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AP 5/27 #2
05-27-96 1455EDT =
Burma Activist Heard On Tape=
By AYE AYE WIN=3D As=
sociated Press Writer=3D =
=A0=A0RANGOON, Burma (AP) Wh=
en pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi denounced Burma'=
s ruling junta and vowed to
fight it, millions of Burmes=
e too frightened to attend the
speech listened to tape reco=
rdings distributed by her
supporters. =
=A0=A0As long as the general=
s rule the country, Burmese will
never read a speech by Suu K=
yi in the daily newspapers. So
her supporters are spreading=
Suu Kyi's words on their own. =
=A0=A0As many as 10,000 peop=
le appeared outside Suu Kyi's
home Sunday for her weekly s=
peech the largest crowd since
her release last July from s=
ix years of house arrest and
dozens of them held as many =
as six cassette recorders in
their hands. =
=A0=A0The tapes made it arou=
nd Rangoon by Monday morning, and
others should reach the coun=
tryside in a few days. =
=A0=A0``It was a fantastic s=
peech. She was more defiant than
usual,'' said Thein Nyunt, a=
30-year-old mechanic. ``I was
too afraid to go. But my fat=
her went and taped it, and I
think it was great.'' =
=A0=A0The tapes also reached=
the desks of the military regime
formally known as the State =
Law and Order Restoration
Council. On Monday, the stat=
e-controlled press called Suu
Kyi a ``maggot'' and tool of=
a U.S. conspiracy to colonize
Burma by introducing democra=
cy and human rights. The
people, the press says, love=
and support the regime. =
=A0=A0The people of Burma ap=
preciate the defiance of the
petite, Oxford-educated Suu =
Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel
Peace Prize for her nonviole=
nt promotion of democracy. =
=A0=A0But they're afraid to =
show too much open support,
remembering that the militar=
y dictatorship gunned down
hundreds of pro-democracy de=
monstrators in 1988. =
=A0=A0Fear runs so deep in R=
angoon that the army hasn't even
felt compelled to call out e=
xtra soldiers, despite the
political tension. As monsoo=
n rains swept the palm-lined
roads Monday, people in the =
city went about business as
usual. =
=A0=A0But some of the few Bu=
rmese willing to speak to
foreigners commented in the =
dank shops and crowded
tearooms that the only topic=
of conversation was Sunday's
speech. Like Thein Nyunt, th=
ey'd heard it on tape. =
=A0=A0On Sunday, Suu Kyi and=
fellow leaders of her National
League for Democracy rebuked=
the authorities for arresting
at least 262 people nearly a=
ll the delegates to the party's
most important conference in=
six years. They demanded that
the opposition victory in pa=
rliamentary elections in May
1990 finally be recognized. =
=A0=A0``Giving in to bullyin=
g is not good,'' Suu Kyi said. ``We
must have the courage to fac=
e the bully's challenge.'' =
=A0=A0Speaking to reporters =
Monday, Suu Kyi predicted the
military regime would detain=
some of her jailed supporters
indefinitely and said her pe=
rsonal assistant had been
thrown into a prison known f=
or torture. =
=A0=A0The climate of fear is=
reflected in Burma's primitive
financial institutions. Ther=
e's not much of a stock market,
but the currency black marke=
t is a fair barometer. =
=A0=A0The official exchange =
rate for Burma's currency, the
kyat, is 6 to $1. On the bla=
ck market, the kyat was recently
trading for 139 to the dolla=
r. Rumors that the military had
blocked streets to Suu Kyi's=
home caused the kyat to
plummet. =
=A0=A0``Business is bad. I l=
ost 100,000 kyats this weekend,''
said a woman who changes mon=
ey in the back of her grocery
shop. She refused to be iden=
tified. Though the black market
is no secret, it remains ill=
egal. =
=A0=A0``People liked the spe=
ech, but they don't expect any
change,'' said the currency =
trader. ``Nobody can make this
government do anything they =
don't want to do. They have all
the guns.''