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{{Short description|26th Prime Minister of Cambodia}}
{{family name hatnote|Long|Boret|lang=Cambodian}}
{{family name hatnote|Long|Boret|lang=Cambodian}}
{{Infobox officeholder
{{Infobox officeholder
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|caption =
|caption =
|order =
|order =
|office = [[Prime Minister of Cambodia|Prime Minister of the Khmer Republic]]
|office = [[List of prime ministers of Cambodia|Prime Minister of the Khmer Republic]]
|president = [[Lon Nol]] <br> [[Saukham Khoy]] <br> [[Sak Sutsakhan]]
|president = [[Lon Nol]] <br> [[Saukham Khoy]] <br> [[Sak Sutsakhan]]
|term_start = {{start date|1973|12|26|df=y}}
|term_start = {{start date|1973|12|26|df=y}}
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|birth_place = [[Kandal Province|Kandal]], [[French protectorate of Cambodia|Cambodia]], [[French Indochina]]
|birth_place = [[Kandal Province|Kandal]], [[French protectorate of Cambodia|Cambodia]], [[French Indochina]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|1975|4|17|1933|1|3|df=y}}
|death_date = {{death date and age|1975|4|17|1933|1|3|df=y}}
|death_place = [[Phnom Penh]], [[Khmer Republic]]
|death_place = [[Phnom Penh]], [[Democratic Kampuchea|Kampuchea]]
|death_cause = [[Cambodian genocide|Executed]]
|death_cause = [[Cambodian genocide|Executed]]
|party = [[Social Republican Party]]
|party = [[Social Republican Party]]
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|children =
|children =
}}
}}
'''Long Boret''' ({{lang-km|ឡុង បូរ៉េត}}, {{IPA-km|loŋ boureːt|pron}}; 3 January 1933 – 17 April 1975) was a Cambodian politician who served as the last [[Prime Minister of Cambodia|prime minister]] of the [[Khmer Republic]] from 26 December 1973, to 17 April 1975. Highly regarded for his honesty,<ref>George McTurnan Kahin, ''Southeast Asia: a Testament,'' Routledge, 2003, p. 336.</ref> he tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a peace settlement with the [[Khmer Rouge]] during the [[Cambodian Civil War]]. He was later arrested by the Khmer Rouge and executed. He is one of two prime ministers to die in office, the other being [[Chan Sy]].
'''Long Boret''' ({{langx|km|ឡុង បូរ៉េត}}, {{IPA-km|loŋ boureːt|pron}}; 3 January 1933 – 21 April 1975) was a Cambodian politician who served as the last [[List of prime ministers of Cambodia|prime minister]] of the [[Khmer Republic]] from 26 December 1973, to 17 April 1975. Highly regarded for his honesty,<ref>George McTurnan Kahin, ''Southeast Asia: a Testament,'' Routledge, 2003, p. 336.</ref> he tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a peace settlement with the [[Khmer Rouge]] during the [[Cambodian Civil War]]. He was later arrested by the Khmer Rouge and executed. He is one of two prime ministers to die in office, the other being [[Chan Sy]]. He is also the longest serving prime minister under the presidency of [[Lon Nol]] for the [[Khmer Republic]].


==Early life==
==Early life==
Long was born in Chbar Ampéou near Phnom Penh in [[Kandal Province]], Cambodia, the son of Long Meas and Neang Ieng Buth. He attended the prestigious [[Lycée Sisowath]] in [[Phnom Penh]] from 1946 to 1952,<ref>Thompson LC. ''Refugee Workers in the Indochina Exodus,'' 1975-1982. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co, 2010, p. 37.</ref> studied in [[France]] from 1953 to 1955, then returned to Cambodia to work in the Royal Treasury.
Long was born in Chbar Ampéou near Phnom Penh in [[Kandal Province]], Cambodia, the son of Ly Long Meas and Neang Ieng Buth. He attended the prestigious [[Lycée Sisowath]] in [[Phnom Penh]] from 1946 to 1952,<ref>Thompson LC. ''Refugee Workers in the Indochina Exodus,'' 1975-1982. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co, 2010, p. 37.</ref> studied in [[France]] from 1953 to 1955, then returned to Cambodia to work in the Royal Treasury.

Long had two wives. He divorced his first wife and he married his second wife one year later. Him and his second wife were executed by the [[Khmer Rouge]] immediately after the fall of [[Phnom Penh]].

==Personal life==
Long Boret was the author of a Khmer film called "Sea of Tears" (សមុទ្រទឹកភ្នែក).

Long's children are still alive today, some are in [[Cambodia]] and some in the [[United States]]. His second wife's eldest child is serving as a judge in Cambodia.


==Political career==
==Political career==
In 1958 he was elected to parliament as MP for [[Stung Treng]] Province, and was the youngest MP in parliament.<ref>[http://rousseaustudies.free.fr/articlecambodge.html LA CONSTRUCTION DU CAMBODGE EN DEBAT (1954-1959)]</ref> He served briefly in 1958 as Deputy Secretary of State for Labor and Social Action and was re-elected to Parliament in 1962. During this period he became known as the author of romance stories, many of which were serialized in newspapers.<ref>Corfield JJ. ''The history of Cambodia.'' Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood Press, 2009, p. 64.</ref> He was appointed State Secretary for Finance but he publicly opposed the decision in November 1963 by [[Norodom Sihanouk]] to nationalize banks and foreign trade, and was forced to resign. He retained his parliamentary seat in the 1966 elections. He was the Information Minister from 1971 to 1972 and the [[Foreign Minister]] from 1972 to 1973.
In 1958 he was elected to parliament as MP for [[Stung Treng]] Province, and was the youngest MP in parliament.<ref>[http://rousseaustudies.free.fr/articlecambodge.html LA CONSTRUCTION DU CAMBODGE EN DEBAT (1954–1959)]</ref> He served briefly in 1958 as Deputy Secretary of State for Labour and Social Action and was re-elected to Parliament in 1962. During this period he became known as the author of romance stories, many of which were serialized in newspapers.<ref>Corfield JJ. ''The history of Cambodia.'' Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood Press, 2009, p. 64.</ref> He was appointed State Secretary for Finance but he publicly opposed the decision in November 1963 by [[Norodom Sihanouk]] to nationalize banks and foreign trade, and was forced to resign. He retained his parliamentary seat in the 1966 elections. He was the Information Minister from 1971 to 1972 and the [[Foreign Minister]] from 1972 to 1973.


==Prime Minister of Cambodia==
==Prime Minister of Cambodia==
On December 9, 1973, he succeeded [[In Tam]] to become [[Prime Minister]] of Cambodia. On April 2, 1974, he became one of four members of an executive board composed, in addition to Long Boret, of [[Lon Nol]], [[Sisowath Sirik Matak]] and General [[Sosthene Fernandez]].
On 9 December 1973, he succeeded [[In Tam]] to become [[Prime Minister]] of Cambodia. On 2 April 1974, he became one of four members of an executive board composed, in addition to Long Boret, of [[Lon Nol]], [[Sisowath Sirik Matak]] and General [[Sosthene Fernandez]].


On April 8, 1975, he attempted unsuccessfully to negotiate a peace settlement in [[Bangkok]] with representatives of the [[Khmer Rouge]].<ref>[http://aefek.free.fr/iso_album/long_boret.pdf Long Boret]</ref>
On 8 April 1975, he attempted unsuccessfully to negotiate a peace settlement in [[Bangkok]] with representatives of the [[Khmer Rouge]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://aefek.free.fr/iso_album/long_boret.pdf |title=Long Boret |access-date=2010-06-29 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304022542/http://aefek.free.fr/iso_album/long_boret.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>


==Arrest and execution==
==Arrest and execution==
Long Boret remained in office until the [[Khmer Rouge]] [[Fall of Phnom Penh|captured Phnom Penh]] on April 17, 1975. [[United States Ambassador to Cambodia|US Ambassador]] [[John Gunther Dean]] recalls that, unlike many government officials who fled Phnom Penh, Long chose to remain behind despite being on a death list announced from [[Beijing]] by [[Norodom Sihanouk]]:
Long Boret remained in office until the [[Khmer Rouge]] [[Fall of Phnom Penh|captured Phnom Penh]] on 17 April 1975. [[United States Ambassador to Cambodia|US Ambassador]] [[John Gunther Dean]] recalls that, unlike many government officials who fled Phnom Penh, Long chose to remain behind despite being on a death list announced from [[Beijing]] by [[Norodom Sihanouk]]:


<blockquote>Long Boret refused to be evacuated. He was a competent, able man, much younger than Lon Nol or Sirik Matak. When I personally went to see him on April 12, the very morning of our evacuation, to ask him to take his wife and himself and his young children out of Phnom Penh because I feared for his safety, he thanked me but [said he] thought his life was not in danger.<ref name="Dean">[http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/library/oralhistory/clohproject/Cambodia.pdf Interviewed by Charles Stuart Kennedy on September 6, 2000: John Gunther Dean on his experience as US Ambassador to Cambodia, 1974-75, p. 27.]</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>Long Boret refused to be evacuated. He was a competent, able man, much younger than Lon Nol or Sirik Matak. When I personally went to see him on April 12, the very morning of our evacuation, to ask him to take his wife and himself and his young children out of Phnom Penh because I feared for his safety, he thanked me but [said he] thought his life was not in danger.<ref name="Dean">{{Cite web |url=http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/library/oralhistory/clohproject/Cambodia.pdf |title=Interviewed by Charles Stuart Kennedy on September 6, 2000: John Gunther Dean on his experience as US Ambassador to Cambodia, 1974-75, p. 27. |access-date=March 7, 2014 |archive-date=November 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127215045/https://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/library/oralhistory/clohproject/Cambodia.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref></blockquote>


General [[Sak Sutsakhan]] recalled that on the morning of April 17 Long decided to take his family and leave the city.<ref>Sutsakhan, Lt. Gen. S. ''The Khmer Republic at War and the Final Collapse'' Washington DC: U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1987, p. 169. [http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/star/images/239/2390505001C.pdf Part 3] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124070652/https://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/star/images/239/2390505001C.pdf |date=2018-01-24 }}</ref> Both General Sak and the journalist [[Jon Swain]]<ref name = "Swain">Swain J. ''River of Time.'' London: Heinemann, 1995, p. 135.</ref> reported that Long and his family were unable to board the last helicopter flying out of the city.<ref>Isaacs AR. ''Without Honor: Defeat in Vietnam and Cambodia.'' Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999, p. 286.</ref> In his memoir, ''Danger Zones,'' Ambassador Dean stated that:
General [[Sak Sutsakhan]] recalled that on the morning of 17 April Long decided to take his family and leave the city.<ref>Sutsakhan, Lt. Gen. S. ''The Khmer Republic at War and the Final Collapse'' Washington DC: U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1987, p. 169. [http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/star/images/239/2390505001C.pdf Part 3] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124070652/https://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/star/images/239/2390505001C.pdf |date=2018-01-24 }}</ref> Both General Sak and the journalist [[Jon Swain]]<ref name = "Swain">Swain J. ''River of Time.'' London: Heinemann, 1995, p. 135.</ref> reported that Long and his family were unable to board the last helicopter flying out of the city.<ref>Isaacs AR. ''Without Honor: Defeat in Vietnam and Cambodia.'' Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999, p. 286.</ref> In his memoir, ''Danger Zones,'' Ambassador Dean stated that:


<blockquote>Long Boret had stayed in Cambodia, thinking that he could have some kind of dialogue with the Khmer Rouge. When he realized that that was impossible, he raced to the airport with his family in a jeep to try and get out of the country. When they arrived at the airport, they got on a helicopter with some military officers. One officer brutally shoved him off the helicopter. The copter took off. The Khmer Rouge captured Long Boret and his family and killed them all.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books/about/Danger_Zones.html?id=0b1fPgAACAAJ&hl=en Dean, John Gunther. ''Danger Zones: A Diplomat's Fight for America's Interests.'' Washington DC: New Academia Publishing, 2009], pp. 109-110.</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>Long Boret had stayed in Cambodia, thinking that he could have some kind of dialogue with the Khmer Rouge. When he realized that that was impossible, he raced to the airport with his family in a jeep to try and get out of the country. When they arrived at the airport, they got on a helicopter with some military officers. One officer brutally shoved him off the helicopter. The copter took off. The Khmer Rouge captured Long Boret and his wife and killed them all. Boret’s son managed to escaped and is now alive.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books/about/Danger_Zones.html?id=0b1fPgAACAAJ&hl=en Dean, John Gunther. ''Danger Zones: A Diplomat's Fight for America's Interests.'' Washington DC: New Academia Publishing, 2009], pp. 109-110.</ref></blockquote>


Long Boret was last seen by Jon Swain, [[Sydney Schanberg]] and [[Dith Pran]] outside the French Embassy. Swain reported:
Long Boret was last seen by Jon Swain, [[Sydney Schanberg]] and [[Dith Pran]] outside the French Embassy. Swain reported:


<blockquote>...a black [[Citroën]]<ref>Justin Corfield says it was a white Mercedes. Justin Corfield, ''Khmers stand up!: a history of the Cambodian government 1970-1975,'' Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University, 1994, p. 230.</ref> pulled up and Long Boret got out, his eyes puffy and red, his face empty of expression. When we asked him how he was, he muttered a short, incoherent sentence. His thoughts were elsewhere. Dazed, legs wobbling, he surrendered to the Khmer Rouge and joined the line of prisoners. I could not fail to admire his courage.<ref name = "Swain"/></blockquote>
<blockquote>...a black [[Citroën]]<ref>Justin Corfield says it was a white Mercedes. Justin Corfield, ''Khmers stand up!: a history of the Cambodian government 1970–1975,'' Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University, 1994, p. 230.</ref> pulled up and Long Boret got out, his eyes puffy and red, his face empty of expression. When we asked him how he was, he muttered a short, incoherent sentence. His thoughts were elsewhere. Dazed, legs wobbling, he surrendered to the Khmer Rouge and joined the line of prisoners. I could not fail to admire his courage.<ref name = "Swain"/></blockquote>


Schanberg gave a more detailed description of the scene:
Schanberg gave a more detailed description of the scene:
Line 65: Line 73:
<blockquote>Long Boret arrives in a car driven by his wife...he looks wretched. His eyes are puffed. He stares at the ground. He...knows what faces him. I want to get away but I feel I must say something to him, and Pran understands. I take Long Boret's hands and tell him what a brave thing he has done for his country and that I admire him for it. Pran takes his hands too...Long Boret tries to respond but cannot. Finally he mumbles 'Thank you.' And we must leave him.<ref>Sydney Schanberg, ''The Death and Life of Dith Pran.'' New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Penguin, 1985, p. 26.</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>Long Boret arrives in a car driven by his wife...he looks wretched. His eyes are puffed. He stares at the ground. He...knows what faces him. I want to get away but I feel I must say something to him, and Pran understands. I take Long Boret's hands and tell him what a brave thing he has done for his country and that I admire him for it. Pran takes his hands too...Long Boret tries to respond but cannot. Finally he mumbles 'Thank you.' And we must leave him.<ref>Sydney Schanberg, ''The Death and Life of Dith Pran.'' New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Penguin, 1985, p. 26.</ref></blockquote>


Soon after, Koy Thuon, a Khmer Rouge deputy front commander, organized the "Committee for Wiping Out Enemies" at the Hotel Monorom ({{Coord|11.57|N|104.918|E|display=inline}}). Its first action was ordering the immediate execution of Lon Nol and other leading government figures. Long Boret was executed on the grounds of the Cercle Sportif in Phnom Penh. Khmer Rouge Radio subsequently reported that he had been beheaded<ref>Becker E. ''When the War was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution.'' New York: PublicAffairs, 1998, p. 160 & 193: "...Reportedly one of the very first acts of the communists was to behead [Boret] on the lawns of the private Cercle Sportif Country Club."</ref> but other reports indicate that he and [[Sisowath Sirik Matak]] were executed by [[firing squad]].<ref>Jackson KD. Cambodia, 1975-1978: ''Rendezvous with Death.'' Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1989, p. 184.</ref>
Soon after, Koy Thuon, a Khmer Rouge deputy front commander, organized the "Committee for Wiping Out Enemies" at the Hotel Monorom ({{Coord|11.57|N|104.918|E|display=inline}}). Its first action was ordering the immediate execution of Lon Nol and other leading government figures. Long Boret was executed on the grounds of the Cercle Sportif in Phnom Penh. Khmer Rouge Radio subsequently reported that he had been beheaded<ref>Becker E. ''When the War was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution.'' New York: PublicAffairs, 1998, p. 160 & 193: "...Reportedly one of the very first acts of the communists was to behead [Boret] on the lawns of the private Cercle Sportif Country Club."</ref> but other reports indicate that he and [[Sisowath Sirik Matak]] were executed by [[firing squad]].<ref>Jackson KD. Cambodia, 1975–1978: ''Rendezvous with Death.'' Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1989, p. 184.</ref>


==Key dates==
==Key dates==
'''Dec. 9, 1973''' – Long Boret becomes Prime Minister of the Khmer Republic: Dec. 9, 1973—April 17, 1975
'''9 Dec. 1973''' – Long Boret becomes Prime Minister of the Khmer Republic: 9 Dec. 1973—17 April 1975


'''April 1, 1974''' – The High Political Council that dissolved a day earlier was replaced by a four-man executive council: [[Lon Nol]], [[Sirik Matak]], Long Boret and General [[Sosthene Fernandez]].
'''1 April 1974''' – The High Political Council that dissolved a day earlier was replaced by a four-man executive council: [[Lon Nol]], [[Sirik Matak]], Long Boret and General [[Sosthene Fernandez]].


'''June 17, 1974''' – Long Boret forms a new 16-member Cabinet.
'''17 June 1974''' – Long Boret forms a new 16-member Cabinet.


'''March 11, 1975''' – President Lon Nol orders Prime Minister Long Boret to form a new cabinet and eliminates the post of commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
'''11 March 1975''' – President Lon Nol orders Prime Minister Long Boret to form a new cabinet and eliminates the post of commander-in-chief of the armed forces.


'''April 8, 1975''' – PM Long Boret holds unsuccessful peace talks with Khmer Rouge representatives in Bangkok.
'''8 April 1975''' – PM Long Boret holds unsuccessful peace talks with Khmer Rouge representatives in Bangkok.


'''April 17, 1975''' – Long Boret surrenders to the Khmer Rouge in front of the French Embassy and is executed the same day.
'''17 April 1975''' – Long Boret surrenders to the Khmer Rouge in front of the French Embassy and is executed the same day.


==References==
==References==
Line 84: Line 92:


== External links ==
== External links ==
*[http://rousseaustudies.free.fr/articlecambodge.html LA CONSTRUCTION DU CAMBODGE EN DEBAT (1954-1959)]
*[http://rousseaustudies.free.fr/articlecambodge.html LA CONSTRUCTION DU CAMBODGE EN DEBAT (1954–1959)]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061013231958/http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/library/oralhistory/clohproject/Cambodia.pdf Interview with John Gunther Dean on his experience as US Ambassador to Cambodia, 1974-75.]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061013231958/http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/library/oralhistory/clohproject/Cambodia.pdf Interview with John Gunther Dean on his experience as US Ambassador to Cambodia, 1974-75.]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/12/newsid_2524000/2524143.stm BBC News, "US Pulls Out of Cambodia," April 12, 1975.]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/12/newsid_2524000/2524143.stm BBC News, "US Pulls Out of Cambodia," April 12, 1975.]
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[[Category:People executed by the Khmer Rouge]]
[[Category:People executed by the Khmer Rouge]]
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:Prime Ministers of Cambodia]]
[[Category:Prime ministers of Cambodia]]
[[Category:Foreign ministers of Cambodia]]
[[Category:Foreign ministers of Cambodia]]
[[Category:Cambodian anti-communists]]
[[Category:Cambodian anti-communists]]

Latest revision as of 20:45, 13 November 2024

Long Boret
ឡុង បូរ៉េត
Prime Minister of the Khmer Republic
In office
26 December 1973 (1973-12-26) – 17 April 1975 (1975-04-17)
PresidentLon Nol
Saukham Khoy
Sak Sutsakhan
Preceded byIn Tam
Succeeded byPenn Nouth
Minister of Information
In office
11 March 1971 – 18 March 1972
Prime MinisterLon Nol
Sisowath Sirik Matak
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
15 October 1972 – 26 December 1973
Prime MinisterHang Thun Hak
In Tam
Preceded bySon Ngoc Thanh
Succeeded byKeuky Lim
Personal details
Born(1933-01-03)3 January 1933
Kandal, Cambodia, French Indochina
Died17 April 1975(1975-04-17) (aged 42)
Phnom Penh, Kampuchea
Cause of deathExecuted
Political partySocial Republican Party

Long Boret (Khmer: ឡុង បូរ៉េត, pronounced [loŋ boureːt]; 3 January 1933 – 21 April 1975) was a Cambodian politician who served as the last prime minister of the Khmer Republic from 26 December 1973, to 17 April 1975. Highly regarded for his honesty,[1] he tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a peace settlement with the Khmer Rouge during the Cambodian Civil War. He was later arrested by the Khmer Rouge and executed. He is one of two prime ministers to die in office, the other being Chan Sy. He is also the longest serving prime minister under the presidency of Lon Nol for the Khmer Republic.

Early life

[edit]

Long was born in Chbar Ampéou near Phnom Penh in Kandal Province, Cambodia, the son of Ly Long Meas and Neang Ieng Buth. He attended the prestigious Lycée Sisowath in Phnom Penh from 1946 to 1952,[2] studied in France from 1953 to 1955, then returned to Cambodia to work in the Royal Treasury.

Long had two wives. He divorced his first wife and he married his second wife one year later. Him and his second wife were executed by the Khmer Rouge immediately after the fall of Phnom Penh.

Personal life

[edit]

Long Boret was the author of a Khmer film called "Sea of Tears" (សមុទ្រទឹកភ្នែក).

Long's children are still alive today, some are in Cambodia and some in the United States. His second wife's eldest child is serving as a judge in Cambodia.

Political career

[edit]

In 1958 he was elected to parliament as MP for Stung Treng Province, and was the youngest MP in parliament.[3] He served briefly in 1958 as Deputy Secretary of State for Labour and Social Action and was re-elected to Parliament in 1962. During this period he became known as the author of romance stories, many of which were serialized in newspapers.[4] He was appointed State Secretary for Finance but he publicly opposed the decision in November 1963 by Norodom Sihanouk to nationalize banks and foreign trade, and was forced to resign. He retained his parliamentary seat in the 1966 elections. He was the Information Minister from 1971 to 1972 and the Foreign Minister from 1972 to 1973.

Prime Minister of Cambodia

[edit]

On 9 December 1973, he succeeded In Tam to become Prime Minister of Cambodia. On 2 April 1974, he became one of four members of an executive board composed, in addition to Long Boret, of Lon Nol, Sisowath Sirik Matak and General Sosthene Fernandez.

On 8 April 1975, he attempted unsuccessfully to negotiate a peace settlement in Bangkok with representatives of the Khmer Rouge.[5]

Arrest and execution

[edit]

Long Boret remained in office until the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975. US Ambassador John Gunther Dean recalls that, unlike many government officials who fled Phnom Penh, Long chose to remain behind despite being on a death list announced from Beijing by Norodom Sihanouk:

Long Boret refused to be evacuated. He was a competent, able man, much younger than Lon Nol or Sirik Matak. When I personally went to see him on April 12, the very morning of our evacuation, to ask him to take his wife and himself and his young children out of Phnom Penh because I feared for his safety, he thanked me but [said he] thought his life was not in danger.[6]

General Sak Sutsakhan recalled that on the morning of 17 April Long decided to take his family and leave the city.[7] Both General Sak and the journalist Jon Swain[8] reported that Long and his family were unable to board the last helicopter flying out of the city.[9] In his memoir, Danger Zones, Ambassador Dean stated that:

Long Boret had stayed in Cambodia, thinking that he could have some kind of dialogue with the Khmer Rouge. When he realized that that was impossible, he raced to the airport with his family in a jeep to try and get out of the country. When they arrived at the airport, they got on a helicopter with some military officers. One officer brutally shoved him off the helicopter. The copter took off. The Khmer Rouge captured Long Boret and his wife and killed them all. Boret’s son managed to escaped and is now alive.[10]

Long Boret was last seen by Jon Swain, Sydney Schanberg and Dith Pran outside the French Embassy. Swain reported:

...a black Citroën[11] pulled up and Long Boret got out, his eyes puffy and red, his face empty of expression. When we asked him how he was, he muttered a short, incoherent sentence. His thoughts were elsewhere. Dazed, legs wobbling, he surrendered to the Khmer Rouge and joined the line of prisoners. I could not fail to admire his courage.[8]

Schanberg gave a more detailed description of the scene:

Long Boret arrives in a car driven by his wife...he looks wretched. His eyes are puffed. He stares at the ground. He...knows what faces him. I want to get away but I feel I must say something to him, and Pran understands. I take Long Boret's hands and tell him what a brave thing he has done for his country and that I admire him for it. Pran takes his hands too...Long Boret tries to respond but cannot. Finally he mumbles 'Thank you.' And we must leave him.[12]

Soon after, Koy Thuon, a Khmer Rouge deputy front commander, organized the "Committee for Wiping Out Enemies" at the Hotel Monorom (11°34′12″N 104°55′05″E / 11.57°N 104.918°E / 11.57; 104.918). Its first action was ordering the immediate execution of Lon Nol and other leading government figures. Long Boret was executed on the grounds of the Cercle Sportif in Phnom Penh. Khmer Rouge Radio subsequently reported that he had been beheaded[13] but other reports indicate that he and Sisowath Sirik Matak were executed by firing squad.[14]

Key dates

[edit]

9 Dec. 1973 – Long Boret becomes Prime Minister of the Khmer Republic: 9 Dec. 1973—17 April 1975

1 April 1974 – The High Political Council that dissolved a day earlier was replaced by a four-man executive council: Lon Nol, Sirik Matak, Long Boret and General Sosthene Fernandez.

17 June 1974 – Long Boret forms a new 16-member Cabinet.

11 March 1975 – President Lon Nol orders Prime Minister Long Boret to form a new cabinet and eliminates the post of commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

8 April 1975 – PM Long Boret holds unsuccessful peace talks with Khmer Rouge representatives in Bangkok.

17 April 1975 – Long Boret surrenders to the Khmer Rouge in front of the French Embassy and is executed the same day.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ George McTurnan Kahin, Southeast Asia: a Testament, Routledge, 2003, p. 336.
  2. ^ Thompson LC. Refugee Workers in the Indochina Exodus, 1975-1982. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co, 2010, p. 37.
  3. ^ LA CONSTRUCTION DU CAMBODGE EN DEBAT (1954–1959)
  4. ^ Corfield JJ. The history of Cambodia. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood Press, 2009, p. 64.
  5. ^ "Long Boret" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  6. ^ "Interviewed by Charles Stuart Kennedy on September 6, 2000: John Gunther Dean on his experience as US Ambassador to Cambodia, 1974-75, p. 27" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 27, 2016. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  7. ^ Sutsakhan, Lt. Gen. S. The Khmer Republic at War and the Final Collapse Washington DC: U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1987, p. 169. Part 3 Archived 2018-01-24 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ a b Swain J. River of Time. London: Heinemann, 1995, p. 135.
  9. ^ Isaacs AR. Without Honor: Defeat in Vietnam and Cambodia. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999, p. 286.
  10. ^ Dean, John Gunther. Danger Zones: A Diplomat's Fight for America's Interests. Washington DC: New Academia Publishing, 2009, pp. 109-110.
  11. ^ Justin Corfield says it was a white Mercedes. Justin Corfield, Khmers stand up!: a history of the Cambodian government 1970–1975, Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University, 1994, p. 230.
  12. ^ Sydney Schanberg, The Death and Life of Dith Pran. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Penguin, 1985, p. 26.
  13. ^ Becker E. When the War was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution. New York: PublicAffairs, 1998, p. 160 & 193: "...Reportedly one of the very first acts of the communists was to behead [Boret] on the lawns of the private Cercle Sportif Country Club."
  14. ^ Jackson KD. Cambodia, 1975–1978: Rendezvous with Death. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1989, p. 184.
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Political offices
Preceded by Prime Minister of Cambodia
1973–1975
Succeeded by