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NEWS & LETTERS, JULY 2003
Our Life and Times by Kevin A. Barry
Burma crackdown
The military rulers of Burma (Myanmar) have cracked down
hard again. A year ago, they promised greater openness and negotiations with the
opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). They released NLD leader and
Nobel Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi after over a decade of house arrest,
allowing her some freedom of movement. On May 30, however, a pro-regime mob attacked a convoy
that included San Suu Kyi, killing a number of her colleagues and injuring many
more. Police moved in and arrested many NLD supporters. They are holding San Suu
Kyi incommunicado in the notorious Insein jail. They have also closed down the
universities to forestall student protests. Since the government limited San Suu Kyi’s travels after her release last year, thousands instead traveled long distances to hear her address NLD rallies. The determination of the masses to do away with a military regime that has been in power in various guises since 1962 has caused the regime to end a period of political opening that it rightly feared was getting out of control. |
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