Cambodia Better Times for a Ravaged Land

By WILLIAM STEWART PHNOM PENH

It is the end of the dry season, and a breathlessness lies upon the land. The empty, harvested rice fields shimmer in the heat, while the broken shells of former schools and hospitals dot the countryside. The supply of electricity is erratic, and most of the main roads out of Phnom Penh peter out within an hour's drive from the capital.

Cambodia is still in appalling physical shape ten years after the Khmer Rouge were driven from power by an invading army from Viet Nam. The country's economy operates at only 60% of its prewar level, its port facilities at just one-third. There is a 50,000-ton rice shortage in a country that was once a major exporter. Over everything hangs the threat of renewed civil war -- and the possibility of a return by the Khmer Rouge, whose murderous leaders have taken their place in the nation's demonology.

But beneath the ravaged surface of the land, there is renewed vitality in this long-suffering country, a newfound sense of confidence. Surprisingly, the government of Hun Sen, installed by the Vietnamese, has begun to seek changes that could win it something no ruler has had for two decades: popular support. Owing largely to increasingly liberal economic policies, the Prime Minister, 38, is gaining credibility both abroad and at home for departing from Communist orthodoxy.

The key to Hun Sen's efforts to retain power when the last Vietnamese soldiers depart by Sept. 30 is the cooperation of Cambodia's former head of state, the wily and mercurial Prince Norodom Sihanouk, 67, who remains a powerful psychological symbol of better times. Last week, after the leaders held two days of talks in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, Sihanouk indicated for the first time that he was prepared to return home as head of state without his partner in opposition, the Khmer Rouge. But the former monarch laid on a host of ifs and buts to his offer that leave his return in doubt.

Still, it was a guileful change of tone for Sihanouk, who had spurned previous invitations from the "illegitimate" Hun Sen regime. Only recently Sihanouk had called the Prime Minister "the valet of Vietnamese imperialism." Now the prince boasted, "I am the father of all Cambodians, so Hun Sen is my child."

If Hun Sen will meet the demands for a more liberal, multiparty government, said Sihanouk, "I will accept his government, his administration," and return home in October or November. Hun Sen responded symbolically by arriving in Jakarta with a new flag -- Sihanouk's red and blue, instead of Communist red -- a new anthem, and constitutional amendments to liberalize the economy, make Buddhism the state religion and bar capital punishment. The Prime Minister also announced that his country's name will henceforth revert from the People's Republic of Kampuchea to the old Sihanouk-era State of Cambodia.

Hun Sen must craft a political settlement that will satisfy not only the warring Cambodian factions but also their foreign sponsors: the Soviet Union and Viet Nam on one side, China and the U.S. on the other. While Hun Sen made a number of gestures toward the Prince, he still refused to allow the Khmer Rouge into the new government before elections; Sihanouk insisted it must be tried. Officially, the U.S. backs a pre-election four-party coalition that would include the Khmer Rouge, though no one wants to see them back in control.

But it is unlikely that China, which has supplied the Khmer Rouge for some 20 years as a check on the aggressive Vietnamese, will accept any government with Hun Sen at its center, and it may be unwilling to halt the flow of arms if the Khmer Rouge are completely excluded. Just how China's interests can be accommodated will be a major topic when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev meets Deng Xiaoping in Beijing next week.

The Khmer Rouge remain a potent opposition force, with as many as 35,000 armed guerrillas and support from perhaps 10% of the populace. Foreign diplomats in Phnom Penh, however, believe the strength and ability of the Khmer Rouge may be overestimated.

In contrast, Hun Sen's confidence has been growing. For the past 18 months, with the Soviet Union's encouragement, Cambodia has been tiptoeing toward a free-market economy. Almost every day ships arrive from Thailand and Singapore carrying a variety of consumer goods. Though technically illegal, imported canned food can be found throughout the capital of Phnom Penh, which, ironically, is more prosperous than Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital. The streets of Phnom Penh buzz with reconditioned motorbikes. At the thriving central market, private stalls purvey clothes and souvenirs, and dozens of private restaurants lure customers to dine on river prawn. To attract urban support, the government gave residential rights to squatters who had moved into city dwellings abandoned by owners who had either fled abroad or been killed by the Khmer Rouge. In the countryside, the government allows farmers to buy up to 25 acres of land and pass them on to their children.

Cambodians are nervous about what may happen when the Vietnamese withdraw, but their military leaders are optimistic. "We can master the situation," insists Minister of Defense General Tea Banh, 45. Although his hold on the country is fragile, Hun Sen is acting more and more like a man in command.

With reporting by Jay Branegan/Jakarta