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Land Dispute Unearths Tension
From front, villagers in Phnom Penh: Sev Phem, 35; Romas Fil, 45; Sev Noch, 50; Sev Kem, 19; Sev Thveal, 23. They traveled to the capital in a failed attempt to get government officials to intercede in a land dispute.
(By Erika Kinetz For The Washington Post)
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Now many are asking: How far has Cambodia actually come?
"There is clearly a grievous problem in this country with illegal logging and land-grabbing," U.S. Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli said in an interview. "No one with any credibility can deny that. The prime minister has admitted as much himself."
But Mussomeli added that he was not aware of evidence that would substantiate all the allegations Global Witness made against high-ranking officials.
"We believe there are those high in the government who are concerned about this and working hard to counter illegal logging," Mussomeli said. "It's not a totalitarian regime."
Meanwhile, villager Sev Thveal has a more immediate problem: his dead grandmother.
His family hasn't been able to appease her spirit with a proper buffalo sacrifice, he said. Because his farm got bulldozed, he has had to start buying rice to eat and doesn't have any extra money.
"I used to visit the burial ground of my grandmother every day of every month of every year," Sev Thveal said. "Now her spirit maybe just goes everywhere. She's homeless."
