Post by Lux on Oct 10, 2007 17:37:55 GMT 12
By Amy Goodman, King Features Syndicate
Posted on October 3, 2007, Printed on October 8, 2007
www.alternet.org/story/64310/
The image was stunning: tens of thousands of saffron-robed Buddhist
monks marching through the streets of Rangoon [also known as Yangon],
protesting the military dictatorship of Burma. The monks marched in
front of the home of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who
was seen weeping and praying quietly as they passed. She hadn't been
seen for years. The democratically elected leader of Burma, Suu Kyi
has been under house arrest since 2003. She is considered the Nelson
Mandela of Burma, the Southeast Asian nation renamed Myanmar by the
regime.
After almost two weeks of protest, the monks have disappeared. The
monasteries have been emptied. One report says thousands of monks are
imprisoned in the north of the country.
No one believes that this is the end of the protests, dubbed "The
Saffron Revolution." Nor do they believe the official body count of 10
dead. The trickle of video, photos and oral accounts of the violence
that leaked out on Burma's cellular phone and Internet lines has been
largely stifled by government censorship. Still, gruesome images of
murdered monks and other activists and accounts of executions make it
out to the global public. At the time of this writing, several
unconfirmed accounts of prisoners being burned alive have been posted
to Burma-solidarity Web sites.
The Bush administration is making headlines with its strong language
against the Burmese regime. President Bush declared increased
sanctions in his U.N. General Assembly speech. First lady Laura Bush
has come out with perhaps the strongest statements. Explaining that
she has a cousin who is a Burma activist, Laura Bush said, "The
deplorable acts of violence being perpetrated against Buddhist monks
and peaceful Burmese demonstrators shame the military regime."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, at the meeting of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations, said, "The United States is determined to
keep an international focus on the travesty that is taking place."
Keeping an international focus is essential, but should not distract
from one of the most powerful supporters of the junta, one that is
much closer to home. Rice knows it well: Chevron.
Fueling the military junta that has ruled for decades are Burma's
natural gas reserves, controlled by the Burmese regime in partnership
with the U.S. multinational oil giant Chevron, the French oil company
Total and a Thai oil firm. Offshore natural gas facilities deliver
their extracted gas to Thailand through Burma's Yadana pipeline. The
pipeline was built with slave labor, forced into servitude by the
Burmese military.
The original pipeline partner, Unocal, was sued by EarthRights
International for the use of slave labor. As soon as the suit was
settled out of court, Chevron bought Unocal.
Chevron's role in propping up the brutal regime in Burma is clear.
According to Marco Simons, U.S. legal director at EarthRights
International: "Sanctions haven't worked because gas is the lifeline
of the regime. Before Yadana went online, Burma's regime was facing
severe shortages of currency. It's really Yadana and gas projects that
kept the military regime afloat to buy arms and ammunition and pay its
soldiers."
The U.S. government has had sanctions in place against Burma since
1997. A loophole exists, though, for companies grandfathered in.
Unocal's exemption from the Burma sanctions has been passed on to its
new owner, Chevron.
Rice served on the Chevron board of directors for a decade. She even
had a Chevron oil tanker named after her. While she served on the
board, Chevron was sued for involvement in the killing of nonviolent
protesters in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Like the Burmese,
Nigerians suffer political repression and pollution where oil and gas
are extracted and they live in dire poverty. The protests in Burma
were actually triggered by a government-imposed increase in fuel prices.
Human-rights groups around the world have called for a global day of
action on Saturday, Oct. 6, in solidarity with the people of Burma.
Like the brave activists and citizen journalists sending news and
photos out of the country, the organizers of the Oct. 6 protest are
using the Internet to pull together what will probably be the largest
demonstration ever in support of Burma. Among the demands are calls
for companies to stop doing business with Burma's brutal regime.
Amy Goodman is the host of the nationally syndicated radio news
program, Democracy Now!
© 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: www.alternet.org/story/64310/
Posted on October 3, 2007, Printed on October 8, 2007
www.alternet.org/story/64310/
The image was stunning: tens of thousands of saffron-robed Buddhist
monks marching through the streets of Rangoon [also known as Yangon],
protesting the military dictatorship of Burma. The monks marched in
front of the home of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who
was seen weeping and praying quietly as they passed. She hadn't been
seen for years. The democratically elected leader of Burma, Suu Kyi
has been under house arrest since 2003. She is considered the Nelson
Mandela of Burma, the Southeast Asian nation renamed Myanmar by the
regime.
After almost two weeks of protest, the monks have disappeared. The
monasteries have been emptied. One report says thousands of monks are
imprisoned in the north of the country.
No one believes that this is the end of the protests, dubbed "The
Saffron Revolution." Nor do they believe the official body count of 10
dead. The trickle of video, photos and oral accounts of the violence
that leaked out on Burma's cellular phone and Internet lines has been
largely stifled by government censorship. Still, gruesome images of
murdered monks and other activists and accounts of executions make it
out to the global public. At the time of this writing, several
unconfirmed accounts of prisoners being burned alive have been posted
to Burma-solidarity Web sites.
The Bush administration is making headlines with its strong language
against the Burmese regime. President Bush declared increased
sanctions in his U.N. General Assembly speech. First lady Laura Bush
has come out with perhaps the strongest statements. Explaining that
she has a cousin who is a Burma activist, Laura Bush said, "The
deplorable acts of violence being perpetrated against Buddhist monks
and peaceful Burmese demonstrators shame the military regime."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, at the meeting of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations, said, "The United States is determined to
keep an international focus on the travesty that is taking place."
Keeping an international focus is essential, but should not distract
from one of the most powerful supporters of the junta, one that is
much closer to home. Rice knows it well: Chevron.
Fueling the military junta that has ruled for decades are Burma's
natural gas reserves, controlled by the Burmese regime in partnership
with the U.S. multinational oil giant Chevron, the French oil company
Total and a Thai oil firm. Offshore natural gas facilities deliver
their extracted gas to Thailand through Burma's Yadana pipeline. The
pipeline was built with slave labor, forced into servitude by the
Burmese military.
The original pipeline partner, Unocal, was sued by EarthRights
International for the use of slave labor. As soon as the suit was
settled out of court, Chevron bought Unocal.
Chevron's role in propping up the brutal regime in Burma is clear.
According to Marco Simons, U.S. legal director at EarthRights
International: "Sanctions haven't worked because gas is the lifeline
of the regime. Before Yadana went online, Burma's regime was facing
severe shortages of currency. It's really Yadana and gas projects that
kept the military regime afloat to buy arms and ammunition and pay its
soldiers."
The U.S. government has had sanctions in place against Burma since
1997. A loophole exists, though, for companies grandfathered in.
Unocal's exemption from the Burma sanctions has been passed on to its
new owner, Chevron.
Rice served on the Chevron board of directors for a decade. She even
had a Chevron oil tanker named after her. While she served on the
board, Chevron was sued for involvement in the killing of nonviolent
protesters in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Like the Burmese,
Nigerians suffer political repression and pollution where oil and gas
are extracted and they live in dire poverty. The protests in Burma
were actually triggered by a government-imposed increase in fuel prices.
Human-rights groups around the world have called for a global day of
action on Saturday, Oct. 6, in solidarity with the people of Burma.
Like the brave activists and citizen journalists sending news and
photos out of the country, the organizers of the Oct. 6 protest are
using the Internet to pull together what will probably be the largest
demonstration ever in support of Burma. Among the demands are calls
for companies to stop doing business with Burma's brutal regime.
Amy Goodman is the host of the nationally syndicated radio news
program, Democracy Now!
© 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: www.alternet.org/story/64310/