Myanmar Coup
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Hopefully, the resistance does not resort to physically challenging the military in the streets where defeat can be guaranteed assured.
But i did think that what was called a ‘silent strike’ where people stayed home was a promising tactic. In our union past i think we called it a strategy of ‘folded arms’.
General strikes are of only a limited use, a temporary advantage because working people need an income to buy food and pay rents. Empty bellies V fat wallets as James Connolly once said
Likewise, the prospect of international sanctions closing down factories will deprive employees of jobs, no matter if it is sweat-shop conditions.
I am still puzzled by the regime’s mass release of detainees. Was it a sign that the Tatmadaw is indeed divided among themselves? Or merely a logistic problem of over-crowded jails? With such a secretive elite, we might not find out.
Still they resist as children are killed.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/mar/28/fear-turns-to-fury-in-myanmar-as-children-shot-by-militaryhttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/28/thousands-flee-after-myanmar-armys-air-strikes-reports
3,000 people from Myanmar’s Karen state have fled to Thailand following air attacks, including upon a refugee camp.
It may be the development i feared might happen – the militarisation of the protests which could lead to the active intervention of outside powers if it ever escalates – but since the neighbouring countries are not very anti-coup, the risk is not too high as an effective guerilla war requires secure supply lines and i just don’t see those existing.
The General Strike Committee of Nationalities (GSCN), a main protest group, called for ethnic minority forces to help those standing up to the “unfair oppression” of the military.
“It is necessary for the ethnic armed organisations to collectively protect the people,” the protest group said.
Insurgents from different ethnic minority groups have battled the central government for decades over greater autonomy. Though many groups have agreed to ceasefires, fighting has flared in recent days between the army and forces in both the east and north.
A Karen National Union (KNU) force overran an army outpost and killed 10 people, an activist group and media said.
In the jade-mining area of Hpakant, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) attacked a police station.
In search of imaginative ways to protest, the latest is the ‘garbage strike’
People are requested to leave their garbage at busy main road intersections
Yet another ominous development which i have cautuioned against’
Three armed rebel groups in Myanmar, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army and the Arakan Army (AA), in a joint statement said if the military continued to “kill the people, we will cooperate with the protesters and fight back”
If such groups take up arms, Debbie Stothard at the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) told AFP the situation could turn into civil war.
The media likes to portray China as the Myanmar general’s guardians as it follows an already widespread anti-China narrative but here is a story of Japan’s reluctance to condemn the coup.
https://www.dw.com/en/why-is-japan-not-taking-a-firm-stand-against-myanmar-junta/a-57075373
Tokyo remains committed to engagement with the generals for several reasons, say analysts. Japan hopes that its refusal to fall in line with the rest of the international community and impose sanctions, as well as the long-standing ties with previous military governments, might still give it some sway.
One of Japan’s motivations in Myanmar, which has evolved into an important location for Japanese manufacturers to build factories and take advantage of relatively low labor costs. That policy, in turn, has helped to create a new market for Japanese products.
For Tokyo, a second and arguably more important factor behind its decision to keep lines of communication with the military junta open is geopolitical.
“Japan’s muted response to the human rights abuses in Myanmar is primarily because it does not want the military junta there to get any closer to China,” Stephen Nagy, an associate professor of international relations at Tokyo’s International Christian University, told DW.
Confirmation of ALB’s prognosis
https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-naive-optimism-threatens-myanmar-protest-movement/a-57085509
The conflict between pro-democracy protesters and the military has reached an impasse…the protest movement will not succeed if it continues to function on naive optimism…The protesters must realize that they will not receive any outside support against the military…Even if all rebel armies work together with an inexperienced protest movement, they cannot compete with the battle-tested and well-equipped “Tatmadaw”…the military has not yet used heavy weaponry against the population. Tanks or helicopters are not yet firing at protesters.
The protesters cannot win through a direct confrontation with the military…Instead of risking lives in hopeless street battles, pro-democracy supporters need to debate what small steps they can take in the long run. Instead of hoping for a quick victory, they need to work on a long-term strategy.
Flower Power
Hundreds turned out on Friday morning and laid flowers in public places to remember victims of a brutal crackdown by the country’s military junta.
https://www.dw.com/en/myanmar-protesters-hold-flower-protests-to-honor-dead/a-57085367
When the international community and the Great Powers differ
Latest news of the conflict – including images (scroll down)…
https://www.centredaily.com/news/nation-world/world/article250408971.html
The coup comes to London
The Road to Nowhere
Six truckloads of troops were deployed to quell protesters in the town of Taze. When the protesters fought back with handmade guns, knives and firebombs, five more truckloads of troops were brought in. At least 12 people were killed in a similar clash between troops and protesters on Wednesday,
It may be heroic but it is futile resistance
One of Myanmar’s leading trade union leaders has been arrested as part of escalating attacks on pro-democracy figures by the military junta. Daw Myo Aye, director of Solidarity Trade Union of Myanmar (STUM), one of Myanmar’s largest independent unions, is a central figure in the movement for workers’ rights.
From bad to worse
In the organisation’s worst-case scenario, 48.2 percent of Myanmar’s population, the equivalent of about 26 million people, could be living in poverty by 2022, compared with 24.8 percent in 2017, the UNDP said.
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