"US Condemns Burma's Crackdown on Dissidents"
By: David Gollust
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-08-22-voa5-.cfm?renderforprint=1.
On Wednesday a spoeksman from the U.S. State Department condemed the country of Burma for supressing peaceful protests on the high cost of fuel. Protests have been relatively rare in Burma since a bloody supression by the military government in 1988 when around 3,000 people were killed. However, yesterday's protest involved a few members of that same protesting group from 1988 known as the "88 Generation." The U.S. government has all but suspended ties with Burma, and publicly condemns the government's action on the peaceful demonstration. The only diplomatic discussion between the U.S and Burma since 2003 occured this june in Beijing, China, where there was little resolution between the two nations over the lack of human rights for the Burmese people.
This issue is important, because it is only a sample of what is going on in many of the nations in the world. Many times we focus our attention on whatever country is shown on the nightly news, but the supression of human rights is all too common in most developing nations. The people of Burma have had hopes of a democratic society, for example the 1990 elections when the "National League for Democracy" won but was kept from taking power and the leader, Aung San Su Kyi, was ultimately arrested. Although we as Americans tend to be consumed with the war in Iraq we cannot forget that while we are focused on one area of the world other areas are experiencing their own problems. In constrast with my own previous thinking the world is not mostly a democratic society but in stead most people in the world are forced to live under suppresive governments with no real right to the basic freedoms we tend to take advantage of as U.S. citizens.
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