Phnom Penh: Information Minister Khieu Kanharith described the coup d'etat that overthrew Prince Norodom Sihanouk on March 18 that on the day of the coup 53 years ago, soldiers surrounded the National Assembly and banned the defense of the head of state. The minister said that due to Lon Nol's short-sightedness at the time, millions of Cambodians were killed, turning blood into rivers.
Khieu Kanharith wrote on his Facebook account on March 18, 2023, recalling 53 years ago that afternoon he was chatting with Ku Run around Tuol Kork and was told that Prince Norodom Sihanouk was ousted for Betrayal Cambodia and corruption. It was not until the morning of March 17 that the national radio announced the coup.
A year later, at the age of 18, when he became the personal secretary of the President of the Throne Council, Ung Sim, he realized that the coup was under direct threat from Lon Nol's soldiers.
He wrote: "In 1971, when I was the personal secretary of Ung Sim, chairman of the Royal Council of Thrones (then the Republican Senate), I realized on the day of the discussion that the soldiers had already surrounded the National Assembly and forbade them to speak protect the head of state. That day was the day that Cambodian blood became a river because Cambodian politicians only looked at the tip of their noses and did not look at political developments outside at all.”
It should also be noted that the coup d'état of March 18 by General Lon Nol dragged the US-Vietnam war on the border into Cambodia land due to the policy of the Khmer Republic to the United States to help South Vietnam fight against Nort Vietnam.
As some Cambodians entered the jungle against the republic, the Cambodia became even weaker until the fall of the Khmer Republic on April 17, 1979, falling into the hands of the Khmer Rouge, killing the Cambodian for three years. Eight months and 20 days, while Lon Nol, the person most responsible for the coup overthrew Prince Norodom Sihanouk, fled with his family to live comfortably in the United States.
