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A turbulent decade for Burma




  
 

Published Sunday, August 8, 1999, in the San Jose Mercury News 

A turbulent decade for Burma
***********************************
Burma's socialist civilian government was overthrown in September 1988 by a
military junta led by Gen. Saw Maung. The coup followed months of
pro-democracy protests during which hundreds of people were killed. In
national elections in May 1990, the opposition National League for Democracy
-- led by Aung San Suu Kyi, who had been under house arrest since the
previous year -- won in a landslide, but the military refused to recognize
the results.
Suu Kyi, now 54, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her crusade
against the government's repressive policies. Her house arrest ended after
six years, but her activities remain restricted. After the junta rejected
her call to honor the results of the 1990 elections, the National League for
Democracy declared last August that it would go ahead and convene the
parliament anyway. Hundreds of party members were jailed or detained; Suu
Kyi spent 13 days in her car during a roadside standoff with soldiers.

In its most recent report to Congress on Burma, in October, the U.S. State
Department said: The military junta continues to dominate the political,
economic and social life of the country in the same oppressive, heavy-handed
way that it has since seizing power. U.S. sanctions include suspension of
economic aid, very limited diplomatic contact and a ban on investment.