cambodia :: day two :: keep smiling
cambodia’s political history is confusing as hell. it twists and turns like the murky mekong river, which cuts a mysterious path right through the heart of the country. cambodia goes through regimes, its leaders go through shifts of allegiance, like rural khmers go through kramas.
this much is clear, however. cambodia was home to the most murderous revolution of the 20th century. between 1975 and 1979, nearly 20 percent of the population was killed, either by execution, starvation, malnutrition or lack of medical care. these were the most lethal years of the khmer rouge’s bloody reign. led by the hitler-esque pol pot, the “revolutionists” eliminated nearly 2 million cambodians in a radical social experiment aimed at restructuring the country into a maoist, peasant-driven collective.
11.24.2003, 10:52 PM · Cambodia · Comments (2)