Burma. Let's not even call it Myanmar. Doing so only condones the junta's legitimacy. It overthrew the ruling leaders in a military coup in 1962. And for years now, decades, the human rights abuses emanating from this kleptocracy is a constant reminder of the struggles facing a people held hostage.
Nobel Peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi is still under house arrest. Others risk everything to escape only to be pushed back out into the sea, hand cuffed, without water, by Thai authorities.
Human Rights Watch says the conditions on the ground have deteriorated since Hurricane Nargis. Junta leaders recently sentenced a comedian to 59 years in prison. What do these quacks have to offer? – gems, timber, weapons and no sense of humor.
So on Friday, the U.S Administration has finally gotten around to freezing the assets of businessmen funneling money into the regime. These individuals include Win Aung, a construction tycoon, and Zaw Zaw, who trades in timber, gems, resort properties and hotels through his Max Myanmar Group according to the IHT.
Chances are these sanctions will not divert the cash flow but they will increase the pressure. Sanctions have been in place for years now. And while the argument goes that sanctions cripple an economy, in Burma, it is the military who stock pile cash in private banks around the world.
The national coffers belong to the junta, not the people, who seldom if ever see any benefit from those that now supposedly represent them. 98% voter turn out, 94% who voted in favor for the junta during the national elections held in the immediate aftermath of Nargis. Of course they did.
