- Listen to the entire program<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/p>\n
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Burmese opposition leader and longtime democracy advocate, Aung San Suu Kyi, is currently touring Europe, two years after her release from house arrest in Burma. Suu Kyi\u2019s release and world tour is part of Burma\u2019s progress from dictatorship to democracy that began in 2010. <\/p>\nIn the wake of her travel, Thein Sein, Burma\u2019s president, announced Tuesday that he plans to implement a \u201csecond wave of reforms\u201d throughout the nation focusing on economic growth. Sein hopes to attract foreign investment, improve infrastructure and reduce the state\u2019s role in the sectors of energy, finance, health care, education, and more. <\/p>\n
Aung Sun Suu Kyi was elected Prime Minister while under house arrest in 1990 \u2013 she remained in detention for 15 years while a military junta ruled the nation with an iron fist, until November 2010. As part of the transition to democracy, Su Kyi advocates caution toward Western investment. On Saturday in Norway, she delivered her long-delayed acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize awarded 21 years ago. She encouraged \u201ccautious optimism,\u201d stating, \u201cI do not want to encourage blind faith\u201d in economic reform. She emphasized the importance of labor standards and environmental responsibility for investors, while encouraging investment that profits not just foreign investors, but also the Burmese people. <\/p>\n
During her Nobel acceptance speech, Suu Kyi also called attention to political prisoners still incarcerated in her country. However, a government minister announced that President Thein Sein will release the 470 remaining Burmese political prisoners next month. Despite Burma\u2019s recent political and economic reforms, neither Thein Sein nor Suu Kyi has addressed to any great extent the violence and persecution directed at ethnic minorities in the country. In the past two weeks, violence between Burmese Buddhists and the Rohingya, an ethnic Muslim minority, has taken the lives of at least 50 people in Rakhine State. <\/p>\n
GUEST: Edith Mirante, human rights activist, director of Project Maje, author of Burmese Looking Glass, and Down the Rat Hole: Adventures Underground on Burma\u2019s Frontiers<\/em><\/p>\n
To read Aung San Suu Kyi’s acceptance speech, click here<\/a>. <\/p>\n