Myanmar experienced a coup early this week under the guise of protecting free and fair elections. It concerns and saddens me for a variety of reasons.
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Myanmar Coup
A week ago, preliminary reports emerged that a military takeover may be underway in the country of Myanmar (colonially known as Burma.) Unfortunately, the worst came to light, and the armed forces detained civilian leaders in a blow to democratic reforms that had reopened the country less than a decade ago.
The Myanmar military discredited parliamentary elections. Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won the election. This isn’t the first election Kyi has won. She was State Counsellor of Myanmar (effectively Prime Minister) from 2016 until she was deposed last week. Her pro-democracy NLD party also won in 1990 by a landslide though military rule remained in power.
She spent decades under house arrest until the 2010s when a civilian government was finally put in power.
The international community has been outraged. The UN Security Council met and the Secretary-General had this to say,
“The U.N. chief told a news conference it is “absolutely essential” to carry out the Security Council’s calls for a return to democracy, respect for the results of the November parliamentary elections, and release of all people detained by the military, “which means the reversal of the coup that took place.” – The Hindu
President Obama was incredibly supportive of Kyi during his administration. President Joe Biden has responded with strong support as well:
“The United States removed sanctions on Burma over the past decade based on progress toward democracy,” Biden said in a statement. “The reversal of that progress will necessitate an immediate review of our sanction laws and authorities, followed by appropriate action. The United States will stand up for democracy wherever it is under attack.” – AP
The US Commander-In-Chief didn’t suggest military action by the United States but didn’t close the door either. The military of Myanmar who took control of the city of Yangon stated they will remain in power for one year, though these timelines don’t often remain firm.
Parallels
I found that this comes at a precarious time. Let me lay out the scenario in another light. Free and fair election results are questioned, rumblings of a coup take hold before key events, elected officials are detained, the military places itself in charge for one year on the basis that fraudulent election results weren’t thoroughly investigated.
Some on the right and the left in the United States referred to the January 6th, 2021 Capitol events as an attempted coup. I’m not here to debate that, but I think it does make it very difficult for the US to take any type of leadership role in important global matters like this.
I also think that this points out to those that suggested it was an attempted coup, that in truth coups are much different than what happened that day. Many on the right felt the military should have stepped in for what they thought was a “stolen election.” They clearly had never seen what that would really look like.
My wife and I have visited and lived in Thailand during military juntas as well as clashes between the “red shirts” and the “yellow shirts.” On the night of our return to England (where we lived at the time), we heard the clap of gunfire in the distance and saw smoke rising from burning tire barricades throughout Bangkok. We passed through police checkpoints just to get to the airport.
That’s a long way from what happened in January, and thankfully so.
Personal Connection
Matthew touched on his own trip in 2013 that was closely related to mine. I’ve linked his so please read up on his experience, but I also want to share my own personal connection.
I began writing this very blog in 2012 when my wife and I were living in Thailand and secured a trip home to the United States. We boldly booked one-way tickets to Thailand as part of a year-long sabbatical and had no prior route home to the US.
A mistake fare due to currency exchange issues allowed bookings on a number of airlines in premium cabins for approximately 90-95% off. The particular deal we purchased originated in Yangon, Myanmar (Rangoon – RGN) and took us back to Bangkok, Thailand, then Seoul, South Korea, before ending in Los Angeles, California for about $400 total in business class.
To begin our trip, we needed to first position ourselves in Yangon. We arrived just three days after Coca-Cola returned to the country after a 25-year retreat. There were no ATMs in the city. We arrived with just $40USD in cash (because we couldn’t imagine an inability to secure more funds), and for our short 48-hour stay, that was nearly sufficient.
Unbeknownst to us, Anthony Bourdain had just visited the country days before to shoot the opening episode of his final series, Parts Unknown. If you haven’t seen it, sign up to Hulu or HBO Max and watch it.
What made Yangon so great in that window of time was its innocence, perhaps not from the military, but from the people. It was Asia pre-Starbucks, pre-McDonalds, pre-Coca-Cola. It was a rare view into what Asia might have been like without western influence.
And the people were so very sweet, so glad to have visitors there to experience Burmese culture. Crumbling buildings and a lack of modern technology (we had to take a taxi to find someone with internet) were welcome. Paper airplane tickets and little care for what was happening outside of their immediate street let alone across borders was so raw and refreshing.
It wasn’t ready then for mass consumption, but that made it even better. It was a challenge in a region where challenges had faded away. Myanmar was, for us, a renewed sense of wonder, exploration, and subtle beauty.
Conclusion
The people of Myanmar were saddled under military rule for long enough. Their economy, penalized by the US and other nations around the world withheld her people from progress, keeping the nation inn poverty. This coup isn’t just a foreign affairs matter, it’s a humanitarian crisis.
The beautiful country of Myanmar fought long and hard for her independence and freedom, and it should be defended by others now against those who threaten it. I long for an end to this crisis and my own return to that wonderful country.
What do you think? Should the US step up its rhetoric and action to encourage a return to democracy? Can the US play a role at all in Myanmar’s future?
You most likely know it as Myanmar, but it will always be Burma to me.
-J. Peterman
+5 points to Mitch for the Seinfeld reference. If I recall, he’s calling Eliane from a payphone while she’s running the brand and abusing his expense account.
You are deadnaming an entire country and enacting literal violence. Just another example of white supremacy in action. Why do you assume the pronoun “it” is what Myanmar prefers?
Well put Kyle!
At least their military stepped in and corrected the regime that grabbed power with election fraud. They will have verifiable honest elections in the near future, The military has no intention on running a dictatorship.
Within a few months there will be legitimate government and the people will thank their military.
Rhetoric is just that – rhetoric. Reimpose sanctions? According to your article, that mostly hurts the people. Military force to restore democracy? The UN won’t agree to it, with China’s veto. Unilateral action by the U.S. and a coalition of the willing? — what could go wrong? Would we also repatriate the Rohynga while we’re at it against the will of the majority of people of Myanmar as reflected by their deposed government which seemingly did little to oppose the coerced exodus? Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions.
I visited Myanmar in 2016. One of my favourite places I’ve visited.
There had clearly been a massive amount of infrastructure and development (more sensible development too) in the years since sanctions had come off. The difference between the newly built international terminal and the old domestic terminal was massive. The international terminal had a KFC, which I believe was the first ‘western’ chain and had about a 5 to 1 staff-customer ratio. I had read the reports of shoddy internet and inability to find an ATM, but they were fairly easy to find and multiple outlets to get a sim card with 3G minimum in most areas, 100+ cable channels in my hotel in Yangon with serviceable internet, though multiple power outages. Walking around Yangon as clearly one of the only Westerners in the city was refreshing as well as the fact so little was targeted to me as a tourist (though Bagan was a bit less so), especially as I had just come from Thailand which was the opposite. The only people who were seeking me out were good natured locals who just wanted to have an interaction, including an elderly man who spoke no English, but just wanted to shake my hand.
https://photos.google.com/search/_p0x56fbd271f8080bb4_Yangon/photo/AF1QipOwcfjLzCb2nkkmT-bCyXUGFX7Fmqxmg7CSKJoG
You forgot one thing. Aung San Suu Kyi was in possession of some walkie talkies without a license. That is illegal. Therefore, if convicted, she will not be eligible to hold public office.
The banning of US products, including Coca Cola, was a good thing. Do developing countries need the merchants of death and disease such as McDonalds, Burger King, Donuts, Starbucks, KFC, etc? Their introduction/proliferation in neighbouring Thailand has had a very negative impact on the health of children and young adults. Same for the lying, cheating, thieving rip-off merchants running Facebook and other tech.
We shouldn’t hold our breath waiting for a firm US response: after all, 8 years into a very repressive military junta regime in Thailand has elicited little more than a kid gloves response…in addition to the fact that the US ,and its lap dogs like UK and Australia, have given succour to just about every repressive regime in the world.
Let ASEAN/UN deal with Myanmar and keep Americans out until they are ready to assume the global stage. The last thing the US should do is to point fingers at flailing democracies especially when it cannot get its own housekeeping under control. I’m a firm believer in leading by example. It’s sad to see how election losers will claim fraud, use military force, or employ every known tactic to remain in power. We must not let these behaviors become the norm in governing people.
Decency and courtesy is no longer in the daily vocabulary of a civilized person. Sad… just sad.
OBTW, I last visited RGN in 2012 where rolling electrical blackouts were the normal. It’s amazing to see many appliances modified to alternate between AC/DC power to utilize batteries at a flip of a switch.
Can you imagine some white fycktards showing up and naming lands and features that had been occupied and named by non- whites before and changing its name. Like Victoria falls and Victoria lake in africa.
How deluded do you need to be? Since non- whites are in majority compared to whites in this world i suggest all non whites decide to call London and England with a different name and start referencing it in their official communications. This time the imperialist white culture will change their names.
What should be London’s real name be?
The way it’s going with all the moose limbs moving there, might as change the official name to Londonistan.
“Should the US step up its rhetoric and action to encourage a return to democracy? ” We have the wimpest president in the US history. Don’t expect him to do anything.
You silly old goat, you should be counting your blessings to have him ,and the fact you’ve dodged the mother of all bullets by kicking out his predecessor….
Go hug your grandpa in his basement. Wimpy grandpa won’t do anything to help Myanmar but will send billions to corrupt Central American countries.
They used the same excuse that the white Republican male terrorists used in attempted coup in the USA. Thankfully white Republican males once again proved themselves to be incompetent.