Juventud Rebelde
July 2, 2005
A greater prey in its sights
Myanmar, that impoverished country in Southeast Asia, is ungovernable and a juicy opportunity for the White House to start thinking of its accustomed “saving interventions”
http://www.jrebelde.cubaweb.cu/2005/julio-septiembre/jul-2/una_presa.html
by Nyliam Vázquez García



When Chris Wemmer, biologist of the Smithsonian National Institute in Washington D.C., was called before the United States Congress to explain his illegal use of federal funds in Myanmar, he was dumbfounded. The scientist was working since 1997 in the development of a park to protect valuable species in danger of extinction in the Burmese jungles. He couldn’t understand what benefits the military junta, installed in Rangoon, could want with a few white rhinoceri and Bengal tigers.

If tigers could talk, perhaps they would ask Mr. Bush what protection of the environment has to do with the political problems troubling that small and isolated nation of Southeast Asia. But the animal surely would not get a coherent answer, even when the objectives surrounding the former Burma are very clear according to the attempted geopolitical reorganization of the world designed by Washington.

Myanmar, that impoverished country, is going through a critical absence of governance that is very dangerous for peace in the region offering the perfect opportunity for the White House to begin thinking about one of its accustomed “saving interventions”.

Preparing the ground becomes a strategy. Increased pressures to strengthen the international isolation of Myanmar has reached ridiculous levels forcing humanitarian and environmental organizations to abandon their work in the natural reserves of that nation.

This is nothing new. Since 1990, when the military junta refused to acknowledge the election victory of the opposition and jailed its charismatic leader, Peace Nobel laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar has faced repeated accusations of failing to respect the election results and for massive violations of human rights and political freedom.

The government headed by General Than Shwe who held on to his power, repeatedly ignored the calls of the international community and punitive measures of the U.S. and the European Union. However, the dangerous split in unity of the National Army, noteworthy since mid-October, has contributed to endanger the tense situation.

For its part, Washington continues with its escalation. Last May 18, President Bush renewed sanctions on the Burmese government, describing it as “an extraordinary threat, permanent and unusual, to the foreign policy and national security of the United Sates” and included the name of the country in his list of “vanguard tyrannies”.

The geographic position of Myanmar is of key importance to understanding White House' interest in that part of the world. The former Burma shares a long border with China; consequently, controlling the southern demarcation can become the cornerstone of the U.S. strategy of “contention” of the Asian giant, primarily because it is the only waterway from Beijing to the Indian Ocean.

However, countries such as China and Malaysia, previous allies of Rangoon, have criticized the Burmese military regime. Their reasons are very different.

The position of Malaysia, current president of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is due to the need to save the prestige of the organization it is leading, and of which, Myanmar is a member state. For its part China – the main commercial and military partner of the Burmese government – has begun withdrawing its support in an attempt to prevent an internal civil upheaval that would give Washington the ideal pretext to intervene in the region. This would give reality to the United States dream of having troops on the border territory of the Asian giant.

Like an efficient predator, Bush knows how to play his interests although he would have to question his most notable scholars such as the scientist, Chris Wemmer.

While the white rhinoceros and Bengal tiger may be at the mercy of illegal hunters, the government of the cowboy has his sights aimed at this enticing prey.