The US says the latest sanctions will hit the business interests of the ruling military [Reuters]
US steps up Myanmar sanctions
The US has tightened financial sanctions against Myanmar, moving to target what it says are businessmen with close ties to the military government.
Topping the list is Tay Za, a tycoon identified as the "financial henchman" of Myanmar's ruling generals and an arms dealer closely associated with the government, a US treasury spokesman said.
Adam Szubin, head of the treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, said Tay Za's Htoo Group of Companies was in charge of implementing key government projects in the country and buying military hardware.
Szubin said the Bush administration "has made clear that we will continue to take action against the military junta and those who prop it up so long as human rights violations continue and democracy is suppressed.''
The treasury also named Aung Thet Mann, one of Tay Za's directors and the son of General Thura Shwe Mann, a senior government official and a member of the ruling State Peace and Development Council.
"Tay Za has used his business relationship with Aung Thet Mann to win favourable business contracts from the Burmese junta," it said in a statement.
The US started imposing targeted sanctions against Myanmar after the government's bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters in September last year.
The new sanctions against individuals and firms entail freezing their assets under US jurisdiction and barring Americans from conducting business with them at the risk of heavy fines and prison sentences.
On Tuesday the White House condemned Myanmar's rulers for continuing to arrest activists and Buddhist monks, and for barring UN special advisor Ibrahim Gambari from returning to Myanmar.
"The actions of Than Shwe and his associates remain unacceptable to all those who value freedom," Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, said in a statement, referring to the continued house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader and Nobel peace laureate.
The statement added: "The president has said that the United States would continue to review our policies and consider additional measures if Than Shwe's junta did not end its brutal oppression of the Burmese people."
The latest designation of sanctions will freeze any assets of family members of the military leadership and other key individuals and businesses within Tay Za's financial network.
The companies on the treasury blacklist include Myanmar Avia Export Company Ltd, Ayer Shwe Wah Company Limited and Pavo Aircraft Leasing Pte Ltd in Singapore.
Four wives of senior government officials were also among the targets – Khin Lay Thet, the wife of General Thura Shwe Mann; Myint Myint Ko, the wife of Construction Minister Saw Tun; Tin Lin Myint, the wife of Lieutenant-General Ye Myint; and Myint Myint Soe, the wife of Foreign Affairs Minister Nyan Win.
It’s Do-or-Die Time for NLD
By KYAW ZWA MOE
Tuesday, February 5, 2008.
My heart sank last week when I heard the words of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi: “Let’s hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.”
It’s a discouraging, inconvenient truth that Suu Kyi shared with her National League for Democracy colleagues when the regime allowed her to meet with them briefly last week.
The words of the detained opposition leader indicate that the political state of Burma is moving from bad to worse to the worst.
Her words came out of her frustration with the ongoing “talks” with the ruling military regime. The regime appointed a liaison officer to deal with Suu Kyi after it faced mounting internal pressure following its harsh crackdown on the monk-led demonstrations last September.
Since then, the liaison officer, ex-Maj-Gen Aung Kyi, has met with Suu Kyi four times, but the meetings haven’t gone beyond trivial topics.
According to the NLD, Suu Kyi requested to meet with the head of the military junta, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, but she has received no response.
Suu Kyi also “is not pleased with the talks” mainly because of the lack of a time frame, NLD spokesperson Nyan Win said after he met with her last Wednesday. According to one NLD member, she does not want to give false hope to the people of Burma.
Yes, it’s important for a leader not to give false hope to the people.
The Burmese people heard her statement, and they appreciate her candor. But they also have a right not to lower their expectations of her and the NLD leadership.
Specifically, the people have a right to hear what type of substantive strategy Suu Kyi and her colleagues have to break the current political stalemate with the stubborn generals. Most Burmese would support a more pro-active NLD policy with its own guidelines, strategy and deadlines for taking the struggle for democracy to a higher level.
Such expectations from the public are only fair. The NLD is the main opposition party. It received about 82 percent of the vote in the 1990 nationwide election. The party has a clear mandate to carry out its mission to implement democracy in Burma.
The NLD has tried, but it has failed to create a unified policy that the people can rally behind. The party has suffered from a sustained, brutal assault waged by the generals ever since the 88 uprising.
The senior NLD members are in their 70s and 80s. Many have served time in prison. They have earned the people’s respect and sympathy. The leaders have a strong commitment to the movement.
However, to be frank, this does not of itself qualify them to be the leaders of the party and the democracy movement at this time. A large segment of the public is frustrated, searching for new ways to break the impasse that has gripped Burma for years.
In its 20-year-hisotry, the NLD has been more political than practical, especially during the years when Suu Kyi has been under house arrest; she has been detained for 12 years of the past 18 years.
Some observers believe many of the NLD’s senior leaders regard themselves as “caretakers,” rather than freedom fighters whose goal is to keep the party alive in the absence of its real leader.
Meanwhile, the junta has effectively destroyed or impeded the work of the broader pro-democracy movement to the point where the 2007 uprising occurred more or less without the active participation of the NLD leadership, although the party’s rank and file membership took part in the demonstrations.
The NLD, despite the brutality of the generals, must work harder to formulate new, meaningful policies that can rally the Burmese people. Otherwise, despite its past accomplishments, it has failed.
NLD critics take the line: “Without Suu Kyi, the party is nothing.” It should not, and must not, be like that. The party, its members and the public need a broad reliable leadership within an effective opposition party.
As an example, look at South Africa’s apartheid struggle. When the head of the African National Congress, Nelson Mandela, was in prison, other leaders carried on the movement. So should the NLD.
Last week, Suu Kyi told her colleagues to move forward without her, according to a senior NLD member. He quoted her as saying: sometimes she will lead; sometimes she will follow others’ leadership in the party.
Suu Kyi also said sometimes the party needs to push and sometimes it needs to pull, and if it is necessary, everyone needs to be ready to give up everything.
Golden words! It’s time for the NLD leadership to take her words to heart. It’s time for bold ideas and action. The party must be in the forefront of the pro-democracy movement. The party’s mission is not to keep itself alive, but to keep the country alive.
It’s a do-or-die time for the NLD leadership and the Burmese people.
By KYAW ZWA MOE
Tuesday, February 5, 2008.
My heart sank last week when I heard the words of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi: “Let’s hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.”
It’s a discouraging, inconvenient truth that Suu Kyi shared with her National League for Democracy colleagues when the regime allowed her to meet with them briefly last week.
The words of the detained opposition leader indicate that the political state of Burma is moving from bad to worse to the worst.
Her words came out of her frustration with the ongoing “talks” with the ruling military regime. The regime appointed a liaison officer to deal with Suu Kyi after it faced mounting internal pressure following its harsh crackdown on the monk-led demonstrations last September.
Since then, the liaison officer, ex-Maj-Gen Aung Kyi, has met with Suu Kyi four times, but the meetings haven’t gone beyond trivial topics.
According to the NLD, Suu Kyi requested to meet with the head of the military junta, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, but she has received no response.
Suu Kyi also “is not pleased with the talks” mainly because of the lack of a time frame, NLD spokesperson Nyan Win said after he met with her last Wednesday. According to one NLD member, she does not want to give false hope to the people of Burma.
Yes, it’s important for a leader not to give false hope to the people.
The Burmese people heard her statement, and they appreciate her candor. But they also have a right not to lower their expectations of her and the NLD leadership.
Specifically, the people have a right to hear what type of substantive strategy Suu Kyi and her colleagues have to break the current political stalemate with the stubborn generals. Most Burmese would support a more pro-active NLD policy with its own guidelines, strategy and deadlines for taking the struggle for democracy to a higher level.
Such expectations from the public are only fair. The NLD is the main opposition party. It received about 82 percent of the vote in the 1990 nationwide election. The party has a clear mandate to carry out its mission to implement democracy in Burma.
The NLD has tried, but it has failed to create a unified policy that the people can rally behind. The party has suffered from a sustained, brutal assault waged by the generals ever since the 88 uprising.
The senior NLD members are in their 70s and 80s. Many have served time in prison. They have earned the people’s respect and sympathy. The leaders have a strong commitment to the movement.
However, to be frank, this does not of itself qualify them to be the leaders of the party and the democracy movement at this time. A large segment of the public is frustrated, searching for new ways to break the impasse that has gripped Burma for years.
In its 20-year-hisotry, the NLD has been more political than practical, especially during the years when Suu Kyi has been under house arrest; she has been detained for 12 years of the past 18 years.
Some observers believe many of the NLD’s senior leaders regard themselves as “caretakers,” rather than freedom fighters whose goal is to keep the party alive in the absence of its real leader.
Meanwhile, the junta has effectively destroyed or impeded the work of the broader pro-democracy movement to the point where the 2007 uprising occurred more or less without the active participation of the NLD leadership, although the party’s rank and file membership took part in the demonstrations.
The NLD, despite the brutality of the generals, must work harder to formulate new, meaningful policies that can rally the Burmese people. Otherwise, despite its past accomplishments, it has failed.
NLD critics take the line: “Without Suu Kyi, the party is nothing.” It should not, and must not, be like that. The party, its members and the public need a broad reliable leadership within an effective opposition party.
As an example, look at South Africa’s apartheid struggle. When the head of the African National Congress, Nelson Mandela, was in prison, other leaders carried on the movement. So should the NLD.
Last week, Suu Kyi told her colleagues to move forward without her, according to a senior NLD member. He quoted her as saying: sometimes she will lead; sometimes she will follow others’ leadership in the party.
Suu Kyi also said sometimes the party needs to push and sometimes it needs to pull, and if it is necessary, everyone needs to be ready to give up everything.
Golden words! It’s time for the NLD leadership to take her words to heart. It’s time for bold ideas and action. The party must be in the forefront of the pro-democracy movement. The party’s mission is not to keep itself alive, but to keep the country alive.
It’s a do-or-die time for the NLD leadership and the Burmese people.
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