Burma News Update No. 51

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Burma News Update No. 51 
26 February 1998

Spinning the Junta

Another Elected MP Jailed

Karen Leader Seeks Talks

Renowned Writer Dies

Spinning the Junta
In a detailed article titled "Burma's Image Problem Is a Moneymaker for 
U.S. Lobbyists," Washington Post reporter R. Jeffrey Smith reports that at 
least two Washington, DC-based lobbying firms are receiving over $650,000 
to conduct "a campaign on Burma's behalf in classic Washington style _ 
producing upbeat newsletters, arranging seminars and interviews and funding 
all-expense-paid trips _ partly to persuade the Clinton  administration to 
lift trade sanctions against the [Burmese military] regime." The lobbying 
firms Jefferson Waterman, headed by former assistant secretary of state for 
narcotics control Ann Wrobleski, and Bain and Associates, run by former NBC 
News White House correspondent Jackson Bain, are being paid by companies 
within Burma which US officials say have business ties to the military 
regime. The article also describes funding by corporations investing in 
Burma for "fact-finding" missions to the country, organized by the 
Burma/Myanmar Forum, and for a seminar on Burma at Georgetown University. 
Jackson Bain and Francis Zwenig of the Burma/Myanmar Forum are also 
reported to have cooperated closely with Washington representatives of the 
Burmese junta in organizing their activities.
(Washington Post, 24 February)

Junta Head Heckled in Manila
The head of Burma's military junta, General Than Shwe, slipped into a side 
entrance of the Manila Hotel to avoid 
noisy, banner-bearing protesters on his arrival in the Philippine capital. 
Philippine President Fidel Ramos told reporters, "The objective to be 
attained here is precisely to get Myanmar to see the operation of an open, 
deregulated, free and democratic society like the Philippines." Than Shwe 
responded to Philippine diplomatic calls for increased efforts at national 
reconciliation in Burma by saying that the junta's goal was to install "a 
disciplined democratic system."
(Manila, Agence France-Presse and Reuters, 17-18 February)

Another Elected MP Jailed
Nan Khin Htwe Myint, an elected member of parliament of the National League 
for Democracy (NLD), was arrested in Burma's southeastern Mon state on 
February 10 and sentenced to two years' imprisonment the following day 
after a closed trial, according to NLD sources who said she was charged 
after protesting a search of her belongings by military intelligence 
officers.  
(Rangoon, Reuters, 18 February)

Karen Leader Seeks Talks
The Karen National Union (KNU) said peace talks with leaders of Burma's 
military regime may begin soon, but that the group would continue its 
guerrilla war unless demands for Karen autonomy are accepted. KNU leader 
General Bo Mya urged members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations 
(ASEAN) to apply pressure on the Rangoon regime to open peace talks. Over 
100,000 Karen refugees live in camps in neighboring Thailand, where they 
have fled intensified Burmese military offensives over the last several 
years.
(Thukyakwee, Burma, Reuters, 19 February)

Renowned Writer Dies
One of Burma's most famous authors and best-known ex-political prisoners 
has died in Rangoon of a brain hemorrhage. 69-year old Mya Than Tint was a 
prolific author and translator. He was jailed from 1963-72 by the army 
regime that seized power in 1962, serving time in Rangoon's Insein Prison 
and on the Coco Islands penal colony in the Indian Ocean. Author of 
numerous poems, stories, and novels, Mya Than Tint was a five-time winner 
of Burma's National Literary Award. On the Road to Mandalay, his most 
recent collection of writings, which describes the hardships facing common 
people in Burma, was published in Thailand in 1996.
(Reuters and Associated Press, Rangoon, 18 February)

Tour Operators Lose Licenses
Burma's military regime has revoked the licenses of most of the country's 
private tour operators. A total of 135 companies "failed to make monthly 
reports as required [and] also have kept away from official meetings for 
long periods of time without any kind of explanation," according to a junta 
statement. The official "Visit Myanmar Year" in 1996, failed to produce a 
tourism boom, and hundreds of residences turned into guest houses and 
hotels are now vacant.
(Rangoon, Agence France-Presse, 21 February)

BURMA NEWS UPDATE is a publication of the Burma Project of the Open Society 
Institute. 400 West 59th Street, New York, N.Y. 10019 tel:(212) 548-0632 
Website:www.soros.org/burma.html