Nobel laureate and Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent most of the past 20 years under detention of one sort or another, is due to be released from her current stretch of house arrest on May 27. Sorta like Uncle Joey in Back to the Future, it will probably be a waste of time to bake a "Flown the Coop" cake for her, as previous ends-of-terms have been marked by new extensions-of-terms by the fascist thugs masquerading as the Burmese government.
All over Rangoon, dozens of Suu Kyi supporters have held prayer vigils in support of Suu Kyi. And in a country as beaten down and repressed as Burma, dozens of activists doing anything together is a BIG deal.
In addition, the UN and world leaders past and present are urging the generals to release Suu Kyi this time around.
They won't, of course. International "pressure" has never had one iota of impact on the dealings of the Burmese junta. And no wonder, since said "pressure" consists of strongly worded letters and the occasional UN pipsqueak, er, I mean "envoy", rattling the castle gates with a scary note of protest from New York. Shockingly, the military government, which makes millions (billions?) in illegal drug, arms, and timber deals each year, is not impressed with the world community.
Now, if someone discovered oil in the Irrawaddy basin, that would be a different story...
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