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President Barack Obama met recently with the Prime Minister of Myanmar or Burma, a country ruled for 2 decades by a military dictatorship. Burma’s elected leader Aung San Su Kyi remains under house arrest after a controversial trial earlier this year for allegedly breaking the terms of her imprisonment. The meeting between Obama and Prime Minister Thein Sein took place at the Association of South East Asian Nations or ASEAN Summit in November – a summit that the Bush administration had shunned over Burma’s human rights violations and lack of democracy. It was the first time that a US President had met with a high level official of the military junta. The Obama administration claims that 20 years of isolating the regime had not worked. However he pledged to continue US sanctions against the nation. Burma is set to hold elections next year and the US is using its clout to urge talks between Su Kyi and the ruling regime in advance of the vote. Meanwhile, ordinary Burmese continue to agitate for freedom within the framework of the police state. Since a major tropical storm hit Burma last year – Cyclone Nargis – the worst natural disaster to ever strike that country, civil society has become far more active in the storm’s wake, particularly among youth. Because formal organizations are likely to be targeted by the government, activists have learned to agitate in informal groups, using more subtle methods.

GUEST: Min is an active member of Burmese civil society. Due to security concerns we cannot divulge his real name or what he specifically does inside Burma.