The vast majority of our intellectuals who attended the old schools are patriots. They want to connect with the masses and learn from them. In the following letter, an intellectual from Phnom Penh writes enthusiastically about his impressions in the liberated areas. He reports on his acquaintance with Uncle Ven, a farmer cadre. The author of the letter had left Phnom Penh in 1972.

When I was in Phnom Penh, I thought that I would face many difficulties if I went to the liberated areas because I had no relatives and acquaintances around me. This thought, which I now see as completely wrong, prevented me for some time from resolutely joining the side of the people. But it was impossible for us to endure the yoke of the cruel oppression and plundering of the traitorous clique any longer. What I see here has really amazed me. The regional committee of the FUNK and the people have welcomed us very warmly and helped us with words and deeds. We will never forget the fraternal feelings they have shown us.

In our new life, we share happiness and misfortune with our compatriots in the village and in the community. We feel like them and hold the same views. We feel the same hatred - a fierce hatred - against the US imperialists and the traitors of Phnom Penh. And the better we get to know each other, the more we love each other. We help each other with the production work and we share the products we make. In this way, we can provide for our own livelihood and also make our contribution to supplying the National People's Army, which is fighting on the front line.

The liberated areas have really become more beautiful. The people have plenty of rice, fish, meat and nice clothes. They are masters of the fruits of their labor, which they have created with their sweat and blood. They no longer need to fear that the thieves of the treacherous rulers will come and rob them of their rice, as is constantly happening in their area of power. Free from the oppression and exploitation they used to suffer in thousands of ways, they now enjoy the rights of true freedom and democracy.

Power is a real people's power. The villagers have elected an old farmer as chairman of the village committees. They call him "Uncle" Vèn. All the villagers, with whom he has shared joys and sorrows for many years, know him very well. He's nothing like the kind of functionary you see among the traitors, who you don't know where he comes from and who is appointed by the traitorous rulers as the head of the commune, district or province with the sole aim of sucking the blood of the people.

Since I live in the same village as Uncle Ven, he often visited me in his spare time. We had friendly conversations. He is friendly, modest and - always obliging - he keeps himself informed about everything, including the health of the individual inhabitants of the village. That's why I hold him in such high esteem. He has told me several times about his life, about the oppression and exploitation he had to endure at the hands of the traitors Lon Nol, Sirik Matak, Son Ngoc Thanh, In Tam and their men. He suffered constant hardship and great torment and could never eat enough. He confided in me that he was exploited so much that he feared everything and finally no longer even had confidence in himself and his abilities. After the liberation of his village, the inhabitants elected him chairman of the village under the guidance of the local FUNK committee, but he refused. He went to the people in charge of the organization to explain the rejection of his election. He asked to be allowed to take on any task in transportation, earth or field work or to be deployed in other manual work or directly in combat. However, he was not to be entrusted with the job of village chairman because he could not make speeches or write properly. But his interlocutors helped him to gain confidence in himself and take a clear political stand. So he finally accepted the office. In his new role, he correctly tackled the important life issues of the inhabitants and contributed to the full development of the village.

Enthusiastically and in solidarity, the villagers work to improve their living conditions and to destroy the enemies who try to attack the villages. With the utmost vigilance, encouraged by their successes, they compete with each other in the fulfillment of their tasks. And the more progress they make, the more they appreciate and respect their chairman, Uncle Vèn.

Like all Cambodian farmers, Vèn is loyal to the revolution. He has taken the leadership of the village into his own hands and is fulfilling the task with good results.

I am very proud of the FUNK, which has taught the villagers to fight for the abolition of the yoke of oppression of old and new colonialism with firm confidence in their own abilities and responsibility. This has strengthened my confidence in the correct political line of FUNK. I am determined to discard my mistakes of judging people only by their education and diplomas. These mistakes were remnants of colonialism and imperialism. I strive to learn from the people and deepen my trust in the working masses.

1976

Uncle Vèn Becomes a Cadre