Word: burma
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...question is whether these scattered demonstrations will lead to a replay of Burma's version of Tiananmen, when a nation confronted its brutal military rulers only to be crushed by an iron fist. Certainly, there are similarities between today's protest movement and that of 1988. Although the previous strikes are now glossed with a patina of democratic yearning, their initial motivation was also economic. Back then, the military regime demonetized the local currency, rendering millions of people's savings worthless. Small groups began marching over a six-month period, a stop-start effort that culminated in August 1988 with...
...time around, the world, galvanized by blow-by-blow images transmitted via cell phones and through the Internet, has taken rapid notice of the protests and the subsequent crackdown. On Aug. 30, U.S. President George W. Bush condemned the junta's actions, and White House aides have promised that Burma will be a "major topic of discussion" at the APEC annual summit, which opened this week in Sydney. A day later, U.S. First Lady Laura Bush, who has personally followed the situation in Burma for years and has met with many Burmese activists, called U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon...
...international outcry presumably has not gone unnoticed by Burma's generals, who have unveiled their impression of political reform - a variety they call "discipline-flourishing democracy." On Sept. 3 the regime announced it had finally agreed to basic guidelines for a new constitution, 14 years after the generals summoned a national convention of handpicked delegates to draft a new charter. (The junta suspended the previous constitution in 1988.) But no timetable for elections has been set, nor is Suu Kyi's NLD part of the political process. Indeed, the new constitutional outline seems specifically designed to keep...
...economic front is no better. Roughly 90% of the population lives near or below the poverty line, even though Burma is blessed with lucrative resources like natural gas and timber. The country's generals are hardly known for their financial savvy: one former regime chief denominated bank notes by the number nine simply because he considered the digit auspicious. Obsessed with its survival, the junta has dramatically expanded the military; 40% of the nation's annual budget is believed to be spent on the 450,000-strong army. Inflation is running at more than 30%. Last month's fuel hike...
...punishing economic situation may have one unexpected benefit: it could re-energize Burma's hobbled opposition, a motley crew of NLD politicians, '88-era student leaders and labor activists. After the democracy movement was crushed 19 years ago, many opposition leaders left for exile or went underground. Others, like Suu Kyi or poet turned activist Min Ko Naing, were jailed for long stretches. Burmese dissidents may have gained a martyr-like fame abroad, but their grand ideals of freedom and democracy resonated less with a public just struggling to feed itself. Yet in recent months, the opposition has started addressing...