Most visitors to Myanmar these days, when the country is opening up, limit their trips to Yangon, better known in better times as Rangoon. They rarely make the five-hour trip to Naypyitaw, the site upcountry to which the ruling military regime has transferred the capital.
The rights of Burma’s ethnic nationalities continue to be ignored.
Between a controversial dam benefiting China and dealing with Burma’s ethnic minorities in good faith, Burma’s President Thein Sein has his work cut out for him.
Burma’s President Thein Sein’s token democratic measures show he may still be but a front for the previous ruling junta.
One anonymous commentator says
do Suu Kyi and Hilary have
the same hair stylist what
they don’t realize is Burma is
very hot both climatically and
politically pulled back hair
off the face is best.
In the garden they hold hands like
long lost sisters.
Back in 2008 when the Burmese military junta announced a new constitution as a step toward civilian rule, the international community responded with considerable skepticism. The military didn’t look as though it intended to give up any real power. When Thein Sein won election as president earlier this year, The New York Times described it as “a move that cements the military’s control of a new political system.” The new president was widely considered a puppet of the top military general Than Shwe.
Sometimes, though, puppets manage to take on a life of their own.
North Korea and Burma have been the beneficiary of foreign policy initiatives by China and the United States respectively.
To approximate the results in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, the non-violent resistance of Burma must let itself be complemented by the armed resistance of the ethnic groups.
Just freed from house arrest, Suu Kyi is being handed all of Burma’s human rights issues.
In the wake of its “elections,” Burma’s ruling junta may be considering releasing Aung San Suu Kyi to win points with the West.