First step for Burma

The Burmese people have had precious little to celebrate these past 14 years. Since the present military regime seized power in Rangoon, it has contrived, with world class ineptitude, to drive their country ever deeper into a hole. This unmitigated decline in a once prosperous land rich in natural resources is entirely attributable to the generals of Slorc, the "state law and order restoration council", a creation of truly Orwellian grimness. That the Slorc, in 1997, renamed itself the "state peace and development council" was a first indication that even this cretinous military oligarchy was vaguely conscious of an image problem. The regime's decision to join the Association of South-East Asian Nations that same year was also a tacit admission that any amount of forced labour and heroin smuggling could not compensate for endemic economic mismanagement, corruption, and the suspension of multilateral and bilateral government aid and assistance. Burma under the generals had become, and remains, Asia's equivalent of Idi Amin's Uganda. Robert Mugabe, too, presiding over economic meltdown in Zimbabwe, should take time to study Burma's recent history lest his worst instincts lead him to repeat its mistakes. One tragedy is that this gross misgovernance by the Rangoon junta, driven more by considerations of power and money than ideology, was wholly avoidable and unnecessary. One hope is that if this truth is recognised, however belatedly, the reconciliation process begun last year by the UN will be a down-payment on a future, shared prosperity.

The release from house arrest yesterday of that symbol of Burma's stolen freedom, Aung San Suu Kyi, provides at last a reason for genuine popular celebration. But these bigger challenges, of which the UN-mediated talks are but one, overshadow today's enthusiasm. The junta that freed Ms Suu Kyi has not suddenly turned altruistic. It continues to hold all the levers of power and this concession to public opinion, at home and abroad, is prompted by economic and financial necessity, not humanitarian concern. It continues to resist a return to democracy and still holds perhaps 1,500 other political prisoners. It continues to exploit its people, including children, as the ILO has reported. It still oppresses ethnic minorities and abuses their human rights. Yesterday brought the first good news in a long while. But the Burmese road remains a long one, warily travelled.