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Burma-US



/* Written  6:19 am  Feb 19, 1994 by Wov.Central@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx in igc:soc.cult.burma */
/* ---------- "Burma-US" ---------- */
APn  02/17 2359  Subject : Burma-US

By DENIS D. GRAY
 Associated Press Writer
   RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- Do visiting American Congressmen further the
cause of democracy in Burma, or are they merely legitimizing a military
regime denounced worldwide for its gross human rights abuses?
   Washington cut off all but humanitarian aid to Burma following the
brutal suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988 and continues
to condemn its denial of basic freedoms.
   But over the past two years a number of American lawmakers have made
trips to the country. And the United States probably ranks sixth among
private investors in the Southeast Asian nation.
   The crux of the debate, similar to the one earlier waged over South
Africa, is what will bring about positive change: economic sanctions and
diplomatic isolation, or dialogue, even if it's with an odious regime?
   "I think that it's very important that there be more visits by
members of Congress to Burma, under whatever auspices ... A positive
process of democratization is starting (and) we should make efforts to
push it," U.S. Congressman William Richardson told reporters after his
Burma trip this week.
   Richardson became the first non-family member to visit Burma's
leading dissident, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held under house
arrest for nearly five years. The New Mexico Democrat also initiated
what he hopes will be a meeting between Mrs. Suu Kyi and the ruling
junta.
   Trips like Richardson's and those by congressmen who have urged the
Burmese to halt the massive flow of heroin to the West are used as
arguments that contact is constructive.
   Critics see things differently.
   "Visits to Burma, even so-called `private' tours, send mixed signals
to a delighted Burmese junta in need of legitimacy and recognition at
home and abroad," says Maureen Aung-Thwin, a leading pro-democracy
activist based in New York City.
   Mrs. Aung-Thwin said in a telephone interview that the Americans
supply the military with "photo opportunities to use in government
controlled newspapers and television to help dispel the junta's
international pariah status."
   Indeed the military is embarked on a major campaign to improve its
poor image and attract foreign investment. It retains former New York
Congressman Lester Wolff as its registered lobbyist in Washington, at
$10,000 a month, and earlier had dealings with Van Kloberg Associates, a
Washington public relations firm that has advised Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein and former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
   Several Wolff-sponsored tours last year resulted in positive remarks
about Burma's military including those from Reps. Bill Archer of Texas,
Nancy Johnston of Connecticut and Michael Oxley of Ohio.
   Oxley lauded the military's anti-narcotics efforts, even though
Burma's production of opium has soared in recent years, and likened its
ethnic minority insurgents, many of them oppressed Christians, to Peru's
brutal Shining Path guerrillas.
   Clearly the junta is pleased with its congressional guests. In a
recent interview in Rangoon, Information Minister Myo Thant described
what most had to say about his country as "very good."
   Other Burmese officials said they were also happy with American
business interest in Burma. This includes investments by American oil
giants Amoco Corp. and Texaco Corp., Pepsi-Cola International and a
shrimp export venture by New York businesswoman Miriam Segal, who
criticizes what she says is the world's distorted picture of Burma.
   Although precise statistics are not available, the United States
ranks behind China, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea and Japan as an
investor.
   President Clinton, a strong supporter of Mrs. Suu Kyi, is likely to
talk tough when he reveals his long-awaited policy review on Burma.
Sources in the anti-Rangoon lobby in the United States say Mrs. Clinton
takes a special interest since her Yale Law School roommate for two
years was a Burmese woman.
   Clinton is unlikely to lift the aid ban and will almost certainly
criticize the junta's record on human rights and narcotics and its
spawning of Asia's largest refugee population through brutal military
campaigns against ethnic minority groups.
   But imposition of economic and other sanctions appears unlikely.
   Analysts say some improvements in Burma, such as the release of
nearly 2,000 political prisoners, mitigate against such moves.
   So, perhaps, does the effect, however minor, of the public relations
campaign and American business interests.
   "If you don't invade Bosnia to stop human rights violations who is
really going to care what happens in Burma?" says Mya Maung, a Burma
expert at Boston College in the United States. "Let's face it, everyone
is chasing the buck."
   ------
   EDITOR'S NOTE -- Denis D. Gray is the AP's chief of bureau in Bangkok
and has reported on Burmese affairs since 1975.



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