Burma

Protest

Activists are stepping up their pressure on the United States to impose sanctions on North American oil and gas companies financing the Myanmar military's war against the people, reports Peter Boyle.

With the ongoing killing of anti-coup protesters in Myanmar/Burma, pressure is mounting on Australian companies to end their support for the country’s military, writes Allen Jennings.

Geoffrey Aung discussed the likely implications of the February 3 coup in Myanmar/Burma, the class composition of the resistance, and how we should understand these developments in relation to the longer trajectory of capitalist transition in the country.

Responding to escalating protests in Myanmar/Burma against the military coup, left groups from the Asia-Pacific region have issued a joint statement, reports Peter Boyle.

Kerry Smith reports that hundreds of people, mostly from Sydney's Burmese community, turned out at short notice to protest against the military coup in Myanmar/Burma.

The Socialist Alliance strongly condemns the military coup in Myanmar/Burma and calls on the Australian government to deny recognition to the regime.

As protests grow against the military coup in Myanmar, Australian mining companies are carrying on as if nothing happened, writes Allen Jennings.

A military coup took place in Burma/Myanmar, reversing the country's ostensible shift toward civilian government. Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma's Debbie Stothard discusses its significance with Green Left.

Socialist parties in the Asia-Pacific have condemned the military coup in Burma/Myanmar, writes Susan Price

Alternative Asean Network on Burma founder Debbie Stothard speaks to Green Left about the background to the latest military coup in Burma/Myanmar.

Tamils and Muslims in Manaar, a town in the north of Sri Lanka, rallied on September 5 in solidarity with the Rohingya people of Myanmar. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have been forced to flee Myanmar in recent weeks due to military attacks.

Many Tamils and Muslims see similarities between the situations in Sri Lanka and Myanmar. In both countries, Buddhism is the dominant religion and Buddhist monks have helped incite hatred against religious and ethnic minorities.

The victory of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) in the November 2015 national elections in Burma (Myanmar) was hailed by Western leaders as heralding a new era of democracy and respect for human rights in the country.

Once isolated by sanctions imposed on the pretext of the widespread human rights abuses by previous military regimes, Burma is now a profitable destination for Western investment. By September, the US had lifted its last remaining sanctions.

The entire population of Burma supported Aung San Suu Kyi when she fought to get rid of the military dictatorship of Burma (Myanmar) during the 1990s. She received tremendous support from all communities, including non-Buddhist ethnicities and Muslim communities. No one considered what her policy on other religions and ethnic areas was. People just wanted to get rid of the regime.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) has won a crushing and historic victory in the November 8 election in Burma (also known as Myanmar). Results were not final at the time of publication, but the NLD was on target to win more than 270 of the 330 elected seats (82%) in the People's Assembly, and more than 150 of the 168 elected seats (90%) in the House of Nationalities.
With elections due on November 8, a loud call for change in Myanmar (formerly Burma) can be heard in the streets. All commentators predict victory for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) over the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Several factors, however, indicate it will not be a landslide. Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, known throughout the country simply as “the lady”, came to political prominence in 1988 when she returned to Myanmar to support her ailing mother and became embroiled in the students' struggle against the military regime.
Campaigning kicked off on September 8 for the first competitive elections in Myanmar (Burma) since the 1950s. The November 8 poll will pit the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) against more than 100 opposition parties, including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD). Myanmar’s military ceded power to a quasi-civilian government through 2010 elections that were boycotted by the NLD, ending a military dictatorship that spanned from 1962.

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