First Published in English: Class Struggle,, International Bulletin of the Workers’ Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) of Norway, No. 10, June 16-October 16, 1977.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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The Norwegian bourgeoisie, liberals and revisionists included, have always been the enemies of the revolutionary Democratic Kampuchea. While the bourgeois press has been compelled to revise some of its lies, it refuses to publish articles submitted by the Norway-Kampuchea Friendship Association.
In September the Norwegian translation of the book “Cambodia, the Murder of a People”, by J. Barron and A. Paul, was published and received great publicity. Barron and Paul are both editors of the mouthpiece of the the Pentagon, Reader’s Digest. Klassekampen’s article on Sept. 28 laid bare the pack of fabricated lies the entire book consists of. The sources of the book are revealing: US diplomats and military, other US “experts”, “three embassies in Washington”, interviews with refugees and radio programs from Kampuchea.
60 refugees are named in the book. The majority are Lon Nol officers, businessmen, college graduates and students. Less than five are workers or peasants. This is an admission of the fact that those who fled were primarily the compradore bourgeoisie. These people fled because they were compelled to give up their luxury and had to do manual labor with the people.
The authors and their sources hate the Kampuchean Revolutionary Organization, a Marxist-Leninist organization which led the victorious struggle against US imperialism and which now leads the construction of the country. Barron’s and Paul’s hatred serves to indicate the correct line of the Revolutionary Organization.
The authors claim that 1200000 were killed from April 17, 1975, to January 1, 1977, including 400000 supposed to have died during the evacuation of Phnom Penh. Another reactionary, Francois Ponchaud, who took part in the evacuation, has admitted he saw no massacres. A US Senate report from July this year states that 200000 were killed during the same period. This reveals a contradiction within US imperialism as to what extent it is possible to lie.
The liberation and evacuation of Phnom Penh were masterly operations that saved the lives of thousands of people. The seizure of political power in their own country opened a new era for the workers and peasants of Kampuchea. Every page of Barron’s and Paul’s book is an appeal to counter-revolution and imperialist invasion, with typical Reader’s Digest facetiousness, arrogance and disregard of facts. We are convinced that a new invasion of Kampuchea would be repelled, and that the revolutionary Kampuchean people, under the leadership of their Revolutionary Organization, will maintain and consolidate their state power.
On October 12, the Norway Kampuchea Friendship Association established a local branch in Oslo, an expansion which testifies to the increased activity of the association, and to the desire of the people to strengthen friendship with the people of Kampuchea.