Hillary Clinton lands in Myanmar espousing hope for change

mark mackinnon

Beijing From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 6:26AM EST
Last updated Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 5:49PM EST

Saying she hopes to support a movement for change, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived Wednesday in Myanmar on a landmark visit that will see her meet leaders of the current military-backed pariah government, as well as opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

Though the trip marks the first visit by a U.S. secretary of state since John Foster Dulles in 1955, the fanfare upon Ms. Clintons arrival was minimal. She was greeted at the airport in Naypyidaw by a deputy foreign minister and two large signs welcoming the capitals next visitor, the Prime Minister of fellow international outcast Belarus.

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A year ago, the United States led a chorus dismissing the first elections in the former Burma since 1990 as a sham aimed to perpetuate military control over the country. The results of the heavily manipulated vote seemed to support that conclusion a parliament dominated by military officers, and a new civilian President who was one of the top figures in the outgoing junta.

But that general-turned-president, Thein Sein, has moulded cynicis! m into h ope with a series of rapid reforms that have stunned the country after five decades of direct military rule. Now, even Ms. Suu Kyi who was under house arrest while her party boycotted the November, 2010, election seems to be among the converts. After a private meeting in August with Mr. Thein Sein, she agreed to rejoin the political process and is expected to run as a candidate in parliamentary by-elections scheduled for early next year.

One of the most visible differences is that Ms. Suu Kyis face a banned image just months ago can now be seen on paintings sold outside hotels in Rangoon, the countrys biggest city. Some of Ms. Suu Kyis supporters have also been seen wearing T-shirts and buttons with her face on them.

Its a moment of optimism for a woman who led her party to a landslide victory in 1990 elections that were never honoured by the military, and who then spent nearly all of the subsequent two decades under different forms of detention.

After initially pouring scorn on the new political system, calling it a parody of democracy, Ms. Suu Kyi now reportedly tells her skeptical followers to have faith in Mr. Thein Sein. Optimists are starting to wonder if he could become Myanmars Mikhail Gorbachev or F.W. de Klerk.

Others worry the retired general is fooling Ms. Suu Kyi and the West with cosmetic reforms that still leave the countrys military as the ultimate authority.

Reasons for hope include the release of some 200 political prisoners in October, the creation of a human-rights commission and moves to allow peaceful protest and freer media. Though Canada, the United States and the European Union still impose tight sanctions on the country, halting economic progress can also be seen, most tangibly in the recent appearance of the countrys first bank machines.

We and many other nations are quite hopeful that these flickers of progress will be ignited into a movement for change that will benefit the people of the country, Ms. Clinton said just before landing in! Naypyid aw, the remote and empty capital constructed after street protests in Rangoon repeatedly threatened the regime.

But the leaps forward also underscore how much more needs to be done. Even if the by-elections are held freely and Ms. Suu Kyi and her allies win seats, Myanmar will still be a country ruled by military men, their influence guaranteed by a 2008 constitution. Some 1,800 political prisoners remain in jails. Twenty years of sanctions have created a wealthy elite while leaving most of Myanmars 60 million citizens in grinding poverty. Allegations of human-rights abuses remain common, especially in the countrys borderlands, where the military has repeatedly tried to crush rebellions by ethnic militias.

Observers say the question facing Canada, the United States and Europe is if and when it would be appropriate to lift some sanctions as an encouragement to the reform process. Theres a need to take a forensic look at the sanctions in place and identify and remove those that are actually holding back further reform, said historian Thant Myint-U. Restricting the Burmese from the kind of international assistance that would actually help them reform the economy, for example, really doesn't make any sense at all.

But Ms. Suu Kyi was Wednesday sticking to her position that its too early to reward the regime for a job half done. I havent changed my mind on sanctions, she told the Associated Press.