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p V. Skvortsov

p Pravda, January 31, 1979

p When the small AN-24 pierced through the clouds and began its descent towards Pochen tong Airport, the ground was hardly visible, but the outline of the four-headed “dragon” formed by confluence near Pnom Penh of the Bassac and Tonle Sap and the two branches of the Mekong could already be made out.

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p These water arteries establish the entire rhythm of the life of the country, the majority of whose population is engaged in agriculture. At the end of the rainy season, which lasts from May to October and coincides with the snow melt in Tibet, where the Mekong’s source is located, a high water is created in the Tonle Sap River, the rise being as much as ten metres near the capital. Later the current comes to a halt and begins rushing in the other direction. The people celebrate virtually as a holiday the day when the Tonle Sap frees itself from the onslaught of the Mekong and once again sends its waters toward the sea. They used to determine the end of the merciless flood by stretching a rope made of oxsinews across the river. As soon as the rope began to sag in a southerly direction it was cut in the middle and the ends shown to the thousands of people from Pnom Penh.

p A comparison automatically arises between this natural phenomenon and the situation that took shape in Kampuchea in late 1978-early 1979 and ended in victory of the people. The reactionary pro-Peking regime imposed from outside was swept away by waves of popular indignation and it was in the crucible of the struggle that the People’s Republic of Kampuchea was conceived.

p This ancient country’s road to freedom and independence was a difficult and complex one. In 1863, French colonisers imposed a treaty on Kampuchea, making it a protectorate. Colonial enslavement lasted 90 years, until the country attained independence in 1954, after a long political and armed struggle. The young state’s desire to consolidate its independence was supported by the socialist countries.

p With help from the United States, which wished to use Kampuchea as a new springboard for continuing its “dirty war" in Indochina, a pro-American military grouping seized power in Pnom Penh in March 1970.

p On April 17, 1975, the people’s selfless struggle against American intervention and the Pnom Penh puppet regime culminated in victory. At last, so it seemed, the country would be able to start building a new and happy life. Yet, by temporarily hiding its true character, the pro-Peking Pol Pot-Ieng Sary clique managed to seize top administrative 134 posts in democratic Kampuchea and usurped the fruits of victory. The country became a sphere for the implementation of a Peking-style “cultural revolution”, and a bridge-head for provocation against Vietnam.

p Yet the people of Kampuchea did not remain silent during these, the most grim years of their history. In Pnom Penh, in the Peking puppets’ main political prison, located in the Tuolsleng school buildings, I saw a file containing thousands and thousands of names of patriots sent to their death by the Pol Pot hangmen. As Roh Samay, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Kampuchea United Front for National Salvation (KUFNS) relates, uprisings against the fascist clique that had betrayed the revolution began long ago. The first major centre of resistance appeared in the west of the country, near the town of Siem Reap. In 1976, the flames of the popular movement caught the provinces Battambang, Kan Dal, Kah Kong and Siem Reap. The following year thousands of people—peasants, servicemen and urban residents who had been resettled in rural localities—also rose up in the provinces of Kra Tieh, Mondol Kiri and Kampon Chang. In 1978, patriotic forces were already operating in 16 of the country’s 19 provinces. As the liberation movement gained momentum, on December 2, 1978, the KUFNS was formed and then led the people to victory. It was inevitable that the Pol Pot-Ieng Sary regime would soon fall. The bloody regime enjoyed no support at all among the people.

p The declaration of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea and the creation of its government—the People’s Revolutionary Council (PRC), the true representative of the people and their aspirations—inaugurated a new stage in the life of the country.

p “The red banner with the five golden towers of ancient Angkor Wat that is waving over us now,” said PRC Chairman Heng Samrin, “is a genuine symbol of the sacred hopes of the Kampuchean people, for we were able to raise our banner thanks to the sacrifices and blood spilt by the countless fighters and patriots who gave their lives for their beloved country, for national liberation.”

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p On January 25, 1979 the water and electricity were turned on in the capital’s Pnom hotel, formerly called the Royal. The city’s municipal services, which had been completely disrupted, are gradually returning to normal. As Hang Sarin, Chairman of the People’s Revolutionary Committee of Pnom Penh, told me during an interview, solving what seems to be the simplest of problems involves great difficulties. This was the case, for example, with providing ordinary cups for the first workers to return from the countryside. Throughout the country even the shabbiest utensils were “socialised” and disappeared without a trace, since in the “communes” people ate together, from common pots. One of the tasks of the people’s committee was to provide every family with at least their own pot. Organising the return of millions of displaced persons to their homes is a job only just beginning, relates Keo Chanda, member of the People’s Revolutionary Council, minister of information, press and culture. All local power is wielded by people’s self-government committees, which are doing everything possible to provide the people with food, clothing and housing; they are organising production, rebuilding enterprises, looking after children, the sick and elderly, and are reconstructing schools.

p “The most important thing now,” Keo Chanda explained, “is to overcome the present critical shortages, the difficulties and suffering as quickly as possible. Later we will begin restoring the economy on a broader scale. Under our conditions, the emphasis will naturally be placed on agriculture. We intend to put through socialist transformations in the countryside step by step, gradually, with due consideration for the specific conditions and interests of the peasants. One of our priorities is to develop the public sector in industry.”

The People’s Republic of Kampuchea is laying down concrete guidelines for reconstruction and is preparing to begin peaceful construction after these long and tragic years. Its revolutionary patriotic forces and the entire people, rallied around the KUFNS Central Committee and the PRC, are determined to consolidate the popular democratic system, progress along socialist lines, pursue a policy of peace and 136 friendship, strengthen solidarity with the fraternal peoples of Vietnam and Laos and develop co-operation and good-neighbourly relations with all the South-East Asian countries.