Myanmar, a southeast Asian country of about 50 million people that was formerly known as Burma, has been under military rule in one form or another since 1962, when General Ne Win staged a coup that toppled a civilian government. The current junta was formed in 1988 and canceled the results of a democratic parliamentary election in 1990 that was overwhelmingly won by the party led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of Aung San, one of the heroes of the nation’s independence from the British Empire in 1948.
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Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, has been under house arrest for most of the time since then. Nevertheless she remains a martyr and rallying symbol for the population.
In mid-August 2007, a decision by the government to sharply raise fuel prices led to a new round of street protests. After small demonstrations by students, the situation turned more serious when large numbers of the country’s Buddhist monks, who are widely revered, joined in.
Some of the monks have chanted “Release Suu Kyi” as they have demonstrated in the streets. On Sept. 23d over 100,000 joined in processions led by monks, according to an estimate by The Associated Press. About 500 of the monks marched to the gate of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s home where she greeted them -- the first time she had been seen in public for four years. The government responded the next day by warning senior Buddhist clerics of a crackdown if the monks were not reined in.
On May 3, 2008, a devastating cyclone ripped through the Irrawaddy Delta and the country’s main city, Yangon, killing thousands.-- John Holusha, Sept. 25, 2007; Updated May 5, 2008
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Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, has been under house arrest for most of the time since then. Nevertheless she remains a martyr and rallying symbol for the population.
In mid-August 2007, a decision by the government to sharply raise fuel prices led to a new round of street protests. After small demonstrations by students, the situation turned more serious when large numbers of the country’s Buddhist monks, who are widely revered, joined in.
Some of the monks have chanted “Release Suu Kyi” as they have demonstrated in the streets. On Sept. 23d over 100,000 joined in processions led by monks, according to an estimate by The Associated Press. About 500 of the monks marched to the gate of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s home where she greeted them -- the first time she had been seen in public for four years. The government responded the next day by warning senior Buddhist clerics of a crackdown if the monks were not reined in.
On May 3, 2008, a devastating cyclone ripped through the Irrawaddy Delta and the country’s main city, Yangon, killing thousands.-- John Holusha, Sept. 25, 2007; Updated May 5, 2008
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