[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

[burmanet2-l] BURMA/BOYCOTT



Well said DAVID WOLFBERG, and its good to see you raise your wonderful
voice, always championing FREE BURMA!
ds


Julien Moe wrote:
> 
> Los Angeles Times
> 11th March 99
> 
> 
> Thursday, March 11, 1999
> READERS RESPOND
>  Does Santa Monica's Myanmar boycott work?
> 
>   was disappointed by your article on the effectiveness of selective
> contracting policies on Burma ("Myanmar boycott divides experts," Feb. 28).
>      In his book "In Sight of Surrender", Les de Villiers concluded, after
> reviewing 46 years of U.S. policy toward apartheid, that sanctions work.
>      Bear in mind that Burma has voted for a parliament. Though not allowed
> to formally convene and still subjected to military harassment, those
> parliamentarians have called on the world community to block investment
> until there has been real progress toward democratization. We can debate
> until we are blue in the face, but it would be arrogant not to support those
> who were elected to office.
>      The fact is, few companies are "perfectly willing" to replace those who
> have abandoned the Burmese military regime. Pepsi got out of Burma, and Coke
> stayed out.
>      DAVID WOLFBERG
>      Venice *
>      In the last year, I've protested Santa Monica's foreign policy,
> especially our sanctions against Myanmar -- or "Burma", in the old ethnical
> convention of the British Empire. Unfortunately, the "divide" your article
> portrays is only that between the supporters of economic sanctions and those
> that think them ineffective -- who'd presumably favor a more warlike stance.
>      I've also carried the protest to the Los Angeles City Council. On the
> day that city passed its policy on dealing with Myanmar, I was the only
> speaker who opposed the legislation. Having seen Los Angeles' documentation
> from the Intergovernmental Affairs Committee, I can tell you that
> nongovernmental organizations involved may note be as "unsided" as they say.
>      BRIAN HUTCHINGS
>      Santa Monica
> 
>