Burma Related News - Dec 18, 2009.
TIN KYI
BURMA RELATED NEWS - DECEMBER 18, 2009
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AP - Lawyer: Myanmar-American weak after hunger strike
AP - Report: Blast in northern Myanmar kills 7
Reuters - Thai PTT says Myanmar gas field to close for 20 days
AFP - Myanmar accuses separatists over deadly bomb blast
CSM - Burma (Myanmar) military junta shows signs of thaw before
elections
Los Angeles Times - North Korean arms seizure could be a boost for
nuclear talks
Asia Times Online - Myanmar's generals plow a rich furrow
Fibre2fashion.com - German investors show interest in Myanmar markets
New York Times - Where Impunity Reigns
ZeeNews - Govt approves 100-km Mizoram to Myanmar highway worth Rs
650cr
International Water Power and Dam Construction - Myanmar adds new
hydro capacity
ABC Radio Australia News - Bank cool on Burma trade
Proactiveinvestors - Interra Resources starts drilling in Yenangyaung
oil field
The Nation - Thai crisis set to turn towards Burma
The Irrawaddy - Indian Diplomat to Succeed Gambari
The Irrawaddy - 'Constructive Engagement' Policy Has Not Worked: US
The Irrawaddy - DKBA 'Involved in Human Trafficking'
Mizzima News - Ethnic leaders welcomed NLD leadership reformation
DVB News - Editorial: Is Stiglitz speaking the obvious to deaf ears?
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Lawyer: Myanmar-American weak after hunger strike
Fri Dec 18, 7:33 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – A jailed U.S. citizen who was on hunger strike
for more than a week in military-ruled Myanmar attended his trial
Friday looking thin and weak, his lawyer said.
Myanmar authorities accused Kyaw Zaw Lwin — also known as Nyi Nyi Aung
— of entering Myanmar to stir up protests by Buddhist monks, who led
pro-democracy demonstrations in Myanmar in 2007 that were brutally
suppressed by the junta.
Myanmar-born Kyaw Zaw Lwin was arrested on arrival at Yangon airport
on Sept. 3 and was charged with forgery and violating the foreign
currency exchange act.
Nyan Win, a lawyer for Kyaw Zaw Lwin, said he had little time to talk
with his client at Friday's court appearance but learned from him that
he had ended his hunger strike. The trial is still in the exploratory
stage, with the case subject to dismissal.
The Washington, D.C.-based law firm, Freedom Now, which has also taken
up Kyaw Zaw Lwin's case, said he initiated his hunger strike on Dec. 4
to protest conditions of political prisoners in Myanmar. Human rights
groups estimate that there are more than 2,000 political prisoners in
the country.
Nyan Win said his client "looks thinner and a bit weak," and that two
prosecution witnesses testified at Friday's trial.
"The trial will resume on Dec. 29 when both sides will give their
arguments whether to charge him or not," said Nyan Win.
Under Myanmar's legal system, defense and prosecution spend initial
sessions presenting their case so the judges can determine whether to
formerly charge the defendant and proceed with the trial. Nine
prosecution witnesses have testified so far.
Kyaw Zaw Lwin was unable to appear in court last Friday because of
poor health.
State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly said last week that the United
States had contacted the junta to express its worry and to make sure
Kyaw Zaw Lwin is being treated well.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman, speaking on customary condition of
anonymity, said Friday the government had not yet responded to its
request for "immediate consular access to Kyaw Zaw Lwin outside the
trial setting."
The U.S. Embassy was last granted consular access on Dec. 3.
The spokesman confirmed that the U.S. consul in Yangon attended
Friday's court hearing and that Kyaw Zaw Lwin has resumed eating.
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Report: Blast in northern Myanmar kills 7
Fri Dec 18, 1:02 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – A bomb planted at a fair celebrating the ethnic
Karen minority's New Year holiday killed seven people and wounded 11
others, state media reported Friday.
The bomb exploded Wednesday evening near food stalls at a festival
ground in Hpa-pun in northern Karen state where celebrations were
under way for the lunar Karen New Year, the Myanma Ahlin newspaper
reported.
Myanmar's tightly controlled state media typically reports violence
several days after it occurs.
No one claimed responsibility for the blast, which the newspaper
blamed on rebels from the Karen National Union. The KNU has been
fighting for more than 60 years for greater autonomy from Myanmar's
central government, but its strength has dwindled over the past decade
because of army offensives and divisions within its ranks.
The paper warned that rebels might try to create panic by exploding
more bombs and called on the public to report any suspicious
activities to authorities.
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Thai PTT says Myanmar gas field to close for 20 days
Fri Dec 18, 2009 8:38am GMT
BANGKOK, Dec 18 (Reuters) - PTT PCL PTT.BK, Thailand's top energy
firm, said on Friday that operations at the Yetagun gas field in
Myanmar would be stopped for maintenance for 20 days from Dec. 22 as
part its annual maintenance plan. The shutdown at Yetagun -- also
called Yetakun -- would not affect Thailand's gas consumption or power
production plans, the state-controlled energy firm said in a
statement.
"We have prepared for gas fields from the Gulf of Thailand to run
fully and arranged for a certain amount of oil reserves, which should
mean there will be no effect on natural gas users in the industrial
and transport sectors," the statement said.
PTT Exploration and Production PTTE.BK, a subsidiary of PTT, operates
five blocks in Myanmar and is a minority partner in the Yetagun and
Yadana gas developments.
Myanmar natural gas accounts for about 30 percent of Thailand's
consumption, mostly in power generation. About 1.1 billion cubic feet
per day of gas from the Yetagun and nearby Yadana fields is exported
to Thailand.
PTTEP's subsidiary also owns 100 percent of offshore block M9, which
is sill under exploration in the Gulf of Martaban, south of Yangon,
Myanmar's main city.
The Thai government has said it planned to import natural gas from M9
from late 2013.
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Myanmar accuses separatists over deadly bomb blast
12 hours ago
YANGON (AFP)— Myanmar's government accused armed separatists Friday of
a bomb attack that killed eight people and left 13 others injured at a
market in the country's restive Karen state, state media and officials
said.
The bomb exploded late Wednesday as members of the ethnic Karen
minority celebrated their New Year at a bazaar in the eastern state
bordering Thailand, an official told AFP.
Six people died at the scene and two died later in hospital.
"The New Year's ceremony had already ended so there were not many
people still around," said the official, speaking on condition of
anonymity.
The bomb exploded in Phapun town in Karen State, around 200 kilometres
(120 miles) from the economic hub and former capital Yangon, he said.
It was not clear who was responsible for the attack, but English-
language daily New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a mouthpiece for the
ruling junta, blamed ethnic Karen separatists.
The Karen National Union (KNU) has been fighting the Myanmar
government for autonomy for more than five decades.
"The offender is from the KNU terrorists insurgent group that is
active in the area between Phapun and the border," the New Light said.
The regime has in recent months stepped up its decades-long campaign
against minority groups, with offensives against ethnic Chinese Kokang
rebels in the northeast in August and the Christian Karen insurgents
in June.
Civil war has wracked the country since independence in 1948, and
while most rebel groups have reached ceasefire deals with the junta,
analysts say the army is determined to crush the rest before national
elections scheduled for 2010.
The government has co-opted some previously hostile rebel groups to
become junta-backed border forces that have taken on their former
brothers-in-arms.
Military ruler Than Shwe has long made the struggle for the "stability
of the state" the main justification for the army's continued
dominance over the Southeast Asian nation.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.
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The Christian Science Monitor - Burma (Myanmar) military junta shows
signs of thaw before elections
The military junta in Burma (Myanmar) is making calculated gestures to
loosen its grip ahead of elections next year, the first since 1990. It
allowed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to meet publicly with
politicians and for the MTV documentary 'Traffic' to be screened.
By Simon Montlake Correspondent / December 18, 2009
Bangkok, Thailand
A flurry of public activity by an imprisoned opposition leader and the
screening of a US-funded anti-trafficking documentary may signal a
tentative thaw in military-ruled Burma, one month after a high-level
US diplomatic visit aimed at improving bilateral ties.
On Wednesday, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was allowed to meet
three senior executives in the National League for Democracy (NLD) for
the first time in several years. She also met privately with the
visiting US diplomats and has stepped up her contacts with the junta
while separately appealing her latest 18-month sentence to house
arrest. The Supreme Court hasn’t decided whether to hear the appeal.
Analysts say the Burmese military is determined to tightly control a
planned political transition next year, when the impoverished
Southeast Asian country is due to hold its first elections since 1990.
This transition is likely to trump any desire to build common ground
with the Obama administration, which has sought to engage with the
regime while sticking with economic and political sanctions.
A key question remains the role of Ms. Suu Kyi and the NLD in the
elections. The party won the 1990 poll that was later annulled. The US
and its allies have pushed for Suu Kyi’s release and participation,
but analysts and diplomats say her popularity is seen as posing a
direct threat to a military-guided process.
This balancing act may explain the air of détente in Burma, if indeed
there is room for compromise on the fate of a democracy icon who has
been in detention for much of the last two decades.
"It's hard to say there's been a real thaw, only that the junta are
interested in improving relations with Washington and realize that
some gestures towards (Suu Kyi) are essential if this is going to
happen,” says Thant Myint-U, an author on Burma’s political history
and former United Nations official.
In what may be another such gesture, authorities in Burma recently
gave a green light to the broadcast of ‘Traffic’, an MTV documentary
that is part of a regional anti-human-trafficking campaign. The 2007
film was funded by the US Agency for International Development, whose
logo is prominent in the campaign, and has already been screened
nationally and promoted at live concerts across Asia.
The film, which includes a Burmese couple talking off-camera about
being forced to work without pay in Thailand, was screened at a
ceremony Friday at a hotel in Rangoon, Burma’s largest city. A state
broadcaster has agreed to show the film and it will also be
distributed on DVD and rebroadcast.
Approval by Burma to screen ‘Traffic’ came within the last month, says
Simon Goff, the campaign’s executive director. Censors demanded cuts
to a segment on sex trafficking in the Philippines that included
graphic descriptions. But the section on the Burmese couple, who were
eventually rescued from the Thai factory, hasn’t been changed, he
said.
In its annual report on trafficking, the US State Department lists
Burma as a ‘Tier 3’ country, the lowest category, due to its failure
to tackle the flow of people sold across its international borders.
Only a handful of countries are in this category. At least one million
Burmese are estimated to live in Thailand, including those who have
fled from conflict areas and have been resettled in refugee camps, as
well as those trafficked into exploitative work.
More concrete concessions by Burma's regime, including the release of
elderly and sick political prisoners and more regular contacts between
Suu Kyi and the NLD, would show that it is serious, says Soe Aung, a
spokesman for the Forum for Democracy in Burma, a campaign group in
Thailand. The NLD hasn’t been allowed to hold a party congress in many
years and its members have suffered repeated harassment by
authorities, he complains.
“We can’t tell if there’s been any progress,” he says.
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Los Angeles Times - North Korean arms seizure could be a boost for
nuclear talks
The seizure of $18 million worth of arms is devastating to the
impoverished nation, which relies heavily on revenue from arms sales.
Some say it could be used as leverage to restart nuclear talks.
By John M. Glionna
December 18, 2009
Reporting from Seoul - The recent seizure of a transport plane
carrying North Korean-made weapons for sale was more than just an
embarrassment for Pyongyang. It represents another significant loss
the financially struggling regime can ill afford, analysts here say.
An anemic North Korean economy has continued a perilous tailspin in
recent months triggered by international sanctions imposed on the
combative nuclear-armed state. The United Nations-imposed restrictions
have led to several risky measures that experts suggest may be warning
signs of worsening economic woes.
Days after North Korean officials signaled that they were considering
a return to the stalled six-party nuclear talks, the regime apparently
sanctioned the departure of a transport plane loaded with an estimated
$18 million of weapons that authorities believe were destined for
Iran.
The plane was seized last week as it refueled in Thailand.
The regime also has faced widespread public anger at home over its
move this month to revalue the national currency, making a 10,000-won
note worth 10 won. A recent newsletter of the Seoul-based aid group
Good Friends reported that authorities publicly executed a man after
he burned a pile of currency.
The discontent led officials to ease the devaluation, which was aimed
at curbing runaway inflation.
Analysts say North Korea's need to bolster its weakened economy may be
the leverage needed to bring its leader, Kim Jong Il, back to talks
designed to persuade the regime to give up its nuclear arsenal.
"The U.N. embargo has had an effect," said Choi Soo-young, a senior
research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in
Seoul. "The plane detained in Thailand will have a big impact. It
shows North Korea's illegal air trade has been restricted. It is very
difficult for the regime to make money."
Pyongyang's struggles will depend on just how much China -- its
longtime communist ally and biggest benefactor -- will follow through
in its promise of continued economic help.
In a visit to Seoul on Thursday, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping
called on North Korea to resume the long-stalled talks, which include
the United States, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea.
Analysts say they do not know how much longer the North Koreans can
rely on Chinese aid if they ignore such pleas. "China's help has
allowed North Korea to stay un-swayed," Choi said.
During a recent visit to North Korea by U.S. special envoy Stephen
Bosworth, officials there demanded that U.N. sanctions be lifted,
according to the South Korean Yonhap news service, citing an
unidentified diplomatic source.
The U.N. Security Council imposed stricter sanctions in June after
North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test, its second in three
years. The embargo seeks to ban Kim's regime from developing its
nuclear program and selling conventional arms.
U.S. officials have pressed the international community for strict
implementation of the sanctions and have targeted firms they suspect
of aiding North Korea's arms sales.
With an estimated annual gross domestic product of $17 billion, North
Korea is believed to earn as much as $1 billion annually by selling
missiles, missile parts and other weaponry to nations such as Iran,
Syria and Myanmar, also known as Burma.
"To reduce North Korea's economic suffering, support and resources
from the outside world are essential," said Cho Myung-chul, a North
Korean economist at the Korea Institute for International Economic
Policy in Seoul.
He said that North Korea's economy is at its worst since 2006. "Arms
sales are the biggest part of North Korean exports and have a big
influence" on the economy, he said.
North Korea is one of the world's most-sanctioned nations.
For now, Cho said, Pyongyang's gamble is to give the impression of
continued economic health as the regime deals with Washington over its
nuclear ambitions.
"North Korea thinks it will be able to contend with the United States
in further negotiations when its domestic politics and society become
stable," he said. "If North Korea is seen unstable, the U.S. may have
the upper hand."
Still, international assistance to the regime is dwindling. Since
conservative Lee Myung-bak became president of South Korea in 2008,
his nation's food and economic aid to the North, once estimated at
more than $1 billion a year, has also been curtailed.
"We estimate the North Korean food shortage to be as much as 2 million
tons" of what it once received, said Choi. "The lack of food means
that to fill the gap, North Korea needs some help from China or the
international community."
Analysts say North Korea's economic survival depends on its stream of
foreign currency, which is being constricted. Meanwhile, they said,
continued unrest may make North Korea more willing to make concessions
in exchange for increased food and economic aid.
"And the regime knows that [on its present course] there can be no
large-scale investment from outside," said Cho, the economist.
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Dec 19, 2009
Asia Times Online - Myanmar's generals plow a rich furrow
By Brian McCartan
BANGKOK - Joseph Stiglitz, the American Nobel economics laureate,
advised Myanmar's military-run regime this week that political reform
is necessary if the generals hope to revitalize the country's
stagnant, mostly agriculture-based economy. Any reform of the rural
sector, which employs 70% of the workforce and accounts for nearly
half of gross domestic product (GDP), will run up against the
widespread and largely institutionalized corruption of the military.
Stiglitz, a former chief economist at the World Bank and Nobel Prize
winner in 2001, is renowned for his sharp critiques of conventional
free-market development policies, including those espoused by the
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. His comments came in
the context of a forum arranged by the United Nations Economic and
Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) at the invitation
of the government of Myanmar.
The forum in the capital, Naypyidaw, was attended by Myanmar Minister
for Agriculture and Irrigation Major General Htay Oo and Minister for
National Planning and Economic Development U Soe Tha and was aimed at
exploring strategies for poverty alleviation and rural development.
Both ministers are known to be close to Senior General Than Shwe, the
reclusive authoritarian leader who is known to have the final say on
all policy decisions.
The dialogue was the second in a planned series of events initiated
with a visit to Myanmar in July by United Nations under secretary
general and executive secretary of ESCAP, Noeleen Hezyer. The previous
visit was at the invitation of Oo and, according to an ESCAP press
release, was the "first step in a development partnership with the
government of Myanmar to discuss its agriculture economy and policy".
The Myanmar government has also requested the UN agency to assist in
conducting an economic and social assessment of the country's rural
economy in 2010. Talks during the UN visit explored the need for
farmers to gain greater access to credit and UN concerns over state-
mandated low prices for agricultural products that contribute to rural
poverty.
When Myanmar achieved independence from colonial rule in 1948, its
economic prospects looked good as the world's leading rice exporter.
Years of civil war and gross economic mismanagement, magnified after
the country came under military rule in 1962, have instead left the
country stuck on the UN's list of least-developed countries since
1987.
Despite its abundance of arable land and once storied reputation as
the "rice bowl of Asia", malnutrition is now rampant, affecting over
one-third of the country's children and ranking the country by the UN
as one of the world's "hunger hotspots". The situation is aggravated
by widespread corruption by local military commanders and civil
servants. Transparency International ranked Myanmar 178th, or third
from the bottom, of all surveyed countries in its most recent
corruption perception listing.
Economists and exiled activists point to government policies that
favor the military over other sectors. That includes government-
imposed crop quotas, which require farmers to hand over without
compensation a percentage of their yields. Although the policy was
officially discontinued in 2004, it is still effectively implemented
by military officers in rural areas that confiscate through the threat
of force a share of farmers' crops.
The extortion and confiscation of crops by corrupt military officials
is the upshot of a 1998 Ministry of Defense directive that required
military units to be self-sufficient for their food and other
supplies. The order to effectively live off the land has never been
rescinded, despite the extraordinary outlays that go towards the
military, estimated by some as high as 40% of the national budget.
Crop extortion
Since 2005, there has been an upsurge in demands by the military for
farmers to produce cash crops such as rubber, corn and jatropha.
Portions of the harvest, independent researchers say, must be handed
over to the military and are then sold for a profit. The Karen Human
Rights Group, a Thailand-based rights advocacy, has documented the
widespread use of forced labor by military officers to grow and
harvest crops, often on fields confiscated from villagers.
Human-rights researchers who spoke to Asia Times Online say the
practice means many Myanmar farmers are left with little time to work
their own crops, which results in poor harvests. This is especially
the case in the border areas with Thailand, where the army
expropriates whatever it needs in terms of food and land in the name
of counter-insurgency operations. It is also prevalent in the
Irrawaddy Delta and the central plains.
Researchers in Myanmar's northern Shan State told Asia Times Online
about a recent military scheme that forces local farmers to purchase
genetically altered rice seeds from China as a part of a crop
substitution program to reduce the cultivation of opium poppies.
According to the researchers, yields have fallen because farmers
cannot afford the high costs of the fertilizers necessary to grow the
rice. The policy has raised uncertainty among agrarians and undermined
what were already low local yields.
During his address, Stiglitz urged the government to promote greater
access to financing, improve access to seeds and fertilizers and boost
spending on public health and education. The economist also advocated
stimulating local development and job creation through spending on
rural infrastructure.
Some say the discovery and exploitation of offshore natural gas
deposits has contributed to the official neglect of the agriculture
sector, which in the past was heavily relied on for export earnings.
The junta has in recent years reaped multi-billion dollar profits from
deals running gas pipelines to Thailand
Those revenues will flow stronger when gas fields off the country's
western Arakan coast come on line for sale to China. Stiglitz called
on the government to use oil and gas sale profits to stimulate other
sectors of the economy, including agriculture. "Revenues from oil and
gas can open up a new era, if used well," said Stiglitz. "If not, then
valuable opportunities will be squandered."
Analysts believe that without significant political change there is
little hope for Myanmar's rural economy. In a UN press release
following Tuesday's forum, Stiglitz warned the generals that economics
and politics cannot be separated if the country wishes to boost
agricultural yields again.
"For Myanmar to take a role on the world stage - and to achieve true
stability and security - there must be widespread participation and
inclusive processes," he said. "This is the only way forward for
Myanmar."
Sean Turnell, an economist who specializes in Myanmar's economy,
concurs. "This is because the principal problems stem directly from
the nature of the regime itself - its insatiable demands, its turning
loose of the Tatmadaw [Myanmar armed forces] in the countryside, the
lack of property rights - both in a formal sense in terms of the
ability to pledge land as collateral and in a more visceral sense that
there are no rights to property - even over one's body - in a place
where an army expropriates what it needs."
Few believe that the general elections slated for next year will
change the situation, as the new constitution reserves a role for the
military in government. As long as the army remains a powerful
political actor, it will maintain influence over agricultural
policies. Changing the system would entail a market-based system in
which military officers would be required to pay for what they
consume.
Myanmar maintains the second-largest standing army in Southeast Asia,
after Vietnam, with about 350,000 foot soldiers. The majority of them
are known to live off the land and the power of their station rather
than from state-paid salaries. Although a high percentage of Myanmar's
gross domestic product is annually dedicated to the military, security
analysts say much of that goes towards buying frivolous new weapons
systems rather than food and equipment for soldiers.
Calls by the UN and other multilateral organizations for reform and
change in Myanmar's failed agricultural policies are well-intentioned
and well-timed. But as long as agriculture and politics remain so
tightly intertwined in Myanmar, and the military dominates government,
even prescriptions from a Nobel Prize winning economist will likely go
unheeded.
Brian McCartan is a Bangkok-based freelance journalist. He may be
reached at bri...@comcast.net.
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Fibre2fashion.com - German investors show interest in Myanmar markets
December 18, 2009 (Myanmar)
Malaysian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s last month visit
to Myanmar might open new trade avenues in coming months, said a Union
of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI)
official.
Malaysian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry representatives
visited the country for the first time and studied market potential
for trade and investment. These representatives represented German
investors interested in investing money in Malaysia and now Myanmar,
informed Dr. Maung Maung Lay, General Secretary of UMFCCI.
Feasibility surveys of the Myanmar market was the key objective of
this visit, and more visits to the country have already been lined up.
The representatives will revisit the country soon to have talk with
local authorities and businessmen pertaining to the investments,
informed an official of UMFCCI.
Germany is one of the largest trading partners of Myanmar amid all the
European nations. Bilateral trade between the two countries is around
US $610 million, including $360 million in exports to Germany and $250
million in imports, as per Myanmar’s Central Statistical Organization
(CSO).
Around 80 percent of Myanmar’s exports to Germany comprise garment
products, while imports include machinery, chemical products etc.
German FDI in Myanmar is just around $15 million, added the official.
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New York Times - Where Impunity Reigns
By BENEDICT ROGERS
Published: December 17, 2009
The world needs to be reminded, again and again, that the military
regime in Burma (Myanmar) continues to perpetrate every conceivable
human rights violation.
Any Burmese showing any dissent is brutally suppressed, as the world
witnessed two years ago when peaceful Buddhist monks demonstrated.
Many monks were killed or have disappeared; several hundred remain in
prison.
Beyond that, more than 2,000 political activists are in Burmese
prisons today, subjected to torture, denial of medical treatment and
ludicrous sentences.
Student leader Bo Min Yu Ko is serving a 104-year prison term; Shan
ethnic leader Hkun Htun Oo has been imprisoned for 93 years; democracy
activist Min Ko Naing for 65 years. The most famous human rights
activist, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been under house arrest for almost 14
years, and the term was extended for a further 18 months after a sham
trial.
Many of these activists are in prisons thousands of miles from their
families, and several are critically ill.
One category of victims of the military dictatorship that gets far
less attention is Burma’s ethnic minorities.
In eastern Burma, the regime has been conducting a brutal military
campaign against people of the Karen, Karenni and Shan groups. Since
1996, more than 3,300 villages have been destroyed and more than a
million people internally displaced. A Karenni friend of mine has
described it as “Pol Pot in slow motion.”
The catalogue of terror includes the widespread, systematic use of
rape as a weapon, forced labor, the use of human minesweepers and the
forcible conscription of child soldiers.
In northern and western Burma, the predominantly Christian Chin and
Kachin peoples also face systematic religious persecution.
The Muslim Rohingyas, targeted for their faith and ethnicity, are
denied citizenship, despite living in Burma for generations. Thousands
have escaped to miserable conditions in Bangladesh.
I have travelled more than 30 times to Burma and its borderlands. I
have met former child soldiers, women who have been gang-raped, and
many people who have been forced to flee from their burned villages.
Earlier this year, I met a man who had lost both his legs following an
attack on his village.
When the Burmese Army came, he fled, but after the troops had moved
on, he returned to his smoldering village to see if he could salvage
any remaining belongings. Where his house had stood, he found nothing
except ashes — hidden in which was a landmine laid by the troops. He
stepped on the mine, and lost both legs.
He was carried for an entire day for basic medical treatment and then,
a few weeks later, he walked on crutches through the jungle for two
days to escape. He fled to a camp for internally displaced people near
the Thai border. Four months later, that camp was attacked and he had
to flee again.
An eyewitness once told me that in a prison camp in Chin State,
prisoners who tried to escape were repeatedly stabbed, forced into a
tub of salt water, and then roasted over a fire. A woman in Karen
State described to me how her husband was hung upside down from a
tree, his eyes gouged out, and then drowned.
The United Nations has documented these atrocities. For years, General
Assembly resolutions have condemned the abuses. Previous special
rapporteurs have described the violations as “the result of policy at
the highest level, entailing political and legal responsibility.” A
recent General Assembly resolution urged the regime to “put an end to
violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.”
The U.N. has placed Burma on a monitoring list for genocide, the
Genocide Risk Indices lists Burma as one of the two top “red alert”
countries for genocide, along with Sudan, while the Minority Rights
Group ranks Burma as one of the top five countries where ethnic
minorities are under threat. Freedom House describes Burma as “the
worst of the worst.”
This year, the United States reviewed its Burma policy and adopted a
new approach of engagement while maintaining existing sanctions.
While this is the right approach in principle, and one advocated by
the democracy movement, the danger is that the message has been
misinterpreted, both by the regime and countries in the region.
Even though President Obama and senior U.S. officials have
consistently emphasized that sanctions will not be lifted until there
is substantial and irreversible progress in Burma, including the
release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners and a
meaningful dialogue between the regime, the democracy movement and the
ethnic nationalities, the impression created in the region is that the
U.S. is going soft.
This is unfortunate, as it has let Burma’s neighbors off the hook just
when they were showing tentative signs of toughening up their
approach. Trying to talk to the generals is right, but it needs to be
accompanied by strong and unambiguous pressure.
In short, little action has been taken by the international community.
Countries continue to sell the regime arms, impunity prevails.
The violations perpetrated by the regime amount to war crimes and
crimes against humanity. The Harvard Law School’s report, “Crimes in
Burma,” commissioned by five of the world’s leading jurists, concludes
that there is “a prima facie case of international criminal law
violations occurring that demands U.N. Security Council action to
establish a Commission of Inquiry to investigate these grave
breaches.”
Last week marked the 61st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. If that is to mean anything in Burma, the time has come
for the U.N. to impose a universal arms embargo on the regime, to
invoke the much-flaunted “Responsibility to Protect” mechanism, and to
investigate the regime’s crimes. The time to end the system of
impunity in Burma is long overdue.
Benedict Rogers is East Asia Team Leader with the human rights
organization Christian Solidarity Worldwide, and author of several
books on Burma, including “Than Shwe: Unmasking Burma’s Tyrant.”
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ZeeNews - Govt approves 100-km Mizoram to Myanmar highway worth Rs
650cr
Updated on Friday, December 18, 2009, 22:18 IST Tags:
Mizoram, Myanmar
New Delhi: The High Powered Committee of the government has approved
construction of a 100-km highway from Mizoram to Myanmar border
involving an investment of around Rs 650 crore.
The Committee, headed by Transport Secretary Brahm Dutt, in its
meeting held today cleared the proposal for constructing the highway
from Lawngtalai in Mizoram to the Myanmar border.
"The highway would provide linkage to the proposed port facilities at
Sittwe in Myanmar. The port facilities in the Bay of Bengal at Sittwe
will provide water route to the whole of North East through the State
of Mizoram," said an official statement.
The High Powered Committee of the government has been set up to look
at projects for the North East region.
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International Water Power and Dam Construction - Myanmar adds new
hydro capacity
18 December 2009
Myanmar has commissioned three new hydro power plants in western
Rakhine state to meet electricity demand in the region, China View has
reported.
The Saidin, Thahtay Chaung and Laymyomyit project, which have a
combined capacity of 687MW, cost approximately US$800M to develop. Of
the total capacity, 30MW will be used in Rakhine, with the remainder
distributed to the rest of the country.
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ABC Radio Australia News - Bank cool on Burma trade
The Asian Development Bank's trade facilitation loans are being
extended in other parts of the world. [Reuters]
Last Updated: Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:00:00 +1100
The Asian Development Bank does not see enough demand from Burma to
warrant extending a loan-support program into the country.
The bank says it is not interested in expanding its trade finance
facilitation program (TFFP) in Burma.
The bank's Steven Beck says there is low demand for such trade
facilitation in Burma.
Under the program, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) provides loans and
guarantees with local and international banks to support trade
transactions.
The ADB says lack of finance is holding back trade, particularly in
developing economies.
Set up in 2004, the finance program was expanded to $1US billion in
March,
It is being used in Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Bangladesh,
Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
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Friday, December 18, 2009
Proactiveinvestors - Interra Resources starts drilling in Yenangyaung
oil field
Singapore-incorporated company Interra Resources (ASX: ITR) has
announced its jointly controlled entity Goldpetrol Joint Operating
Company kicked off drilling infill development well YNG 3234 in the
Yenangyaung oil field in Myanmar.
Interra has a 60% interest in the Improved Petroleum Recovery Contract
of the Yenangyaung field and also owns 60% of Goldpetrol which is the
operator of the field. Well YNG 3234 will be drilled using
Goldpetrol’s Cooper LTO 350 rig in the northern area of the field.
Interra’s share of the cost of drilling will be funded from existing
funds on hand.
The proposed well is intended to be drilled to a depth of
approximately 2950 feet as a replacement well for a well previously
shut in for mechanical reasons while still producing 60 barrels per
day. The primary objective of this well is to produce remaining oil
from the 3000FT sand to 3200FT sand, with a secondary objective to
produce oil not drained by existing wells from shallower sands.
Interra estimates that the results of the drilling should be available
in approximately six weeks time. The Company will announce the results
of the drilling operation as soon as they may be ascertained.
Additional updates reflecting critical or unexpected events during
drilling will also be announced.
The Company wishes to advise that investors should exercise due care
and caution when trading Interra’s shares. It is not certain that the
development drilling mentioned above will ultimately yield
commercially recoverable hydrocarbons or profitable production.
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The Nation - Thai crisis set to turn towards Burma
Published on December 18, 2009
Step aside, Cambodia! It's Burma's turn now. The crisis in Thailand is
set to take another major turn in the next few days, and this time it
will relate to our neighbour to the northwest when the Supreme Court
wraps up its hearing on ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's
frozen Bt76 billion in assets.
The prosecution hopes its final blow will arrive next Tuesday.
Former foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai will testify as a state
witness, purportedly to provide the final piece of the jigsaw, proving
Thaksin's failure to be honest about his assets was no honest mistake.
The prosecution is confident it has what is needed to prove Thaksin
did not relinquish control of his business empire as legally and
constitutionally as required when he served as prime minister.
Waratchya Srimachand, assistant secretary-general of the Securities
and Exchange Commission, has told the court there was reliable
evidence to prove Thaksin had concealed his massive shareholding in
the telecom business - something he was supposed to have given up as
head of the government.
Her testimony corroborates findings by the Assets Examination
Committee, whose origin has been decried by the Thaksin camp, because
it was set up after the September 19, 2006 coup.
The court has reviewed financial documents allegedly indicating stock
transactions involving obscure "nominee" firms that held shares in
Thaksin's telecom empire were endorsed by the man himself, not his
children or even his wife.
The hearing has revisited the infamous Ample Rich and Win Mark. Yet
all fishy transactions involving the nominee companies can only prove
Thaksin was concealing his assets - an offence that is not enough to
justify the seizure of his wealth. The prosecution must prove Thaksin
not only failed to give up control of his businesses, but also helped
them through suspicious government policies or decisions.
This is where Surakiart comes in. There were several dubious moves
made by his government cited by the prosecution, not least the telecom
excise tax scheme that greatly affected the industry's playing field,
and a few witnesses have testified about them. The ex-foreign
minister, though, is being tipped as a star witness because he used to
work in the Thaksin Cabinet and was once seen as someone who had the
former PM's trust.
Surakiart is expected to testify about the circumstances behind the
Thaksin Cabinet's decision to grant controversial Export-Import Bank
of Thailand loans to the Burmese junta, or more specifically how the
loans jumped from Bt3 billion to Bt4 billion. The money, as has been
widely reported, was to be partly used to pay for equipment and
services provided by Shin Satellite.
What Surakiart tells the court will be crucial, and testifying the
same day will be Klanarong Chantik from the National Anti-Corruption
Commission.
These two will be the final witnesses in the case, and the court will
conclude the hearing if it does not feel the need to hear more
testimony. This means a verdict will most likely come next month,
ending a long, painful chapter on Thailand grappling with a very
unfamiliar issue: conflicts of interest.
Whatever the verdict is, it should not be mistaken as the beginning of
an end. All it will do is simply close one episode, after which many
things can happen. Thailand was very immature when the patriarch of
one of the biggest business empires was allowed to take political
power despite his questionable baggage. With the Supreme Court set to
issue a ruling about those mistakes and their costly consequences, the
environment is oddly familiar - the nation does not seem to have grown
very much since.
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The Irrawaddy - Indian Diplomat to Succeed Gambari
Friday, December 18, 2009
The United Nations will appoint a veteran Indian diplomat, Vijay
Nambiar, as its new special envoy to Burma, replacing Ibrahim Gambari,
according to a report on Dec. 14 by New York-based Inner City Press.
The UN has not made any official statement regarding the appointment.
In early December, Ban announced that Gambari will be reassigned as
joint special representative of the African Union-United Nations
Hybrid Operation in Darfur in January. Gambari was repeatedly
criticized by Burma experts and the Burmese opposition during his
mission to Burma.
Nambiar, 66, has been the chief of staff under UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-Moon since January 1, 2007, and was previously under-secretary-
general and special adviser to former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Prior to joining the UN, Nambiar served the Indian government as head
of the National Security Council Secretariat, and in 2002-04 was
India's permanent representative to the UN in New York. Nambiar also
served as Indian ambassador in Pakistan, China, Malaysia, Afghanistan
and Algeria. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1976.
Two days after Cyclone Nargis slammed southwestern Burma on May 2-3,
2008, Nambiar met with Burma's UN ambassador, Kyaw Tint Swe, and
discussed grant allocations from the UN's US $500-million Central
Emergency Response Fund.
After the meeting, the military junta agreed to begin airlifting
relief material and life-saving drugs to the cyclone-ravaged Irrawaddy
delta.
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The Irrawaddy - 'Constructive Engagement' Policy Has Not Worked: US
By LALIT K JHA - Friday, December 18, 2009
WASHINGTON, DC — A US Congressional report has said that Asean's
official policy of “constructive engagement” with military rulers in
Burma has proven to be ineffective.
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) in its latest report “US
Relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations”also noted
that the proposed 2010 elections in Burma may prove critical to
Asean’s future relationship with Burma.
“While few expect a free and fair election, if the results provide
some space for opposition views in the government and indicate a
possible shift in power to civilian rule, then Asean will likely
continue its policy of modified 'constructive engagement',” said the
CRS in the 24-page report.
An independent and bipartisan research wing of the US Congress, the
CRS prepares reports on various issues for members of the US Congress.
“If, however, the election results provide only a veil of cover to the
continuation of military rule, then Asean may be willing to consider
adopting a policy closer to that of the Obama Administration,” the
report said.
“The actions of Burma’s military in response to Burma’s last two
national plebiscites—staging a military coup in 1990 and producing
fraudulent results in 2008—may be indicative of how the elections of
2010 will be handled.
“In practice, under the new charter, Asean has shown a greater
willingness to express its opinion about the situation in Burma,” it
said.
In response to the conviction of Aung San Suu Kyi in August 2009,
Asean’s chairman issued a statement expressing Asean’s “deep
disappointment” at the verdict, calling for the immediate release of
Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, and asserting that “such
actions will contribute to national reconciliation among the people of
Myanmar, meaningful dialogue and facilitate the democratization of
Myanmar.”
In addition, the report said, Asean has indicated that the Burmese
military’s treatment of opposition groups and ethnic minorities will
affect how the election results will be perceived by the Asean.
Although Asean appears to be more willing to publicly criticize
Burma’s military government, it has not shown a greater willingness to
impose economic sanction on the country, it noted.
Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand are major trading partners with
Burma, and may be reluctant to forswear the economic benefits of
bilateral trade and investment.
Indonesia’s civilian government may be more willing to consider
economic pressure on Burma, in part because of its history of military
rule and in part because of its concern about Burma’s Muslim minority.
According to the report, the Obama administration’s revision of US
policy towards Burma has coincided with a similar review by Asean of
its stance on relations with the military junta.
“While the new US policy may be viewed as a tacit admission that
sanctions alone were not sufficient to effect change in Burma, recent
statements and actions by Asean may indicate that their past policy
of 'constructive engagement' had proven equally ineffective,” it
said.
As a result, there may be an opportunity for Asean and the United
States to confer and coordinate their policies towards Burma’s
military government, the report said.
Some of the strongest supporters of Asean’s policy of 'constructive
engagement', the CRS said, have been the governments of Indonesia,
Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand for slightly different reasons.
Thailand has had an ambivalent view of Burma, as its domestic unrest
has had a more immediate adverse impact on Thailand. In addition, at
the time of Burma’s admission to Asean, Thailand was emerging from a
period of military coups.
However, the new civilian government in Thailand decided to support
Burma’s admission and follow a policy of engagement. Under the Suharto
regime, the Indonesian government shared some ideological views with
Burma’s military government that led to its support of Burma’s Asean
membership and closer relations, although Jakarta has taken a harder
line as the country has democratized.
“Malaysia at the time was concerned about both Chinese and US
influence in the region, and found similar views among Burma’s
military rulers. The Singaporean government saw economic opportunity
in closer relations with Burma, and for a time was a major supplier of
equipment and arms for the Burmese military,” the CRS said in its
report.
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The Irrawaddy - DKBA 'Involved in Human Trafficking'
By ALEX ELLGEE / MAE SOT - Friday, December 18, 2009
It's early morning, and even the check points which guard the border
roads are still closed as the sun rises above the hills and shines
down on the Moi River, which separates Burma and Thailand.
The roar of an engine breaks the silence as a boat makes its way
across the river from “Gate Zero,” a Thai checkpoint, to a border post
on the other side, controlled by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
(DKBA).
Within the next half hour six boats make the crossing, picking up goods
—mostly bags of rice— from the Thai side and delivering to them to the
DKBA checkpoint, where a group of about 20 unload the freight.
The bags of rice and other goods aren’t the only commodity traded
across the Moi River. The Burmese migrants workers employed on its
banks are also worth money to the traders, the brokers who find them
work—and to the DKBA.
Kyaw Gyi was lured to southern Thailand by a broker who promised him a
job in a fish processing factory. He was held captive by a fishing
boat owner who forced him to work long hours to pay for the cost of
bringing him to Thailand.
He and other migrants contacted the Labor Rights Protection Network
(LPN) and appealed for help to return to Burma. The LPN intervened
just as the migrants were being sold on to another fishing boat owner
and the group were sent to the Thai-Burmese border for repatriation.
Kyaw Gi's ordeal wasn't yet over, however. When he arrived at the Thai-
Burmese border the Thai authorities handed him over to the DKBA, which
demanded payment for his release.
“I had no money and I didn’t have any family or friends to turn to for
help” Kyaw Gyi said
“As a result, the DKBA gave me to their brokers and they sent me back
to Thailand and sold me to a fishing boat owner where, again, I didn’t
receive any money for my work.”
Ko Ko Aung, a labor activist in Mahachai, southern Thailand, told The
Irrawaddy how hundreds of migrant workers undergo the same ordeal
every week. Many of the penniless migrants who are handed to the DKBA
end up being resold to Thai fishing boat captains to work in slave-
like conditions.
“This system of handing them back to the DKBA is making so many
problems for migrant workers,” said Ko Ko Aung. “Men are being
trafficked into fishing boats and women into sex work.”
A solution to the problem will be difficult to find, according to
LPN's Sompong Sakaew. Burmese authorities are reluctant to accept the
returning migrant workers, he said. But Thai authorities also bear
some responsibility, he maintained.
“Some Thai police are benefiting from the handing over of migrant
workers,” Sompong told The Irrawaddy. “Even though many people know
this and many NGOs are working to stop it, it will be hard to stop
because it is a national problem.”
Sompong’s claim was supported by one of the brokers who work at the
DKBA checkpoint. When asked by The Irrawaddy during an undercover
phone call why he charged so much for the release of returning
migrants he responded that he needed to pay both the DKBA and the Thai
authorities.
Migrant workers who have been through the process report that when
they arrive at the DKBA check point the brokers split them up
according to their ethnicity. Their finger prints are taken, personal
details are recorded and a release fee is calculated. Fees range from
about 1,500 baht (US $4.70).
If migrants have to call home for the money they are kept in a simple,
bamboo-built compound, where they are charged for their food and
lodging. If they can't raise the money they are forced to work for the
DKBA, according to Moe Swe, of the Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association
office in the Thai-Burmese border town of Mae Sot.
Than Sein, 23, was five months pregnant when she was arrested by Thai
police in Bangkok, where she worked on a construction site. She spent
the next four months sleeping on a prison floor without any proper
medical care.
Shortly before the birth of her baby, she was loaded onto a truck with
other detained migrant workers and driven to the border, where they
were handed over to the DKBA.
“We told them I was nine months pregnant, but they didn't care,” she
said. The DKBA demanded 12,000 baht ($370) to drive her to the Mae To
Clinic in Mae Sot.
“We didn’t have any money so we were terrified that I would have to
give birth in the DKBA camp, where there is no doctor or medicine,”
she told The Irrawaddy. “To make matters worse, they kept telling us
to find the money or they would send my husband to the frontline to be
a porter.”
Social Action for Women (SAW), an NGO based on the Thai-Burma border,
came to her aid and raised the money to get her to the clinic.
Kyaw Gyi and Than Sein fell victim to human traffickers despite
Thailand's acceptance of the the Anti-Trafficking In Persons Act, B.E.
2551, which it signed in 2008.
“If Burmese migrants are being deported and handed over by Thai
Immigration to DKBA forces in Mae Sot to be exploited and sold to
brokers, this is a serious violation of the Anti-Human Trafficking
legislation in Thailand,” said Paul Buckley of the UN Inter-Agency
Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP).
“UNIAP is greatly concerned by such reports. We work with the Thai
government and partner non-government organizations to fight against
such critical abuses of human rights and we will continue to develop
appropriate responses with these partners.”
Andy Hall, director of the Migrant Justice Program at the Human Rights
and Development Foundation (HRDF), told The Irrawaddy he believes that
Thailand has a responsibility to create a system where migrants are
not vulnerable to trafficking at the hands of the DKBA.
“Everybody knows that the Thai economy relies heavily on the 1 million-
plus work force from Burma,” Hall said.
“It’s the Thai immigration and police who are making money out of
bringing them in illegally so they have to take responsibility for
them when they are sent back to the DKBA.
“The most important thing is for Thailand and Burma to work together
to create an efficient system whereby all workers can enter the
country legally, and be sent back officially,” he said.
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Ethnic leaders welcomed NLD leadership reformation
Friday, 18 December 2009 15:20
Myint Maung
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Ethnic political leaders in Burma on Thursday
welcomed leaders of the National League for Democracy party’s
consideration reforming party leadership.
NLD Chairman Aung Shwe, Secretary U Lwin, central executive committee
member Lun Tin and detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on
Wednesday, during a rare meeting arranged by the government, discussed
on reforming party leadership as many of the CEC are ageing and a few
ailing.
“Aung Shwe, Lun Tin and U Lwin all agreed to Daw Suu’s suggestion of
reforming party leadership, which is a good sign and we welcome it.
The party needs younger generation as we do not know how long our
struggle will continue,” Thakhin Chan Tun, a veteran politician in
Rangoon, told Mizzima.
Aye Thar Aung, secretary of the Committee for Representing People’s
Parliament’ (CRPP), a group formed with members of parliament elected
in 1990 elections, said, “We welcome the meeting between the NLD CEC
members. We know that the CEC will be expanded with new members. It is
a good sign as a first step.”
Similarly, Cin Sian Thang, chairman of the Zomi National Congress
(ZNC), said, “NLD is the biggest and strongest party in Burma. Many
have said aging and inactive leaders should retire. It is good to see
Daw Suu paying her respects to the three elderly leaders and they
agreeing to her proposal. I think it is not only for the party, it’s
also good for our country.”
The Burmese Nobel Peace Laureate on Wednesday was granted her request
to allow her to pay respect to three of the NLD’s aging leaders
Seinlea Kan Thar state guest house. The NLD leaders met for about an
hour, where detained party general secretary proposed of reforming
party CEC. Reportedly, all the three aging leaders agreed to her
proposal.
For the past nearly two decades, the 1990 election winning party the
NLD is served by the 92 year-old chairman U Aung Shwe, 88 year-old CEC
member U Lun Tin and 85 year-old secretary U Lwin.
“Those ageing leaders and in frail health should retire, as they
cannot carry their duties effectively. Active and capable persons
should be inducted in the leadership and the elderly leaders should
advise the new leaders,” Thakin Chan Tun suggested.
“The leadership should be expanded by inducting capable and smart
youths replacing frail and inactive aging leaders. This is routine in
any party. We hope, in this way, the party will become dynamic and can
work effectively for democracy and Burma,” Aye Thar Aung said.
The three party leaders Aung Shwe, U Lwin, and Lun Tin are currently
joined in the CEC by General Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi, Vice-Chairman
Tin Oo, who is also currently under house arrest, members Win Tin,
Than Tun, Thakin Soe Myint, Hla Pe, Nyunt Wei and U Khin Maung Swe.
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Editorial: Is Stiglitz speaking the obvious to deaf ears?
Dec 17, 2009 (DVB)–The renowned US economist Joseph Stiglitz has spelt
out a path to revive Burma, ‘the rice bowl of Asia’, with doses of the
obvious that appear diametrically opposed to the policies of the
ruling junta.
In a presentation delivered to government officials and seen by DVB,
he outlines the need for education, health and property rights in
Burma, with an emphasis on ‘protecting the vulnerable’.
Stiglitz will know that Burma has one of the lowest per capita
investments in health and education anywhere in the world. Economists
meanwhile regularly scathe about the lack of security in Burmese
property rights and the financial system that underpins sound economic
growth.
“It is my hope these ideas and analysis will open a new space for
policy discussion and a further deepening of our development
partnership,” UN under secretary general Noeleen Heyzer said at the
event in Naypyidaw.
Indeed, Stiglitz also called for “transparent rules and regulations
[and] level playing fields”, both of which are a state of affairs that
will be alien to the two ministers in audience, one agriculture, one
economic development, and a point sadly deemed too offensive for the
junta mouth piece New Light of Myanmar newspaper in its report of the
meeting. He also added that “politics and economics cannot be fully
separated in any country” before highlighting Burma’s vast gas
reserves, a so-called “good fortune”.
It is this point that he elaborates on later in his presentation. He
refers to the “natural resources curse”, more commonly seen in Africa,
where quick profits are utilised by an elite to dominate a society, by
selling off raw materials and neglecting to invest in development. He
adds that this is a common state of affairs in countries like Burma,
but says that there are exceptions. “If a country doesn’t reinvest
wealth below ground above ground, growth is not sustainable,” he says.
The Burmese junta has shown no inclination to do what Stiglitz
suggests; indeed it has deliberately shunned advice from the
international community, including fellow American economist Jeffrey
Sachs who visited Burma in 2004, to restructure its economy to benefit
the poor. Meanwhile, billions of dollars are channeled out of the
country, while it ranks ever lower on global poverty indicators.
Stiglitz may well have the right ideas, but he stands before the wrong
audience. It is whether he can articulate well enough the message that
both parties – the junta and the people – stand to gain from a strong
economy that will really distinguish between a fruitless visit and a
glimmer of progress.
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