Security Tight on Anniversary of Burma Uprising

RANGOON — Twenty years after millions took to the streets in a failed bid to bring down Burma's dictatorship, the prospects for change remain dim.

The mood inside the country is weary, even as activists plan to hold demonstrations worldwide on Friday to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1988 uprising. That protest has become known as the 8-8-88 uprising, because it peaked around August 8.

"I've totally lost hope that change will come through mass protests," said Min Aung, a dissident in Rangoon who marched in 1988 and again in demonstrations last year. "It's difficult to organize protests now because most of the leaders are in jail or in hiding."

Photo dated August 1988 shows demonstrators gathering in central Rangoon to protest against the government. As China celebrates the start of the Olympics on Friday with much fanfare, activists in neighboring Burma will silently mourn the bloody end of an uprising that crushed their dreams of democracy 20 years ago. (Photo: AFP)

In Rangoon, the country's largest city, the only sign of the impending anniversary was beefed-up security. Hundreds of riot police were posted at busy intersections, and others—armed with batons and tear gas canisters—patrolled in trucks.

The military regime that has ruled the country for 46 years shows no signs of collapse, despite international condemnation and economic sanctions.

US President George Bush, on a visit to neighboring Thailand Thursday, called for an end to the "tyranny" in Burma. His wife, Laura Bush, traveled to a refugee camp elsewhere in Thailand to meet with some of those who have fled Burma.

"Twenty years have gone by and everything is still the same or maybe worse in Burma," she said.

The 1988 demonstration did bring down longtime dictator Ne Win, but a new group of generals replaced him and brutally crushed the protests in September, killing an estimated 3,000 people.

The protests propelled Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of Burma's independence hero Aung San, into the political limelight, and helped found her National League for Democracy party to challenge army rule.

Elections were held in 1990, but the military refused to recognize the landslide victory of Suu Kyi's party. Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, has spent 12 of the past 19 years under house arrest.

Outside of the country, activists are planning demonstrations around the globe Friday at embassies of both Burma and China, a key ally of Burma that activists say could pressure the leadership to bring about change. The protests will also coincide with the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing.

"We urge the international community to stand united with us and deny the regime the means to continue oppressing and killing civilians," a coalition of more than 50 pro-democracy groups said in a statement.

With many leading dissidents either locked up or living abroad in exile, both activists and western diplomats in Burma say the democracy movement is short on dynamic leaders to challenge the military.

Tens of thousands took to the streets in several cities last year in the largest demonstrations since 1988, but the military crushed the protests, killing at least 13 people.

The government has promised change through a new constitution, which activists say only ensures the generals' tight grip on power.

Nyunt Hlaing, a 57-year old grocery shop owner in Rangoon, recalled with fondness how he marched for a month in 1988 and even threw stones at soldiers and put up barricades to stop their armored vehicles.

"I cannot participate the way I did in 1988. I am older now and have a family to take care of," Nyunt Hlaing said. "Those were the days, and I don't expect demonstrations of that scale to ever take place again in the country."

Burmese dissidents in Thailand, acknowledge they are at a loss as to how to bring down the regime, at least in the short term.

"A lot of people are saying, 'What has gone wrong? Where are we now?' "said Aung Naing Oo, who took part in the 1988 uprising and was among nine dissidents who met with President Bush Thursday. "Why are we still in this situation?"