1974/01/04
Department of State
National Archives and Records Administration 2011-028-doc1 2013/03/11
3.. . SUuation Within Cambodia in· Early S~m~~~er 1973
By the ai4d.L. of ~973 i.e was cl~r t!!Bt KC poHc/ aiJIIed at i.Bolatf.ng the
INA and VC and driving thea at ··least out of areas of KC influence, if not
out of Calabodia fmtirely . Perhapi the RIO&t important of various KC
sae.aaurea vas tha·t prehibiting a lmoat all Casabod iao crade with ·MVA and VC
un~ta. FVA 4588 and FV’4514 deacribe .thie prohibition as extremely effec•
tive. PVA 4500 ·describes a late J1.10e VC An G i.ang Province Coaziitt:ee meeting
·at Olflich the part icipailts discussed a rice short:age: In add it ion tG· KC ~ ‘
establ1 ~ ; haent of a system of st:rict ecoo0111ic controls and the prohibitiou
of rice sales to .any vc · or NVA unit, the VC leaders gave cwo causes for
thia shortage: (a) the heavy bosbi.ng in ·cambodia· in tbe apr,ing and summer
blld caused 8QWle people to abandon normally-productive areas, and (b) t~e KC
policy of forced relocatl.on :resulted i.D further abandoning of nearby rice ·
lands. Prisoners and ralliers in Cbau Doc Province in August and Sept-er
also eonfi~ed this KC policy, reporting that it preci.pi.tat:ed a rice shortage
amOng all HVA . aadt’C unita 1n l!be are.a. They also said the ltC had forced
large all:lllbera of tlw> people in southern Kampot, Talteoo, Jtandal and Prey Vsng
Provinces to .IIDVe to “more secure” areas. (Many people were al>le to aIOid
relocation and have taken refuge in· CVN areas of South Yietnaa> . Some of
tbf!se ethnic Ul!llbod lan refuge!! a told CODCe11 officers they were fleeing
the KC , whom they described as ‘!Wchi more bTUtal than the HVA or VC
under VhOIII they found life to be .rE!Iatively e4SY. .) FUghta along the
border by CooGen officers ~onfirm that thes.e KC are.aa are almost co=pletely
deVoid of population and ~atly uncultlvat~. T.his il particularly true
of th’ IAIIIPQil&. l’rac:h area DO’t’th. of Ra I’ien , Reminh town no-rth of Cbau l)oc
dty, and K.aQb rhom I>istr1ct nort·h· of An Phu Distrti:t of Chau Doc Province.
VC/NVA-occupi~ areas in Cambodia are, iu ~ntrast, more heavily populated,
and che.re . i’s a gre.5t deal of JDOveiDent and com;oerci.ill activity •.
Loao ltarlu!t
Accorc!i.n& to Chau Dr
: military offic:.era, ,tbe Lo-g,, marltet-h a aelUng
poiot for good.a A~.~.Uled out of Cbcru Doc Province th’I:’OU3h north~rrn AD
l’hl& and Chau Pbu Dt.e tricta; Theall &OourCIIa contend, however, that the
bl~ baa bean a~&ful l11 ~tlQ& off about 80″L of the.,e VC suptia
md. dnt~ rte• ·-.4 ~aood• 4ft-~ooaoly t.o· “~-u·
IJJIIOQDte (1·5 kilos). Con<;en officers overflying the area ill ·Oetobu
&D.d ~v~aaw.. l.i..t.:;l.ll e.roaa·bo”-‘tr traffic., the e.xtreme northern tip
of All fha· Mlll’rtet: p~t:dlq-die -oaly ~-· In· tttt.·.loc:ei•) }ultt-, .
fnllide Celbodia, li.Ye about 2.00o people ~IIIIOY8 relatively freely ttl ‘ ‘ <-··
and Ol.lt of VietnBIII. Congen officers obaerved a number of &sapana 1
.,ying goode from th18 area (If ], 111) to floating markets · further inside
Cabodia (vi.dnity wr .1610 and 7I 1513). These goods would ultimately
be moved to Logo. FVA 4674 conf1TUB the existence of aignificant cross-
border trade at this location llld indicates the An Phu Dt.trict Chief,
Chau Doc Province Ollaf, -~nd oche.-lc)cal of’fteUl• rec:etvv brlt,vs to
allow it to contlnue. In addition, GVN officials to Chau Doc hsve
aclalovledged that An Phu Village level of.ficiala subverted the blocltade
by accepting bribee. They chargt!d, too, that wive& of CVN soldierr , ·
vith !!!, ~ia:a.mlty from the lav; freely moved ric:.e and other goods
for a profit• ..,. note, 1Qwever, that !1ve Chau Doc vtllqe poli~e
chieh and three hamlet chiefs were remaved in October for abettlag
smllg&lill&. Thia suggests .the CVN 1″46 serious in its effort~t to stop
illegal IDDVeatftts of goode frOID the area aortb of An .Phu. Moreover,
Chsu Doc sector forc:ea conducted frequent ‘heUbome and “&ter-borv.e
lllillcary operatiollB in thla vicln1ty and these are believed seriously
to h~ dtatiupted VC supply efforts.