FEER: Support For U.S. Sanctions Vs

[ider@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: FEER: Support For U.S. Sanctions Vs Burma Increases

(FEER): Support For U.S. Sanctions Vs Burma Increases
 
     By Michael Vatikiotis 
 
   BANGKOK (AP-Dow Jones)--The top story in The New Light of Myanmar on =
May 24
wasn't the mass detention of National League for Democracy members. 
   Instead, Burma's official English-language newspaper led with a meetin=
g
between Roger Truitt, president of American oil company Atlantic Richfiel=
d
(Arco), and Maung Aye, vice-chairman of the State Law and Order Restorati=
on
Council (Slorc), as the ruling junta calls itself. 
   Arco had just agreed with Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise to explore an =
offshore
natural-gas concession and share production. In the benign images of Trui=
tt
signing contracts and dining with Burma's generals was a not-so-subtle =
message:
Whatever Burma's domestic travails, business would go on as usual, the =
Far
Eastern Economic Review reports in edition published Thursday. 
   But will it? Even as Arco signed its deal, an angry Washington was =
moving
closer to tightening sanctions against Slorc. The U.S. already withholds =
aid
from Burma and denies it export-financing and loan guarantees. 
   But two bills moving through Congress would outlaw new U.S. investment=
 in
Burma altogether. When Congress considered similar measures last year,
'pro-engagement' forces prevailed; this time around - partly because this=
 is an
election year - congressional sentiment is clearly running towards a hard=
er
line. 
   'The stakes are much higher,' says Michele Bohana, director of the =
institute
for Asian Democracy in Washington. 'This year there's a lot of bipartisan
support for sanctions.' 
   Senator Mitch McConnell, co-sponsor of the Senate sanctions bill, thin=
ks it
can pass Congress 'before the Congress adjourns,' meaning by November. =

   Even so, it's doubtful that unilateral U.S. action would have much =
impact on
Slorc so long as other countries remain free to invest in Burma. There's =
no
shortage of people eager to do so. 
   A Rangoon conference on investment opportunities organized by the Econ=
omist
Intelligence Unit in March attracted 135 participants, mostly Western
multinationals. 
   Another such conference convened in Rangoon just as the junta began =
detaining
NLD members. It attracted more than 180 people. 
   The crackdown has done little to dim investor interest in Burma. Altho=
ugh
some firms might delay their plans, says a participant in the May confere=
nce,
'the consensus was that we've seen this in Asia before and we're here =
for the
long term, so we're not deterred.' 
   For Americans, however, the battle to do business in Burma is being =
fought
not in Rangoon but in boardrooms and congressional lobbies back home.
Human-rights campaigns aimed at forcing U.S. companies to divest from =
Burma are
beginning to have an effect. 
   'Pepsi can take the red off its cans, but Pepsi can't wash the blood =
from its
hands,' ran a student slogan calling for the soft-drink giant to pull =
out of
Burma. Stung by cancellation of a $1-million contract to supply soft drin=
ks to
Harvard University, and an image problem that hurt its youth-oriented
advertising campaign, PepsiCo said in April it would sell its 40% stake =
in
Pepsi Products Myanmar. 
   -(For the complete story, see this week's edition of the Far Eastern =
Economic
Review.) 
   (END) AP-DOW JONES NEWS 29-05-96
   0226GMT