First Published: The Call, Vol. 7, No. 20, May 22, 1978.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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Call Note: Comrade Ieng Sary, Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs of Democratic Kampuchea and a member of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, gave a banquet for The Call reporters upon their arrival in Phnom Penh April 22.
Below is the speech at the banquet given by Dan Burstein, editor of The Call and a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) of the U.S.
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Respected Comrade Ieng Sary,
Respected Comrades of the Communist Party of Kampuchea and of the Government of Democratic Kampuchea,
It is with the profoundest revolutionary feelings that we have arrived today in your country, a country which has liberated itself from the chains of imperialism and is building a new revolutionary society on the ashes of the old imperialist one.
We are the first Americans to come here since the great victory in the War of Liberation on April 17, 1975. This is a great honor for us and a great responsibility at the same time. From our visit here, we are determined to bring the truth about Kampuchea’s revolution to the American people, who are currently being subjected every day to the most outrageous lies and slanders spread by the U.S. imperialists about your country.
It is no wonder that the U.S. imperialists hate Kampuchea’s revolution. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, headed by Comrade Pol Pot, the Kampuchean people have dealt the imperialists and their puppets a mighty defeat and closed the door forever on their dreams of exploitation and domination.
For the people of the world, and especially for the working class and progressive people in the United States, the liberation of Kampuchea is a source of great inspiration. Many members of our Party first joined the revolutionary struggle as a result of coming to understand the barbarous war of aggression carried out by the U.S. imperialists in Kampuchea.
The friendship between our two peoples is even sealed in blood—the blood of the thousands of Kampuchean martyrs who died during the War of Liberation and the blood of the American students at Kent State and Jackson State who were shot down by the U.S. government in May of 1970 when they protested the U.S. invasion of Kampuchea.
Now, Democratic Kampuchea is engaged in a great battle to reconstruct the country, march forward on the road of socialism and defend the revolution from attacks by the imperialists and reactionaries of all stripes. In this battle, you have the complete support and solidarity of our Party.
We will never forget the crimes committed here by U.S. imperialism, and we view our support for your revolution as our proletarian internationalist responsibility.
Now the other superpower is also trying to put pressure on Kampuchea and replace U.S. imperialism as the lord and master in Southeast Asia. But the heroic Kampuchean people, who have been fighting colonialism and imperialism for generations, will never allow this to come to pass.
Your revolution and your steadfast adherence to a policy of independence, non-alignment, resistance to big power aggression and defense of your national sovereignty have the support of the revolutionary people the world over.
Now I propose a toast:
To the good health of Comrade Ieng Sary and all our Kampuchean Comrades-in-Arms present here.
To the good health of Comrade Pol Pot.
To the friendship of the American and Kampuchean peoples.
To the unity of the Communist Party of Kampuchea and the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) of the U.S..
To the third anniversary of Kampuchea’s liberation.
To new victories in the Kampuchean revolution!