MONATIO
| Mouvement National | |
|---|---|
 Flag used by MONATIO | |
Leader | Hem Keth Dara |
| Dates active | 17 April 1975 |
| Ideology | Khmer nationalism |
| Wars | Cambodian Civil War |
MONATIO, short for Mouvement National (lit. 'National Movement'), was a short-lived, supposedly nationalist, political faction in Cambodia. The exact nature of the group is still obscure. On April 17, 1975, as the Khmer Rouge had entered Phnom Penh, this group took out a motor-cavalcade on the streets of the capital welcoming the arrival of the Khmer Rouge.[1]
Organization
[edit]The group consisted of a handful of soldiers, dressed in black uniforms, accompanied by a number of students. According to Time, MONATIO was headed by the 29 year old[2] student leader Hem Keth Dara and the whole group in turn manipulated by Lon Non, brother of Lon Nol.[1][3]
Initially tolerated by the Khmer Rouge, MONATIO members were later rounded up and executed,[3][4] along with its leader Hem Keth Dara.[2] The Khmer Rouge later claimed that MONATIO had been a CIA conspiracy against the revolutionary government.[5]
A film on the events of 1975, called MONATIO, was made by Norodom Sihanouk.[6]
Gallery
[edit]
MONATIO militias parading in Phnom Penh
References
[edit]- 1 2 Ponchaud, François (1978). Cambodia Year Zero. Henry Holt & Co. p. 17. ISBN 9780030403064.
- 1 2 TIME (1975-05-19). "CAMBODIA: Long March from Phnom-Penh". TIME. Retrieved 2026-09-06.
- 1 2 Shawcross, William (1979). Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon and the Destruction of Cambodia. Andre Deutsch Limited. p. 365. ISBN 0-233-97077-0.
- ↑ Swain, Jon (1997). River of Time: A Memoir of Vietnam and Cambodia. St. Martin's Press. pp. 136–7. ISBN 978-0425168059.
- ↑ Isaacs, Arnold R. (1999). Without Honor: Defeat in Vietnam and Cambodia. JHU Press. p. 283. ISBN 9780801861079.
- ↑ New Page 5 Archived 2009-01-09 at the Wayback Machine
External links
[edit]
Media related to MONATIO at Wikimedia Commons
