Word: juntas
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...places the Nobel Peace Prize winner visited between stints of house arrest, and she called for political change from its lawn. Then, two years ago this month, Shwe Zedi was among the first places in Burma to organize pro-democracy rallies, a doomed effort that ended in the junta gunning down unarmed demonstrators. "At first, I was scared to join the protests," recalls one teenaged monk. "But I had faith that even if it failed, it was better than doing nothing." (Read "Burma: Virginia Senator Jim Webb Visits Junta Leader...
...abbot didn't bother to lower his voice. Around us were sitting half a dozen local Buddhist worshippers, including one man whose aggressive curiosity about my presence made him a likely informant for the repressive Burmese junta. No matter, the abbot had no time for fear. "This is a very famous monastery," he said, as I, the first foreign visitor in many months, nodded. "Important people have come here: Nehru, Indira Gandhi and, of course, the Lady...
...Most Burmese are devout Buddhists, and the junta tries to burnish its image by plastering state-controlled newspapers with articles about its contributions to religious causes. But no amount of merit-making can erase the image of regime goons massacring monks two years ago. Although a frightened hush followed that crackdown, Suu Kyi's sentencing has reignited speculation that the generals have gone too far - and that religious harmony has been disturbed. (Read "Burma Court Finds Aung San Suu Kyi Guilty...
...Certainly, the signs from the heavens haven't been auspicious of late. In May, the Danoke pagoda near Rangoon collapsed, killing three. Burmese with an eye for otherworldly coincidences noted that a pagoda ceremony earlier this year was officiated by the wife of Than Shwe, the junta's leader. Then, in June, an elevator inside a 32-story Buddha in Sagaing division failed, injuring several passengers. "Burmese people take omens very seriously," says a newspaper editor in Rangoon. "These coincidences aren't just coincidences. I can assure you that the generals are very worried...
...Blood ties may explain why China, which has been one of the Burmese regime's biggest supporters - it has shielded the country from U.N. criticism and poured in foreign investment while Western countries have strengthened economic sanctions - took the unusual step last week of castigating the junta for the Kokang situation. The Chinese Foreign Ministry warned Burma that it should "properly handle domestic problems and maintain stability in the ... border region." The stability-obsessed Chinese government presumably isn't pleased with gun battles on its southern flank, including stray fire that claimed the life of a Chinese citizen in Yunnan...