Can't Keep a Good Protest Babe Down

Filed under: Myanmar

When the barbaric regime in Burma crushed the monks' protest march, it seemed the light of democracy was fading. But was it? Perhaps that was a face saving gesture before the regime, terrified of people power, started talking turkey. The LA Times reports:

Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi met leaders of her party for the first time in three years Friday and told them she was optimistic that a two-decade-long stalemate with the Myanmar government may be thawing, her spokesman said. Suu Kyi and three colleagues from the National League for Democracy also met with the country's labor minister, Aung Kyi, to prepare for talks with senior leaders of Myanmar's military regime. Party spokesman Nyan Win, who attended the talks, quoted Suu Kyi as saying she believed "the ruling authorities have the will for national reconciliation," according to news reports from Myanmar's main city, Yangon. The meetings are a small but significant change in the military government's dealings with Suu Kyi, who has been in detention for 12 of the last 18 years and has not been allowed to meet with her party since 2004.

The U.N.'s human rights envoy, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, has also suddenly been granted access to the country, after a four-year ban.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. And you can take it even if your ankles are in chains.