Word: burma
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...past several weeks, Hong Kong Bureau Chief William Stewart and Photographer Sandro Tucci have been the only Western journalists in Burma. In normal times that would not be surprising: since the country's last democratic government was ousted in a 1962 coup, Burma has been virtually closed to visiting foreign correspondents. Yet during the past six months that benighted land has become one of the hottest news stories in the world, as thousands of dissident students, housewives, monks, civil servants and even police have taken to the streets in an attempt to topple the government and restore democracy...
Earlier this summer Stewart had tried several methods of gaining access to Burma. These included pleading with Burmese embassy officials in neighboring Thailand for a visa, looking into chartering a plane to take him and Tucci secretly into the capital, and even contacting tribal chieftains inside Burma to guide them through their territory on foot. This month Stewart and Tucci finally made it into Rangoon, the capital, by means they prefer, for the moment, to keep to themselves...
...Western diplomat familiar with Burma said from Bangkok, Thailand, that "We're into possibly one of the final acts now...a naked confrontation with the army...Either the students win or the army wins...
Protesters blame the country's sole legal party, the ruling Burma Socialist Program Party, for 26 years of repression and economic ruin. Other analysts believe the military may have simply acted to assert its traditional authority...
...Washington, the Reagan administration said it was reviewing assistance programs to Burma that total $14 million annually to determine whether aid should be cut off in light of the coup and violence...