In a state of strong man, an order of Trump extinguishes the flicker of freedom

His father was marched towards a forest and killed, like many victims of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Before being taken away, the father told his young son, uon chhin, to get up and tell the truth, even if he could compromise his freedom.

Decades later, Mr. Uon Chhin became a journalist during the maximum splendor of the free press in Cambodia. But in 2017, he and a colleague of Radio Free Asia were accused of espionage. Their nine months imprisonment presented an invitation of human rights in Cambodia from Her lateThe longtime leader who reduced a young democracy in a dinasty.

Now, the cut of American foreign aid and the executive order of President Trump last month a Media of news financed by America As Radio Free Asia and Voice of America they are deleting what little space for freedom of speech remains in Cambodia. Thirty projects financed by the United States Agency for international development have been canceled, including those who support civil society and an independent average.

It is a tectonic change in this nation of Southeast Asia, which was once a laboratory for the construction of international democracy in the post-khmer era, then turned into a strong man’s state.

And he underlines the rise of another power, China, eager to influence a small desperate country for money and for a model to develop its economy in rapid growth.

Like ChinaMr. Hun Sen celebrated the executive order of Mr. Trump who targeted me the Radio Asia and Voice of America. Sunishing these news organizations financed by the Americans, he said, would be an “important contribution to the elimination of false news, disinformation, lies, distortions, incitements and chaos all over the world”.

Two years ago, Mr. Hun Sen has nominally delivered power to the eldest son, Hun Manet. Educated at the United States military academy in West Point, Mr. Hun Manet has route not changed. (The transfer of power from father to son was replicated for the positions of the Minister of Defense, head of the Navy and Minister of the Interior.)

Today, almost all independent media in Cambodia have been closed, although some, such as Asia without radio, still operate from the outside of the country. The political parties were dissolved by a flexible judiciary. Hundreds of Cambogiani who denounced the autocratic turning point of the country are in prison or in exile. In January a The opposition veteran politician was assassinated On the streets of Bangkok, a success that the Thai police connected to a Recommend two Mr. Sen.

“In Cambodia, RFA is the last independent average that operates in Khmer,” said Bay Fang, president of the broadcaster, referring to the local linguistic service, which has eight million Facebook followers. “If we close ourselves, the party in power manages to completely control the narrative. It is no wonder that Hun Sen celebrated the news of the possible disappearance of RFA.”

After his release from prison, Mr. Uon Chhin in the end found work in a collective of news formed by marginalized of other closed media. Half of the annual budget of the $ 810,000 group came from American Aid. The collective, called CambodiaIt only has enough money to operate until June. They stopped providing drinking water in the office to save $ 30 per month.

“My colleagues and I know that something like this always happens in Cambodia, but we never expected it to happen from America,” said Uon Chhin. “It is as if Cambodia and America have exchanged places.”

There are Cambodian news that make money. They avoid criticisms of the Hun family and its cronies, including individuals who have been sanctioned by the Department of the United States of the Treasury for alleged corruption and violations of human rights. The most popular is called Fresh News and publishes online in Khmer, English and Chinese. Last year, the Cambodian Popular Party in power, led by the Huns, ordered all officials to use the messaging service of new news, Colapp, rather than foreign options such as WhatsApp or Signal.

“Cambodia has complete freedom, more than some of the countries of the region,” said Lim Cheavutha, founder and CEO of Fresh News, who is the favorite burn of the party to power to spread information.

While the United States and other Western nations, such as Sweden, withdraws funding for independent media and democratic institutions, China intervened with money that is not linked to annoying concerns for human rights.

Last summer, Hang Sreylin, 25 years old, traveled with other Cambodian journalists and influencers on a junctance all the expenses in north-eastern China. He was surprised at modern buildings and clean roads. He produced 20 stories of tourism and culture from his journey.

“We do not have the freedom of expression in Cambodia,” said Mrs. Heng Sreylin, who works for a small outlet that focuses on things such as travel stories and celebrities. “I make stories that do not bring me problems. I don’t want to touch politics.”

Independent journalists were absorbed by the government. The Minister of Information, Neth Pheaktra, was once editing in a respected daily publication that discovered corruption, political malfunction and oligarchs that behaved badly.

Now glorifies the Hun dynasty and in an interview in his large office full of golden trees and checks, the minister listed flattering facts about Mr. Hun Manet.

“Our Prime Minister himself, Monitor Tiktok and Social Media and Facebook,” he said. “Sometimes he reads the comments of the local population on his phone.”

Mr. Neth Pheaktra said he could not answer questions about the repression of the media that closed dozens of stores in Cambodia because this happened before he became Minister of Information in 2023.

The SOIA Sopheap worked for a Japanese news agency before getting into the pro-government political expert. It is now a Cambodian co-manufacturer of the Cambodia-China Journalist Association, which organizes media tours in China. (He said he doesn’t know who his Chinese blanket is, nor why he was chosen for work.)

At the foundation of the group, a diplomat of the Chinese embassy in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, celebrated the advent of “promoting positive news about our two countries”.

“Human rights are words that you like to use the West,” said Soy Sopheap. “But China is a reliable friend of Cambodia.”

The with which Sothoeuth has lost funding for his new journalistic startup, an online news site. His previous employer, Voice of Democracy, was forced to leave the radio waves in 2023. He does not know how he will continue without American support and is not sure that he will avoid prison. But, he said, he will continue to defend the free expression.

“If you go with the flow, you are a dead fish,” he said. “If you fight the current, it means that you are alive.”