Burmese exiles try to revive hopes
Will meet Bush, recall uprising
BANGKOK - Win Min has spent 20 years trying to recover a moment of hope in Burma, when it seemed that the people had defeated their brutal military rulers and freedom lay ahead.
Tomorrow is the anniversary of a huge popular uprising in 1988 that was crushed by soldiers at the cost of 3,000 lives, leaving the country in the grip of a military junta and setting the course of Burma's history ever since - and likely well into the future.
"We had a big hope that we would succeed," said Win Min, who was a student leader in Burma. "It was the biggest struggle ever in Burmese history. Not just in one town but even in remote villages. The whole country was marching in the streets."
Today, Win Min will be among a small group of activist exiles who are scheduled to meet here with President Bush, who has given his backing to what has so far been an unsuccessful struggle for democracy in Burma. The military junta that seized power in 1988 has only tightened its grip since then, locking up opponents and hunkering down in the face of criticisms and sanctions from the West. The pro-democracy leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years.
The junta violently suppressed a peaceful uprising led by monks in September and restricted foreign aid to victims after a cyclone in May.
The generals have demonstrated that they will take whatever steps are needed to retain power, Win Min said, so it is hard to remain optimistic.
"Twenty years afterward, well, you know we won't see that kind of demonstration happen again in the near future," said Win Min, who is now a lecturer at Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
"And if it happens, we know that as long as this government is in power they will crack down."
Since the September crackdown on monks, Bush has tightened economic restrictions on Burma. But some dissidents say the restrictions, along with harsh criticism of the junta, have added to a wall of hostility between the nations that limits Washington's influence.
This is the message that Aung Naing Oo, another former student leader, hopes to bring to Bush.
In the few minutes he may have to speak with the president, Aung Naing Oo said, he will urge the United States to move beyond its "ethical policy" of supporting human rights and begin pragmatically to engage the ruling generals.
