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| Pen Sovann (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post) |
Saturday, February 04, 2012
By Bora Touch
លោក ប៉ែន សុវណ្ណ៖ «ដល់ពេលហ្នឹងលោក ជា ស៊ីម កាលនោះក៏មានគំនិតប្រឆាំងយួនដែរ។ គាត់ចង់កសាងកម្លាំងប្រដាប់អាវុធរបស់គាត់ដោយឡែកនៅមុខកំពូល ហើយដល់យួនឃើញអ៊ីចឹង គេបង្កើតសេរីកា ក្រសួងការបរទេសរបស់ ហ៊ុន សែន ក៏មានដែរ គ្រប់ក្រសួងមន្ទីរពួកសេរីកាទាំងអស់ ហើយកាលហ្នឹងចាប់ពាយតែម្ដង»។
That's revealing. No wonder why Nong Chan and 007 camps were not initially harassed by the Vietnamese army even though the Viet military bases were at a shelling distance away, in case of Nong Chan; and khmer real nationalist leaders, like Van Ren, Kong Saloh etc, were killed and disappeared mysteriously. It was surprising one day in 1980 to see Viet. solders and Nong Chan soldiers were 200 meters apart at Damnak Andong (Andoung rest site, about 10 km from Sorya-Nimmith towns) , but they were not shooting each other.
And soon after it was revealed that Chea Sim was not that pro-Viet, he was removed from being a powerful minister of interior to be the powerless, least security related head of the national assembly. Worse was Pen Sovann's fate for opposing the Viet; he was arrested and shipped to Hanoi. A north Vietnamese insider, colonel Bui Tin, has this to say: "The person primarily responsible for our policy toward Cambodia was Le Duc Tho. He had been assigned by the Politburo to oversee its liberation and the construction of its new Party and state apparatus. Even before our forces reached Phnom Penh, he presided over a meeting held near Snuol in what is known as the Fish Hook area of the border to set up a Cambodian government to replace that headed by Pol Pot. Among those Le Duc Tho chose was Pen Sovann, who became Minister of defence and later emerged as General-Secretary of the Cambodian Communist Party. His appointment came as little surprise to many Cambodians because for several decades he had been a broadcaster with the Voice of Vietnam as head of of its Khmer language service ...
The removal of Pen Sovann came from his positions as Party General Secretary and Minister of Defence in 1981 was also the work of Le Duc Tho acting together with Le Duc Anh. On their recommendation, the Politburo in Hanoi accepted an 'appeal' from several members of the Cambodian Communist Party. The Cambodian people had nothing to do with the rise and fall of Pen Sovann. So what was his mistake? According to a Vietnamese adviser in charge of training Cambodian cadres, Pen Sovann sometimes opposed Vietnam and sometimes his own party. He also expressed dissatisfaction with his lack of power as Party General Secretary and the way his military authority was ignored by General Le Duc Anh. Such attitude was intolerable in the eyes of our leadership, so Pen Sovann was taken back to Vietnam to spend the next ten years under house arrest near Hanoi", Bui Tin, Following Ho Chi Minh. Memoirs of a North Vietnamese Colonel, (1995), pp. 122-123.
