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Friday, October 30, 2026Oct 30

Randall Higgins


Cleveland, Tenn., is now sister city to… Phnom Penh?

The regime, which ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, killed an estimated 2 million Cambodians in that time. Under the group's leader, Pol Pot, the regime emptied the country's cities, determined to create a totally agrarian, communist society. In 1979, Vietnamese troops, tired of border skirmishes with the Khmer Rouge, invaded Cambodia and sent the Khmer Rouge back to the jungles. Pol Pot continued to lead the group as an insurgent movement until 1997, when he was arrested and sentenced to house arrest by his own followers after killing one of his closest advisers. He died in 1998 in a tiny jungle village, never having faced charges.