MONATIO

Mouvement National
MONATIO
Dates of operation17 April 1975
IdeologyKhmer nationalism
OpponentsKhmer Rouge
Battles and warsFall of Phnom Penh

MONATIO, short for Mouvement National (English: "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 entered Phnom Penh, this group took out a motor-cavalcade on the streets of the capital welcoming the arrival of the Khmer Rouge.[1]

The group consisted of a handful of soldiers, dressed in black uniforms, accompanied by a number of students. MONATIO was led by Hem Keth Dara and the whole group in turn manipulated by Lon Non, brother of Lon Nol.[1][2]

Initially tolerated by the Khmer Rouge, MONATIO members were later rounded up and executed.[2][3] The Khmer Rouge regime later claimed that MONATIO had been a CIA conspiracy against the revolutionary government.[4]

A movie on the events of 1975, called MONATIO, was made by Norodom Sihanouk.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Ponchaud, François (1978). Cambodia Year Zero. Henry Holt & Co. p. 17. ISBN 9780030403064.
  2. ^ a b Shawcross, William (1979). Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon and the Destruction of Cambodia. Andre Deutsch Limited. p. 365. ISBN 0-233-97077-0.
  3. ^ Swain, Jon (1997). River of Time: A Memoir of Vietnam and Cambodia. St. Martin's Press. pp. 136–7. ISBN 978-0425168059.
  4. ^ Isaacs, Arnold R. (1999). Without Honor: Defeat in Vietnam and Cambodia. JHU Press. p. 283. ISBN 9780801861079.
  5. ^ New Page 5 Archived 2009-01-09 at the Wayback Machine
  • Media related to MONATIO at Wikimedia Commons