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NEWS - Junta Still Battles for Hear



Subject: NEWS - Junta Still Battles for Hearts and Minds

Junta Still Battles for Hearts and Minds

               Inter Press Service
               08-JUL-99

               RANGOON, (Jul. 8) IPS - Burma's military regime, over a
               period of just a week, announced the completion of a
handful
               of bridges, the inauguration of a dam and a hospital, the
               opening of a highway and the renovation of its most
famous
               pagoda. 

               In billboards along Rangoon's wide, tree-lined avenues,
the
               junta proclaims the stability of the state and national
               reconsolidation as among its political goals. 

               Daily, on the front page of its English newspaper, The
New
               Light of Myanmar, the state enumerates its political,
               economic and social objectives in such clarity so that
the
               Burmese people will not forget them. 

               The military government, in power for more than 10 years
               after crushing a popular uprising in 1988, is still
working to
               win the hearts and minds of its people. 

               "Oppose those relying on external elements, acting as
               stooges, holding negative views," screams one slogan in
one
               of the inside pages of the newspaper. 

               "Crush all internal and external destructive elements as
the
               common enemy," and "Oppose foreign nations interfering in
               internal affairs of the state," say two other slogans. 

               The junta, known as the State Peace and Development
               Council (SPDC), urges the Burmese people to cooperate
               with the government and the "tatmadaw" or the military.
At
               the same time, it exhorts them to oppose the "evil"
designs of
               foreign countries, the United States in particular. 

               In a half-page article in one of the newspaper's Sunday
               editions last month, an author slammed opposition leader
               Aung San Suu Kyi as a puppet of the United States and
               Britain, which "are pushing the world into chaos". 

               The Burmese regime was given a semblance of legitimacy
               when the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN)
               admitted it as member in 1997 despite some reservations

by
               some members and strong opposition from Western
               governments and human rights groups and activists in
Asia. 

               But ASEAN's approach of non-interference and policy of
               "constructive engagement" has failed to nudge the junta
into
               improving the human rights situation and allowing greater
               freedom for its people. 

               The government has remained adamant in refusing to open
               a dialogue with the opposition led by Suu Kyi to settle
the
               political stalemate in Burma. 

               Observers say the junta has in fact become more
repressive,
               harassing, arresting and jailing opposition leaders and
               supporters. 

               Still a pariah state as far as the international
community is
               concerned, Burma's SPDC has focused its efforts
               elsewhere. 

               It has gone instead on a construction binge, inviting
foreign
               investors to put up hotels, build roads and bridges and
has
               even spent a fortune to refurbish the Shwedagon pagoda,
its
               most famous tourist attraction in the heart of the
capital. 

               Writing for the Thailand-based Irrawaddy magazine,
               Burmese journalist Aung Zaw said the junta has launched
an
               intensive restoration of ancient pagodas and temples
across
               Burma. 

               "The generals pay daily visits to sacred shrines. But
what is
               the reason behind all this? Do the generals really
believe
               they can atone for their past in this way or are they
simply
               trying to whitewash their sins?" he asked. 

               Visitors to Rangoon find that most of the new hotels are
               empty and tourists are few and far between. 

               Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace laureate who is Burma's symbol
of
               the struggle for democracy, belittles these signs of
               "progress." 

               "They say there are more roads but of what use is that
when
               there are more people who are poorer?" she asked. 

               "Yes, there are more hotels, but they are empty. Yes,
there
               are more cars and more people who are living in bigger
and
               better houses but these are people who are connected to
               this regime," she told a group of visiting women
journalists
               and activists from ASEAN countries in June. 

               "The general public has not benefited from the advent of
all
               these," she said, citing the fact that ordinary people
still have
               to fight their way into overcrowded buses, while the poor
               have become poorer. 

               She added that a lot of the infrastructure projects the
military
               has been bragging about were in fact built with forced
labor. 

               Like other Asian countries, Burma reeled from the
economic
               crisis in the region. Inflation shot up and growth slowed
               down. As expected, it was the poor and the middle-class

who
               were hardest hit. 

               "Previously, the middle-class could afford two kinds of
curry
               with their rice," said one elderly woman from the
opposition
               National League for Democracy. "But now, it's a battle
even
               just to have one curry." 

               Sending children to school has also become an expensive
               affair, she added. 

               "Bridges, apartment houses and even showy roads are not
               essential to true development and certainly not traffic
jams,"
               said Suu Kyi. "What is essential is there should be
better
               standards of living which means better education and
better
               nutrition and better health care." 

               "In fact we are less nourished, less educated and less
               healthy than we used to be. In fact we can say there has
               been a recession, that we have in fact gone backwards and
               not forward in development," she said.