TED2009
Sophal Ear: Escaping the Khmer Rouge
Sophal Ear: Escapando del Jemer Rojo
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Sophal Ear, TED Fellow, comparte esta irresisitible historia del escape de su familia de Camboya bajo el régimen del Jemer Rojo.
Sophal Ear - Development economist
Sophal Ear leads research on post-conflict countries -- looking at the effectiveness of foreign aid and the challenge of development in places like his native land, Cambodia. Full bio
Sophal Ear leads research on post-conflict countries -- looking at the effectiveness of foreign aid and the challenge of development in places like his native land, Cambodia. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
I normally teach courses on
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Usualmente imparto cursos sobre
00:15
how to rebuild states after war.
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cómo reconstruir Estados después de una guerra.
00:19
But today I've got a personal story to share with you.
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Pero el día de hoy quiero compartir una historia personal con ustedes.
00:21
This is a picture of my family,
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Esta es una fotografía de mi familia,
00:24
my four siblings -- my mom and I -- taken in 1977.
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mis cuatro hermanos, mi madre y yo, tomada en 1977.
00:28
And we're actually Cambodians.
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En realidad somos camboyanos.
00:30
And this picture is taken in Vietnam.
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Y esta foto fue tomada en Vietnam.
00:32
So how did a Cambodian family end up in Vietnam in 1977?
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¿Entonces cómo llegó una familia de Camboya a Vietnam en 1977?
00:36
Well to explain that, I've got a short video clip
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Para explicar eso tengo un video
00:39
to explain the Khmer Rouge regime
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que revela el régimen del Jemer Rojo
00:41
during 1975 and 1979.
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de 1975 a 1979.
00:44
Video: April 17th, 1975.
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Video: 17 de abril de 1975.
00:48
The communist Khmer Rouge
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El Jemer Rojo comunista
00:50
enters Phnom Penh to liberate their people
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entra a Phnom Penh para liberar a su pueblo
00:53
from the encroaching conflict in Vietnam,
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del agresivo conflicto en Vietnam,
00:55
and American bombing campaigns.
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y de los bombardeos estadounidenses.
00:59
Led by peasant-born Pol Pot,
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Guiados por el ex-campesino Pol Pot,
01:02
the Khmer Rouge evacuates people to the countryside
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el Jemer Rojo evacua algunas personas al campo
01:06
in order to create a rural communist utopia,
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para crear una utopía rural comunista,
01:09
much like Mao Tse-tung's Cultural Revolution in China.
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similar a la Revolución Cultural de Mao Tse-tung en China.
01:15
The Khmer Rouge closes the doors to the outside world.
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El Jemer Rojo se cierra al mundo exterior.
01:19
But after four years the grim truth seeps out.
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Pero después de cuatro años aparece la cruda realidad.
01:23
In a country of only seven million people,
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En un país de únicamente 7 millones de personas,
01:25
one and a half million were murdered by their own leaders,
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un millón y medio fueron asesinados por sus propios líderes,
01:29
their bodies piled in the mass graves of the killing fields.
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sus cuerpos apilados en fosas comunes en los campos de ejecución.
01:33
Sophal Ear: So, notwithstanding the 1970s narration,
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Sophal Ear: Entonces, a pesar de la narración de los 70´s,
01:36
on April 17th 1975
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el 17 de abril de 1975,
01:38
we lived in Phnom Penh.
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nosotros vivíamos en Phnom Penh.
01:40
And my parents were told by the Khmer Rouge
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El Jemer Rojo obligó a mis padres
01:43
to evacuate the city because of impending American bombing for three days.
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a evacuar la ciudad debido a los inminentes bombardeos estadounidenses que durarían tres días.
01:47
And here is a picture of the Khmer Rouge.
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Esta es una fotografía del Jemer Rojo.
01:49
They were young soldiers, typically child soldiers.
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Eran soldados jóvenes. Niños soldado.
01:52
And this is very normal now, of modern day conflict,
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Esto es ahora muy común en los conflictos actuales.
01:55
because they're easy to bring into wars.
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Porque son fácilemte llevados a combatir en la guerra.
01:58
The reason that they gave about American bombing wasn't all that far off.
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La razón que nos dieron acerca del bombardeo estadounidense no estaba tan lejos de la realidad.
02:02
I mean, from 1965 to 1973 there were
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Es decir, de 1965 a 1973
02:04
more munitions that fell on Cambodia
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cayeron sobre Camboya más explosivos
02:08
than in all of World War II Japan,
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que durante toda la Segunda Guerra Mundial en Japón,
02:10
including the two nuclear bombs
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incluyendo las dos bombas atómicas
02:12
of August 1945.
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de agosto de 1945.
02:15
The Khmer Rouge didn't believe in money.
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El Jemer Rojo no creía en el dinero.
02:18
So the equivalent of the Federal Reserve Bank
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El equivalente al Banco Central
02:20
in Cambodia was bombed.
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de Camboya fue bombardeado.
02:22
But not just that, they actually banned money.
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Pero no sólo eso, también prohibieron el uso de dinero.
02:25
I think it's the only precedent in which
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Creo que es el único antecedente en el cual
02:27
money has ever been stopped from being used.
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el dinero ha dejado de ser utilizado.
02:29
And we know money is the root of all evil,
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Sabemos que el dinero es la raíz de todos los males,
02:31
but it didn't actually stop evil from happening in Cambodia, in fact.
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pero tampoco evitó que estos males ocurrieran en Camboya.
02:35
My family was moved from Phnom Penh to Pursat province.
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Mi familia fue llevada de Phnom Penh a la provincia de Pursat.
02:39
This is a picture of what Pursat looks like.
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Esta es una fotografía de Pursat.
02:41
It's actually a very pretty area of Cambodia,
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En realidad es una zona bonita de Camboya,
02:44
where rice growing takes place.
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en la cual se cultiva el arroz.
02:46
And in fact they were forced to work the fields.
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De hecho, fueron forzados a trabajar en el campo.
02:48
So my father and mother ended up in
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De tal manera, mi padre y mi madre acabaron
02:51
a sort of concentration camp, labor camp.
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en una especie de campo de concentración, de trabajos forzados.
02:54
And it was at that time that my mother got word
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Es entonces cuando mi madre se entera
02:56
from the commune chief
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de parte del jefe de la comuna
02:59
that the Vietnamese were actually asking
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que los vietnamitas estaban solicitando
03:01
for their citizens to go back to Vietnam.
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a sus ciudadanos regresar a Vietnam.
03:04
And she spoke some Vietnamese,
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Ella hablaba algo de vietnamita,
03:06
as a child having grown up with Vietnamese friends.
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ya que de pequeña se crió con amigos vietnamitas.
03:09
And she decided, despite the advice of her neighbors,
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Ella decidió, a pesar del consejo de los vecinos,
03:13
that she would take the chance
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que buscaría la oportunidad
03:15
and claim to be Vietnamese
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de hacerse pasar por vietnamita
03:17
so that we could have a chance to survive,
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para tener una oportunidad de sobrevivir.
03:19
because at this point they're forcing everybody to work.
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A estas alturas ellos forzaban a todos a trabajar.
03:21
And they're giving about --
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Nos suministraban
03:23
in a modern-day, caloric-restriction diet, I guess --
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lo que hoy llamaríamos una dieta calórica limitada, supongo;
03:26
they're giving porridge, with a few grains of rice.
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nos daban avena con unos cuantos granos de arroz.
03:30
And at about this time actually
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Y aproximadamente en ese momento
03:32
my father got very sick.
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mi padre cayó muy enfermo.
03:34
And he didn't speak Vietnamese.
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Él no hablaba vietnamita.
03:36
So he died actually, in January 1976.
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Es entonces cuando muere, en enero de 1976.
03:39
And it made it possible, in fact,
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Y, de hecho, esto hizo posible
03:42
for us to take on this plan.
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que cumpliéramos el plan.
03:44
So the Khmer Rouge took us
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El Jemer Rojo nos llevó
03:46
from a place called Pursat to Kaoh Tiev,
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de un lugar llamado Pursat a Koh Tiev.
03:48
which is across from the border from Vietnam.
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Este sitio es del otro lado de la frontera con Vietnam.
03:51
And there they had a detention camp
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Ahí tenían un campo de detención
03:53
where alleged Vietnamese would be tested, language tested.
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en el cual los supuestos vietnamitas serían puestos a prueba, una prueba de lenguaje.
03:57
And my mother's Vietnamese was so bad
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El vietnamita que hablaba mi mamá era tan malo
04:00
that to make our story more credible,
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que para hacer nuestra historia mas creíble,
04:04
she'd given all the boys and girls new Vietnamese names.
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ella nos dio, a mí y a mis hermanas y hermanos, nuevos nombres vietnamitas.
04:07
But she'd given the boys girls' names,
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Pero le dio nombres de mujeres a los niños,
04:09
and the girls boys' names.
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y de hombres a las niñas.
04:12
And it wasn't until she met a Vietnamese lady
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No fue hasta que conoció a una señora vietnamita
04:14
who told her this, and then tutored her for two days intensively,
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que le dijo de esta equivocación, y luego la instruyó por dos días intensivamente,
04:18
that she was able to go into her exam
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entonces ya estaba lista para ir al examen
04:21
and -- you know, this was a moment of truth.
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y se podrán imaginar, este era el momento de la verdad.
04:24
If she fails, we're all headed to the gallows;
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Si ella fallaba, iríamos todos al patíbulo.
04:27
if she passes, we can leave to Vietnam.
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Si ella pasaba, podríamos cruzar a Vietnam.
04:29
And she actually, of course -- I'm here, she passes.
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Y finalmente ella, es obvio, estoy aquí, ella pasó.
04:33
And we end up in Hong Ngu on the Vietnamese side.
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Y llegamos a Hong Ngu en territorio Vietnamita.
04:36
And then onwards to Chau Doc.
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De ahí fuimos a Chau Doc.
04:38
And this is a picture of Hong Ngu, Vietnam today.
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Y esta es una fotografía de Hong Ngu, hoy Vietnam.
04:40
A pretty idyllic place on the Mekong Delta.
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Un lugar idílico en el delta del río Mekong.
04:42
But for us it meant freedom.
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Para nosotros representaba libertad.
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And freedom from persecution from the Khmer Rouge.
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Libertad de la persecución del Jemer Rojo.
04:49
Last year, the Khmer Rouge Tribunal,
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El año pasado el Tribunal del Jemer Rojo
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which the U.N. is helping Cambodia take on,
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que se lleva a cabo en Camboya con ayuda de la ONU
04:54
started, and I decided that as a matter of record
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inició, y yo decidí con fines estadísticos
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I should file a Civil Complaint
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presentar una demanda civil
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with the Tribunal about my father's passing away.
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ante el Tribunal con respecto a la muerte de mi padre.
05:02
And I got word last month
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El mes pasado fui informado
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that the complaint was officially accepted by the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.
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que la demanda ha sido aceptada oficialmente por el Tribunal del Jemer Rojo.
05:08
And it's for me a matter of justice for history, and accountability for the future,
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Y para mí representa un hecho de justicia histórica y de responsabilidad para el futuro.
05:13
because Cambodia remains a pretty lawless place, at times.
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Porque Camboya sigue pareciendo un lugar sin reglas en algunas ocasiones.
05:18
Five years ago my mother and I went back to Chau Doc.
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Hace cinco años mi madre y yo regresamos a Chau Doc.
05:22
And she was able to return to a place
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Y ella pudo regresar a un lugar
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that for her meant freedom, but also fear,
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que para ella representa libertad, pero también el temor,
05:27
because we had just come out of Cambodia.
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porque ahí llegamos al salir de Camboya.
05:30
I'm happy, actually, today, to present her.
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Estoy feliz, hoy, de presentarles a mi madre.
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She's here today with us in the audience.
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Ella está entre nosotros el día de hoy aquí en la audiencia.
05:36
Thank you mother.
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Gracias mamá.
05:38
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sophal Ear - Development economistSophal Ear leads research on post-conflict countries -- looking at the effectiveness of foreign aid and the challenge of development in places like his native land, Cambodia.
Why you should listen
Elected to the Crescenta Valley Town Council in November 2015 for a 3-year term, encompassing more than 20,000 residents in unincorporated La Crescenta and Montrose, California, Sophal Ear, Ph.D., is a tenured Associate Professor of Diplomacy & World Affairs at Occidental College in Los Angeles where he lectures on political economy, security, development and Asia.
Previously, he taught how to rebuild countries after wars at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and international development at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. He consulted for the World Bank, was Assistant Resident Representative for the United Nations in East Timor and Advisor to Cambodia's 1st private equity fund Leopard Capital. A TED Fellow, Fulbright Specialist, Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, he sits on the board of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Refugees International, Partners for Development, the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, the Southeast Asia Development Program, Diagnostic Microbiology Development Program, the Journal of International Relations and Development (Palgrave), the International Public Management Journal (Taylor & Francis), Journal of South-East Asian American Education & Advancement (Purdue), and Politics and the Life Sciences (Cambridge University Press).
He is the author of Aid Dependence in Cambodia: How Foreign Assistance Undermines Democracy (Columbia University Press, 2013) and co-author of The Hungry Dragon: How China’s Resources Quest is Reshaping the World (Routledge, 2013). He wrote and narrated the award-winning documentary film "The End/Beginning: Cambodia" (47 minutes, 2011) based on his 2009 TED Talk and has appeared in four other documentaries.
A graduate of Princeton and Berkeley, he moved to the United States from France as a Cambodian refugee at the age of 10.
Sophal Ear | Speaker | TED.com