Myanmar Activist Begins Meetings
Myanmar's opposition leader is free and able to meet with Western diplomats and party leaders — but the people of the former Burma still don't know it. The state media blacked out news of her release Monday after 19 months of house.
The front pages of state-owned newspapers did not mention Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, instead devoting coverage to visiting Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong.
"Just imagine, we get to see the faces of only the generals and their wives. How come they don't publicize our leader's release," shouted Nwo Nwo, a grocery store owner in Yangon, as her customers nodded in agreement.
Party sources said Suu Kyi met European Union diplomats at her house in Yangon on Tuesday morning, and it was likely they discussed the continued international economic embargo which she has vowed to support as long as the military remains in power.
The five countries with whom she met — Germany, France, Britain Italy, and the U.S. — are key supporters of Suu Kyi and have been vocal critics of the country's military government for its suppression of democracy and human rights.
The United States and the European Union, which had insisted on Suu Kyi's release, have imposed punishing sanctions on Myanmar in a bid to force political change, a policy endorsed by her.
Suu Kyi's release was widely seen by diplomats as an attempt by the generals to get sanctions lifted rather than the start of genuine momentum for political change.
The military has ruled Myanmar for four decades and says the multi-ethnic country could disintegrate if it moves towards democracy too quickly, but the desperate state of the economy may have forced their hands.
Suu Kyi has said she remains opposed to foreign investment, aid and tourism while the military held power, but was looking forward to political progress.
Her NLD party won elections in 1990 by a landslide, but the military refused to hand over power.
Suu Kyi arrived at the party's headquarters in mid-afternoon on Tuesday, greeted by scores of supporters clapping and chanting "Good health to Aung San Suu Kyi."
She declined to make any comments to journalists after meeting with party officials.
The current government came to power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy movement. Suu Kyi, the daughter of Aung San who led Burma's nationalist struggle against British colonial rule after World War II, emerged as a democracy leader and was placed under house arrest in 1989.
Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, was released in 1995, but was banned from traveling outside the capital, Yangon. She defied the order in September 2000, resulting in the latest round of house arrest. No such conditions have been placed on her latest release.
But even while keeping her confined to the house, the junta began reconciliation talks with Suu Kyi in October 2000, brokered by U.N. special envoy Razali Ismail. This has raised hopes for a political settlement in a few years.
Suu Kyi has not disclosed her plans or strategy for future negotiations with the government. She said she intends to travel to the countryside to meet with party members.
Suu Kyi's release was preceded by an unusual promise by the military government to allow "all citizens to participate freely in the life of our political process."
The statement, released to international media, was not published in Myanmar's state media — the major source of information for the Burmese people. The military government is typically reluctant to do anything that might fuel the democracy leader's popularity.
"I am very disappointed that Daw Suu's release was not even broadcast on our TV. Many people wanted to have a glimpse of her," said San San, a 37-year-old housewife, referring to Suu Kyi with an honorific title for older women.
The media blackout was also a further sign that democracy is hardly around the corner for Myanmar; elections are not expected anytime soon.
On her first day of freedom, Suu Kyi, 56, spent four hours at the party headquarters before returning home. She came out again in the evening for an unannounced two-hour visit to the gold-spired Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar's most important Buddhist shrine.
A barefoot Suu Kyi circled the pagoda in a traditional prayer, followed in pin-drop silence by about 100 devotees who were pleasantly taken aback to see her.