Myanmar - Aung San Suu Kyi

The charismatic and brave figurehead of the NLD. She stood in front of SLORC's rifles during the student riots of '88, was busted by the evil generals and received a Nobel Prize for her efforts. Placed under house arrest in 1989, she wasn't heard from until her release in the summer of 1995. She's chosen not to leave Myanmar, but instead to engage in "constructive dialogue" with SLORC and to consult with her NLD colleagues to find a way of bruising the SLORC bullies without winding back in the slammer. SLORC sees her as more of a nuisance (albeit a major one) than a threat, as Euro and ASEAN conglomo-cash is beginning to flow into Myanmar, ensuring the generals a lasting reign. But the foreign investment well may dry up suddenly if they lock Suu Kyi inside again. After her release from house arrest as many as 10,000 people jammed the street in front of her lakeside compound to hear her weekly addresses. But roads leading to her home have been blocked now for months and she's no longer allowed to speak in public. She and some supporters have been rousted by Khin Nyunt's Ray-Ban cops a number of times, leading to an estimated 1,000 arrests. Some 260 NLD members were busted shortly before a party congress in May 1996, and another 50 or more ahead of a party meeting in May 1997 to mark the seventh anniversary of the May 27, 1990, elections that would have swept the NDL to power if recognized by the jealous generals. With Myanmar joining ASEAN it seems the road's going to be even tougher for the Iron Lady.

You can try getting to Suu Kyi's house. During our last trip, we were stopped by soldiers a couple of hundred yards away. University Avenue in Yangon is barricaded off near her house. Her address is 5456 Tekkhtho Yeiktha Avenue in Yangon. Her home phone number is 530365.

http://theodore-sturgeon.mit.edu:8001/peacejam/aung/aung.html

http://www.communique.no/dvb/

SLORC Bullies Hurl Tomatoes in Bid to

Get Drafted into the Majors

Former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda has found pitchers everywhere from the desert of Mexico to the base of Mount Fuji. He may want to start sending some scouts to Yangon for a new generation of hurlers. SLORC figures if they start gunning down NLDers like they did in 1988 with real bullets, the world will back out of oil and pipeline deals and half-finished hotels. So, through sheer political genius, they've resorted to hiring thugs to lob tomatoes at Suu Kyi and her supporters. The generals figure a few tomatoes and a few messed-up hairdos won't make the pages of the New York Times. So they've enlisted the services of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA)-ostensibly a government-sponsored social welfare association, but in reality a gang of shock troops and a Cleveland Indians farm team-to practice their pitching skills at NLD demonstrations. In one instance, in February 1996, as Suu Kyi was speaking at a memorial ceremony for former Burmese prime minister U Nu, a Toyota pickup filled with crates of tomatoes rolled up; the tomatoes were intended to be lobbed at the participants by USDA fledgling Florida Marlins. They refused to fire the tomatoes at the crowd, thinking that crates of jackfruit (a much larger fruit) were to be supplied instead.