MONATIO

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Mouvement National
MONATIO
Dates of operation17 April 1975
Ideology Khmer nationalism
Opponents Khmer Rouge
Battles and wars Fall 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 headed by student leader 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. 1 2 Ponchaud, François (1978). Cambodia Year Zero. Henry Holt & Co. p. 17. ISBN   9780030403064.
  2. 1 2 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
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