្មៅ)

3. Cambodia 1991-1999 (Paris Peace Accords)

កម្ពុជា ១៩៩១ - ១៩៩៩ (កិច្ចព្រមព្រៀង សន្តិភាព ប៉ារីស)

4. Cambodia 2000-Present (ECCC "Genocide" verdict)

កម្ពុជា ២០០០ - បច្ចុប្បន្ន (សាលក្រម «ឧក្រិដ្ឋកម្ម ប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍» នៃសាលាក្តី ខ្មែរក្រហម)

5. Vietnamization: Demographic, Military, By Province, Along Border, Economic

វៀតណាមនីយកម្ម៖ ប្រជាសាស្ត្រ, យោធា, តាមខេត្ត, តាមបណ្តោយព្រំដែន, សេដ្ឋកិច្ច

6. Vietnamization: China Responds, ប្រវត្តិសាស្រ្ត (ខេមរ ភាសា)

វៀតណាមនីយកម្ម៖ ចិនឆ្លើយតប, ប្រវត្តិសាស្រ្ត (ខេមរ ភាសា)

7. Vietnamization: Third-Party Spokespeople, Helen Jarvis, Ben Kiernan's Yale Genocide Program, "Yuon" Racism, Ad Hominen

វៀតណាមនីយកម្ម៖ អ្នកនាំពាក្យ ភាគីទីបី, ហេឡិន ចាវីស, កម្មវិធី ប្រឆាំង អំពើប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍ របស់ បិន ឃឺននីន នៅសាកលវិទ្យាល័យ យ៉េល, ការប្រកាន់ពូជសាសន៍ «យួន», តក្កវិជ្ជា យោងតាម មនុស្ស ជាជាង ភាពត្រឹមត្រូវ នៃគំនិត

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