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Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (left) shakes hands with Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister Myo Myint upon her arrival in Naypyidaw Wednesday.
Updated at 5:15 a.m. ET: Hillary Clinton arrives in Myanmar, becoming the first U.S. secretary of state to visit the country in decades.
YANGON, Myanmar – U Nine Nine has spent 17 of the past 21 years behind bars as a political prisoner, and on the face of it, he would seem to have little reason to be upbeat about Myanmar's recent reforms.
"Time will tell," he told me. "But I'm cautiously optimistic. It is difficult for them to turn back now [from the recent changes]. The next few weeks will be crucial."
After 49 years of totalitarian rule, Myanmar’s military junta is beginning to loosen up.
Just last November, in what was widely condemned as a rigged election, Myanmar's ruling generals exchanged their uniforms for civilian suits. There was little hope for change.
Yet beginning in October of this year, the government has introduced a series of dizzying changes: The new government led by a former general, Thein Sein, has eased censorship, released political prisoners, introduced a limited right to strike and protest, and started a dialogue with the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi that has convinced her not only of their good intentions, but also to run for what she had dismissed as a rubber-stamp parliament.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is flying in here Wednesday to judge the "Burma Spring" for herself – she is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the country in more than 50 years.
Political party back in action
The recent developments are cause for excitement at Nine Nine’s office. He runs an assistance program for political prisoners and is also in charge of the Yangon division of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi, which has just decided to contest elections again.
Suu Kyi, who spent 15 years under house arrest, is now planning to stand in an election before the end of the year.
I met Nine Nine at the bustling office of the NLD, which is close to Yangon's famous Shwedagon Pagoda. He told me that by his calculations around 290 political prisoners have so far been released, but close to 500 remain in jail.
Ian Williams / NBC News
Cleaning up at the Shwedagon pagoda ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Myanmar.
There's a real buzz at the NLD office, but they are quick to remind you that they won the last freely contested election, in 1990, by a landslide, only to have the result annulled by the generals. That heralded the beginning of Nine Nine's first stint in prison.
Yet something is stirring in Myanmar, the country formerly known as Burma.
‘Hillary repairs’
Myanmar authorities have thrown the door open to international journalists to cover Clinton’s trip. It's the first time that I have been issued an official visa in 10 years, and while they didn't quite roll out the red carpet, our welcome has been warm.
My guide pointed to the hasty road repairs on the drive in from the airport. "Hillary repairs," he called them. And later, on a visit to the Shwedagon Pagoda, I came across a group of giggling young women scrubbing the floor. "Hillary Clinton is coming," they said.
Along one of the city's many dilapidated streets, I came across a stall heaving with photographs of Suu Kyi and her father, the independence hero Aung San. That would have been a dangerous act of defiance and almost unheard of just a few weeks ago, but no longer. It was clearly still a novelty, though, and I watched as passersby stopped and pointed out the signs to friends.
An elderly monk stopped me in the street and handed me an old currency note, no longer in circulation, but sporting a picture of Aung San. "For you. A real hero," he told me, before moving off into the crowd. A monk-led uprising four years ago was crushed by the generals.
Local newspapers, which have been carrying prominent stories about Suu Kyi – again unheard of until very recently – were carrying upbeat features Tuesday about the desire for closer relations with the U.S. (and by implication, a little loosening of their dependence on China, which goes down well in Washington these days).
Real change?
There certainly does seem to be hope here, but many remain wary. Can one of the world's most thuggish regimes really change its stripes so quickly?
Clinton will meet with President Thein Sein on Thursday and will likely push for faster democratic change. She'll meet Suu Kyi on Friday to gauge more fully how Myanmar's pro-democracy leader judges the reforms, and whether an easing of international sanctions might be merited.
Among the former political prisoners released so far is Zarganar, Myanmar's most famous comedian, who got into hot water for poking fun at the generals. He was jailed for criticizing their response to Cyclone Nargis, a 2008 disaster that left 135,000 people dead or missing.
On his release from prison he reportedly cracked another joke at the expense of the president. This time he got away with it, and is expected to be among those briefing Clinton on Friday about the intentions of the former generals, not known for humor or compassion, but who just might have decided that change and dialogue is the only way forward for impoverished Myanmar.
Leave a Comment:
The name of the country is Burma.
BURMA not Myanmar.
B U R M A
Get it right MSNBC!
It's their country. they can call it anything they want.
The official name is Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
UDunnoBro: You're an idiot. They call it Myanmar. It's the official name, and it's what the people there use themselves. I was there on vacation last week. Unlike you, I'm not talking out of my ass.
Sorry Marc, starbuck and ssm, but UDunnoBro is at least partly right. The name change was made by the military dictatorship, whose legitimacy is not recognized by the opposition and whose right to change the name of the country is also not recognized. The U.S., the UK, Australia, Canada, France and other countries also do not acknowledge the legitimacy of the name change and still refer to the country as Burma.
Yes, it is their country and they can call it anything they want. And many of them would prefer to call it Burma, if not for the fear of being imprisoned by a brutal government that completely ignored its landslide defeat in the 1990 elections -- the only free elections the country had held in the 30 years prior to 1990 or in the 21 years since then.
Sure, the illegal military dictatorship calls it Myanmar, and actually it is their country -- so they can call it whatever they want, and nevermind what the people want. They can call it EffYouBurmesePeople, which might as well be the English translation of Myanmar anyway.
it use to be called Burma, but the changed it to Myanmar a long time ago. jeez i've known this since middle school and i'm nowhere near 30 yet.
Yes, "they" did. But did "they" have the right to, when "they" were not even the legitimate government of the country, and a majority of the population was violently opposed to everything "they" were about, including changing the name of the country and many of its cities and towns?
"It will always be Burma to me." -J. Peterman (Seinfeld)
I still miss Siam :(
Actually, Hillary is there to see Peterman and get a copy of his "Spring" Catalogue.
Starbuck - It's not "their" country. That's the whole point. "Their" is the illegal rulers who changed the name, not the citizens of Burma. IT'S BURMA, not Myranmar!
Marc - Your'e talking out of your liberal news media brainwashed mouth.
Not Exactly: The United States still refers to the country as Burma, citing displeasure over how the name was changed when the results of democratic elections were thrown out by the military junta more than 25 years ago.
Really, who cares! Point is that this may be a good shift from a dictatorship to democracy, and will be interesting and historical to see.
The 'liberal media", as you say, have been forbidden in Burma/Myanmar (ha!) for decades. Thus, the vacuum for transparent new outlets were/are filled with state-sponsored and controlled information, i.e. "conservative" media. See: Iran, Pakistan, North Korea, China, Saudi Arabia, etc. ALL conservative governments!
Mrs. Clinton...our next Messiah?
udunnobro:
Yes, like Sri Lanka is really Ceylon, and Mumbai is really Bombay??? Let it go, man, it's over!
JK from Pa really, conservative governments
Sounds like a movie I once saw with Earl Flynn. "Objective Burma". Ony updated. "Objective Myanmar".
Myanmar was not actually ever a country before the British colonized it as an extension of the Raj in the 1800's. Britain named it Burma because they couldn't pronounce (or spell) the native name for the region. Burma" is derived from the Burmese word "Bamar" (), which in turn is the colloquial form of Myanmar () (or Mranma in old Burmese), both of which historically referred to the majority Burmans (or the Bamar). Depending on the register used the pronunciation would be "Bama" (pronounced [bəmà]), or "Myamah" (pronounced [mjəmà]). The name "Burma" has been in use in English since the time of British colonial rule. It is still used by the UK today. While Bamars referred to a past majority cultural group, it was never a country as such.
In the 1980's many countries, including China, Vietnam, and Myanmar changed the spelling and pronunciation of place names and introduced new transliteration systems. They had simply grown tired of trying to say the names of their own cities and rivers in a way that was acceptable to Western colonial tone palates. So Peiking became Beijing. And Citie Le Duc became Hue. And Burma became Myanmar.
Kornfed,
Would beat what we have now!!!
North Korea is conservative?
...
...
I don't think "conservative" means what you think it does, JK.
Wow Hillary, so much that you have accomplished in your reign as Secretary of State, you truly know how to knock down walls and tighten relationships, "the highest ranking American official in 50 years", truly incredible feat.
Write something...
Can't tell if you're sarcastic or clueless...
The US is not the center of the universe, and just because a country changes for the better may not have anything to do with the US at all. Or do you have any evidence to the contrary here that we don't know about?
Marc - What an idiot to admit that you were in Burma and called it Myranmar like a good little government peon. The masses who don't resist illegal authoritarian rule get just what they deserve. If I ever visit Burma, I assure you I will not give in to the illegal government and use their name for the country. (Do you also call Israel "Palestine"?)
AND . . . .Condoleezza Rice did WHAT? Wave getting on and off the plane . . . .and chummying up to Gadhafi.
Kinda' like the Republican party following the Bush/Cheney tyrannical rule right down into the toilet? Now, only clowns left to fill the void. I couldn't "resist" the jab!
I saw the clip of Hillary walking down the steps of her airplane on the news this morning. I can tell she isn't missing any meals during this recession.
JK - If you think we were in the toilet with Bush/Cheney, what would you call this current mess, the "treatment plant"? I'm tired of being treated like crap so let's replace our current administration soon.
gad bless the usa
Hillary is nasty, no wonder Bill cheated on her...and yes, God Bless America...
Maybe Hillary should try to claim she was under fire getting off the plane like she did in Bosnia a few years back. That was good for more than a few laughs!
(Did she really have to smile so much? Practice a raised eyebrow once in a while.)
I hear that this country is in bad shape in all possible ways.
LTC Rattus, USA, ret.
No other officals from this country would lower themselves to appear in that country only piano legs Hillary would stoop so low. It's a wonder that mutt she married didn't go with her.
Lower themselves by going to the country. Its that kind of arrogance that makes Americans look bad. The country is trying to reform and all you can do is talk down on them.
lol
We'll see.
Man. you are totally a dolt.
That's the role of the Sec. State, knucklehead. Takes a bit more intelligence, professionalism, fortitude, and dedication to democratic change than to simply invite foreign dignitaries from allied states to join you at a pig roast in Crawford, TX.
Nice to see our tax dollars finally working at the federal level, after 8 long years of shoring up dictatorships (Gadhafi, etc.) and rebuilding Iraq!
Wow Miss Hillary, you're finding even cheaper labor than the Chinese. Are you sure you're a Democrat? Maybe that's why the Bush tax cuts are still in affect.
I hope we can provide Myanmar with arms to defend itself. You know the way we did with Iraq and Osama back in the 70s and 80s. Those were good relationships back then.
I can't tell which way we'll go but one thing's for sure, it's all for the all mighty dollar.
Who was it that signed NAFTA again? Oh right, Hillary's husband.
But hey let's raise taxes on job creators, that'll do a great job to spur employment growth in this country. Idiot.
Well just hope this trip she doesn't give them a bunch of US taxpayers money...
Seems she cant visit another country with out giving away OUR money...
Like the 6 BILLION $$$ she gave Pakistan for being our friends..?
Raise taxes on job creators. LOL. What a sheepish statement. The fact is, Bush tax cuts for the wealthy (rich man's welfare) did nothing to create jobs. But, the facts are inconvenient to right-wing robots.
Unions= Bad!
High Wages=Bad!
Healthcare=Bad!
Pension Plan=Bad!
Work 100 hour weeks to survive=GOOD!
Work for meager pay=GOOD!
Live without healthcare=GOOD!
Give company owner my hard earned tax money=GOOD!
Make sure CEO can buy another multimillion dollar vacation home=GOOD!
Vote for Republicans=GOOD!!!!
gordo13
Did you forget King Georgie giving Africa 30 billion when he visited and did the dance with them?
Maybe now we'll be able to import their fabulous Jadeite Jade. The A'hole Bush administration slapped an embargo on the gems in 2008.
And don't forget the blood rubies!! Myanmar has some of the finest rubies in the world. Very few have made it out of the country anytime in recent memory.
My guess is that it has to do with their cancelling (just in the past 2 months) of a huge hydroelectric project that China was going to build in their country. China needs energy. Maybe Clinton is going there to "sweet" talk them into letting the Chinese build that dam. The Chinese own the US to some extent (about $1 trillion worth), so they probably say "U go Burma now..."...
Ben Richards
The embargo on those gems was put in place for a very good reason. Sales of those gems were helping to fund the military that was crushing the civilian population.
Your "bling" was costing more lives than blood diamonds. Your comment makes you look to be the "A'hole".
So instead of US buyers, the jade goes to the Chineese, and I have tod smuggle it out of there.
The pagodas look beautiful
I second that motion!
I know how to say Burma ~ how do you pronounce Myanmar? my-an-mar ?????
Hillary Clinton is a genious!
You might want to reconsider that statement. After all, she did marry Bill. Also, you should use spell checker.
Well, where does that place Laura Bush? Also, you should check out what Bill is up to. Seems he's been doing a bit more than grilling up chicken in Crawford.
Laura ended up in the drunk tank for awhile.
Ultimately and for a proper closure to this tragedy called Myamar the generals and the tyrants who have abused, suppressed and repressed the local people should be held accountable for their actions and brought to justice so other tyrants and despots around the world will learn not to repeat the same crimes again
wish I could rollerskate on the marble
Geez. And the idiot haters come out. AGAIN. Why don't we wait and see how Hil. Clintons trip turns out. Reform is good, and if it favors the US then it is great.
I spent a month traveling through Myanmar last year. The regime is so intent on repressing the people that they block computer access to internet and emails, stage power outages to keep people off the computers (the younger generation is intent on finding a way around the govt's access blocks), and prevent any form of advancement. Farmers still use wooden plows with oxen! Despite all this, the people are kind, good-hearted, sweet-natured and optimistic. Uh, Hillary, if you want to know more, just call me.
And, by the way, to all the comments on Burma vs. Myanmar, "Burma" is the name given to the country by the British when they ruled there. he name was fashioned according to the name of one of the major tribes. But Myanmar is a collection of many tribes, and the people call their country Myanmar, not Burma which they see as the occupiers' name for their country.
Bring back any jade?
Read today's globaltimes.cn take on HRC/US visit to Burma/Myanmar. The last American to suffer the China treatment was Ge. Joe 'Vinegar' Stillwell in trying to build the Burma Road. China wants to use the Burmese ports for commerce because it shortens the trade route by 2,000 km and China has invested a lot of money in there. (doesn't have to go thry Straits of Malacca/Hongkong/Shanghai. China is blaming HRC/US for Burma's rescinding Chinese Hydropower plant (over 3 bill. invested). Hopefully there is a new dawn in Burma and they can decide their own destiny without interference.
For nearly 50 years, US ignored Burma, a small, backward nation geographically located adjacent to India, China, and close to Afghanistan and Pakistan. America's sudden interest in Burma is not a coincident. Clinton's visit to Burma is not about 'Myanmar Spring." There's a much more important agenda. Any discussion of human right issue is merely political leverage to cover up the real purpose of the mission: to establish a military base when US must withdraw from Afghanistan and Pakistan, two nations where anti-American sentiment grows stronger by the day. Also, US military bases in Japan and Korea are also under pressure to close down or reduced substantially. Due to the proliferation of whore houses, drugs, and other seedy activities around the US military bases, the people of the Philiphines had evicted the Americans more than two decades ago.
Finally, US is interested in the 'Burma Road' as a fast track into Southern China if hostility breaks out requiring ground troops. The proliferation of US military bases in South East Asia is almost the replica of what occured in the Middle East. When enough guns and gunpowder are readied, ultimately, warfare breaks out. The Burmanese should be well advised to look at their neighbor, Vietnam.
Interesting theory, but somehow I doubt it. Since no other country had any economic ties WHATSOEVER with Myanmar in recent years, CHina has gained complete economic dominance in Myanmar. All the oil, the electricity plants, everything is Chinese technology. It will take many years to even begin to loosen China's economic stranglehold on that country.
Godd for Hillary Clinton. I now regret supporting Obama in 2008. Hillary would have been better and she wouldn't have taken any crap from the Republicans. But, I'll vote for Obama again, only because if a Republican wins, our foreign policy will be a joke and another "preventive" war a good possibility.
Yes, just like Libya and Sudan and the Horn of Africa. All undeclared Obama Wars.
Don't clean too hard ladies, it's just Clinton... no one important.
She's certainly a hell of a lot more important than you are, you dolt.
Whatever you say, imbecile. I'm here simply concerned for the maids who may get the impression that they have to scrub the ground till death because sh*t-stain Clinton is coming. Just trying to let them know it's not worth that much trouble.
Wow another U.S. taxpayer trip aboard Air Force II for Hillary. That's great because we need Myanmar on our side. It's also good to see all the 12-14 year old girls hand scrubbing the streets at 2 cents a day, gets them out of the sweat box for a few hours.
Meanwhile Bill is across the boarder in Thailand getting a "message".
Man, is Hillary getting fat and wrinkled. She better go on Bill's vegan diet soon.
It's a sad reflection on the United States when all we do is visit the arm pits of the world! What do we need there a base to attack China. HA, HA, HA. Do you attack the country who owns you??????????
Hillary is in serious need of a make-over. Start with her hair. She's got no sense of style.
Next thing you know, Your Tennis shoes will say made in Myanmar.
I am a Republican and differ with Hillary on many issues but I have always admired her. She has put up with a lot from her husband and the current president. It has aged her somewhat!
Why did Hillary and Bill put poor people into housing 1995. Why not kill Bin Laden and his buddies in 1998 or 99 or 2000. usa1998.com