Sunday, February 7, 2021

The Myanmar Coup

 In the ongoing coup d'état in Myanmar, the familiar site of military control returns to the country. The military has had control over Burma from 1963-2011. The first civilian government would reign after 2011 under Aung Kyi and the National Democratic Party.  However following the coup, Aung Kyi was taken to prison and it was announced the general Min Hlaing has now taken over the country. The military cited voter fraud for their reason for the coup. The more likely cause however was the weakening of the military and the unlikely possibility for the government to democratic win power thus they turned to force. 

While my overall knowledge of Myanmar or as it once was known Burma is limited. I have heard of the brutal massacres and genocide that the military have done against ethnic minorities. Even while under democratic control. The civilian government under Kyi is complicit in such actions and her Noble Peace Prize win is as much as a joke as the Saudi Arabia UN seat for women's rights. However replacing one blinded politician with a military junta will make the problem worse. I hope that bigger powers or the UN will learn the lessons from Rwanda and step in if the worse case scenario happens.


https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/06/asia/myanmar-coup-what-led-to-it-intl-hnk/index.html

Christopher Rauch

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