2 January 1979

Shortly after midnight a Khmer assailant breaks into the guesthouse in PhnomPenh and kills Malcom Caldwell. A Khmer Rouge official describes the murder as “a political act to discredit us & to show that we cannot protect our friends”
Dudman recounts the incident: https://t.co/ICe7gZbLw3

Malcolm Caldwell is granted a separate interview with Pol Pot as a “friend” of the Khmer Rouge. Becker notes that Caldwell returned delighted, having mostly discussed economic theory. Pol Pot invited him to return next year to measure how the revolution prospered.

Becker & Dudman interview Pol Pot. She had doubted claims of his charisma but says in person he does have appeal. More lecture than interview Pol Pot was “saying things that sounded mad” offering a scenario of Warsaw Pact armies fighting against NATO in Cambodia. https://t.co/wu8bueHGqd