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On Burma (Washington Post Editorail



Courage In Burma
Monday, July 13, 1998; Page A20
CERTAIN FIGURES in history demonstrate such courage and honor in
the struggle for freedom that the rest of us can only gape in wonder. Some
of these leaders, like South Africa's Nelson Mandela, have lived long
enough see their jailers brought low; others, like Nigeria's Moshood
Abiola, have not been so fortunate. One such figure, Burma's Aung San
Suu Kyi, remains today a captive. Like Mr. Mandela, she has the inner
strength to inspire a movement and shame a dictatorship. But the odious
generals who misrule her Asian land are not ready to acknowledge her
rightful claim to leadership. The United States and its allies should
champion her cause more actively.
Last week Aung San Suu Kyi, 52, showed again her fearlessness in the
face of thuggery. Her National League for Democracy won a landslide
victory in 1990 elections, but Burma's military regime ignored the results
and has jailed or confined her ever since. On Tuesday she defied her de
facto house arrest and drove north from the capital to meet a fellow party
member. The regime's thugs blocked her way and sent soldiers to lift her
car and turn it to point south again, with Aung San Suu Kyi inside. Even
then, she did not budge. After a standoff of nearly 24 hours, the meeting
she had sought took place.
It was, however, a small victory. Aung San Suu Kyi remains isolated from
supporters and family. Her supporters increasingly are being thrown into
jail. Children of minority ethnic groups are press-ganged into slavery by
Burma's military. The average annual income for Burma's 47 million people
has fallen to $107.
Increasingly, Burma finds itself isolated in the world. Only China maintains
warm relations; Beijing just sold the Burmese regime 20 new warplanes.
Even Burma's neighbors, such as Thailand and the Philippines, which
traditionally avoid interference in one another's affairs, have expressed
alarm at the regime's behavior. But they, like the United States, could do
more. Later this month Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will travel to
Manila to take part in a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations. She and her colleagues should turn up the pressure on Burma's
thugs.
© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company