If Burma continues with its commitment to democratic reforms and ending
ethnic conflict, the United States will offer its ongoing support in assisting
to rebuild its crippled economy, US President Barack Obama said on Monday
afternoon.
Addressing a crowd of some 1,300
people at Yangon University, and flanked by Burmese pro-democracy icon Aung San
Suu Kyi and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, not to mention an anxious
security detail, the president was speaking during his six-hour trip to the
former Burmese capital, and the first ever to the country by a US president.
“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 fist,’” he said.
“And over the last year and a
half, a dramatic transition has begun as a dictatorship of five decades has
loosened its grip. Under President Thein Sein, the desire for change has been
met by an agenda for reform.
“So today I’ve come to keep my
promise and extend the hand of friendship,” he said.
It was perhaps no coincidence
that Obama referred to Burma’s previous years of dictatorship while delivering
a speech at Yangon University, formerly Rangoon University, which was the scene
of student uprisings in 1962, 1974, 1988 and 1996, most of which were violently
suppressed. The former military junta closed the campus in the 1990s fearing
further unrest.
While praising President Thein
Sein and noting the progress his government has made toward democratic reforms
and improving freedom of speech for Burmese citizens, Obama noted that Burma
still has to find a solution to its ethnic conflicts and to release all
prisoners of conscience.
“On that journey, America will
support you every step of the way: by using our assistance to empower civil
society; by engaging your military to promote professionalism and human rights;
and by partnership with you as you connect your progress towards democracy with
economic development.”
Obama stressed Burma’s need to
aim for economic prosperity, and noted the US had lifted sanctions, now
allowing American firms to invest in the country.
“But that kind of growth must
leave corruption behind,” he cautioned.
When the 51-year-old president
stressed the need for Burma, torn by long-running civil war and ethnic
conflict, to achieve national reconciliation, the room erupted in deafening
applause.
The bloody conflict in Burma’s
western Rakhine State also needs to be addressed, as does the debate over
citizenship, said the Hawaiian-born president, explaining that the US is also a
nation of immigrants.
Seated between Clinton and
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell,
Suu Kyi visibly enjoyed a lengthy discussion with Claire Mitchell, the wife of
the new US Ambassador Derek Mitchell before the US President began his speech.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate
received her standard rock star welcome as, dressed in peach and dark green,
she greeted dignitaries and posed for photos with a surging crowd armed with
smiles, Smart Phones and cameras.
Obama concluded his remarks the
same way he began, by addressing the audience in their own language, if only to
say “thank you”; but it was enough for this Burmese audience, whose enthusiasm
for the American almost matched that for Suu Kyi.
Obama left at 3:40 pm for Rangoon
airport where he was due to fly immediately to Phnom Penh to participate in the
current ASEAN summit.
Victoria Bruce
Business & Investment Opportunities
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