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Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the July 31, 1997
issue of Workers World newspaper
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Cambodia tries to shake off legacy of U.S. intervention

By John Catalinotto

The U.S. State Department seems to believe that no Cambodians should run Cambodia without ample input from the world's imperialist powers--especially from the United States itself.

Not everyone feels that way. Especially not every Cambodian. Hun Sen, officially that country's second prime minister but now leading the party that holds power, expressed a contrary opinion July 18.

Asked July 18 if he would meet with envoys from the Association of South East Asian Nations, or ASEAN, Hun Sen was less than enthusiastic.

"I will sit down and listen to them," he said. He added: "No foreigner can control Hun Sen. I will ask them to finish the problem tomorrow so they won't have to bother about Cambodia any more. ... Please don't interfere.

"If they don't let us join ASEAN, we won't join. If we don't join ASEAN, it won't be the death of us," Cambodia's de-facto leader said.

Hun Sen had been part of a coalition government with Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the son of King Norodom Sihanouk. Earlier this month, Hun Sen ousted Ranariddh from his post as first prime minister.

The U.S. State Department and the Clinton administration are unhappy with Ranariddh's ouster. Washington has already refused to recognize Hun Sen's new appointee to the post of first prime minister.

King Sihanouk, on the other hand, in a statement from Beijing after his son's ouster, refused to criticize Hun Sen.

Sihanouk had ruled Cambodia for years before a CIA- sponsored coup overthrew him in 1970. The U.S.-backed coup leader, Lon Nol, then allowed U.S. troops to invade his country and fight revolutionary Vietnamese troops. The Pentagon also opened a massive carpet-bombing campaign against Cambodian territory, killing many Cambodians and driving them from the countryside.

The media here hardly ever mention the U.S. terror bombing, which began the cycle of horror that resulted in the deaths of millions of Cambodians.

It should come as no surprise that many Cambodians would now prefer to run the country without U.S. interference. It's utter arrogance for U.S. policy makers to demand otherwise.

Even the ASEAN envoys meeting with Hun Sen are themselves from countries that are client states of U.S. imperialism: Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. These envoys provide a way for Washington to meddle, at least indirectly.

Whether through NATO, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations Security Council, or through the Pentagon's own army units in 100 countries, U.S. imperialism pokes its fingers into almost all the rest of the world. There's no evidence that this political interference brings anything but trouble for the countries involved. It certainly hasn't helped Cambodia.

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