RANGOON — In a historic breakthrough, President Barack Obama on Monday stepped
onto the soil of long-shunned Burma and into the flag-waving embrace of its
once repressed people. “You gave us hope,” he declared, the first US president
to visit what not long ago had been an international outcast.
Tens of thousands of people
poured into the streets to welcome Obama to a place still learning its basic
freedoms.
Speaking to a national audience
from the University of Rangoon, Obama offered a “hand of friendship” and a
lasting US commitment, yet a warning as well. He said the new civilian
government must nurture democracy or watch it, and US support, disappear.
The visit to Burma was the
centerpiece of a four-day trip to Southeast Asia that began in Bangkok and will
end Tuesday in Cambodia, where Obama will attend an East Asia Summit.
Obama seemed to revel in the
history of what he was witnessing in Burma—a nation shedding years of military
rule, and a relationship between two nations changing fast.
“This remarkable journey has just
begun,” he said.
In a notable detour from US
government policy, the president referred to the nation as Burma, the preferred
name of the former military regime and the new government, rather than Burma,
the old name and the one favored by democracy advocates and the United States
government.
On his first trip abroad since
his re-election earlier this month, Obama got a warm welcome in Burma, hugging
long-time opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and lauding her as a personal
inspiration. Crowds swelled at every intersection, yelling affectionately for
Obama and his secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
“You are the legend hero of our
world,” one banner read.
Obama acknowledged Burma’s many
democratic shortcomings but said: “The United States of America is with you.”
Obama spoke at a university that
was once the center of government opposition, and his message was as much a
call for Burma to continue in its promising steps as it was a tribute to
democracy in general. He held up the United States as an example of its triumph
and its imperfections.
Coinciding with the president’s
visit, the government of Burma announced further human rights steps to review
prisoner cases and de-escalate conflicts in ethnic regions of the country.
But Obama urged even more,
calling for a government where, as he put it, “those in power must accept
constraints.”
“The flickers of progress that we
have seen must not be extinguished,” Obama said in an address televised to the
nation.
Obama paid a personal call to the
revered democracy advocate, Suu Kyi, at the lakeside 2-acre compound where she
spent much of the last two decades under house arrest. The house, a
colonial-style, grey stucco home, has become synonymous with the movement that
brought about democratization reforms.
Suu Kyi echoed Obama’s tone with
an admonition of her own, one that could have been directed at her own ruling
party as much as to the United States:
“The most difficult time in any
transition is when we think that success is in sight,” she said. “Then we have
to be very careful that we’re not lured by the mirage of success.”
Earlier, with President Thein
Sein at his side, Obama said the journey was just starting. “But,” Obama said,
“we think a process of democratic and economic reform here in Burma that has
been begun by the president is one that can lead to incredible development
opportunities.”
In a first-ever scene, Air Force
One flew over Burma’s lush countryside, which was dotted with gold-spired
temples, rice patties and fish farms. As the plane approached Yangon, the
landscape became more crowded with homes, including many clusters of shacks.
Obama walked down the steps of
his aircraft with Clinton, a shared image done in recognition of their last
trip together. Clinton plans to leave the diplomatic post soon.
In an extraordinary scene for
Burma, huge crowds of people lined the streets of Rangoon to watch Obama’s
motorcade pass, including hundreds of students wearing matching school uniforms
of white shirts and dark green sarongs. Many held up iPads and smart phones to
take photos of the speeding motorcade.
Obama has rewarded Burma’s rapid
adoption of democratic reforms by lifting some economic penalties. The
president has appointed a permanent ambassador to the country, and pledged
greater investment if Burma continues to progress following a half-century of
military rule.
The trip to Burma came against a
backdrop of criticism from human rights groups that say Burma’s government,
which continues to hold hundreds of political prisoners and is struggling to
contain ethnic violence, hasn’t done enough to earn a personal visit from
Obama.
The president’s response:
Progress this dramatic deserves a global spotlight.
“When I took office as president,
I sent a message to those governments who ruled by fear: We will extend a hand
if you are willing to unclench your first,” Obama said. “… So today, I have
come to keep my promise, and extend the hand of friendship.”
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