WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden on Monday threatened new sanctions against Myanmar after his army staged a coup and arrested the civilian leaders of his government, including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Biden attacked the country’s army for the coup and called it a ‘direct attack on the country’s transition to democracy and the rule of law’. The coup in Myanmar, also known as Burma, has also been condemned internationally.
“The United States has removed sanctions against Burma over the past decade based on progress toward democracy,” Biden said in a statement. ‘The reversal of progress requires an immediate review of our sanctions laws and authorities, followed by appropriate action. The United States will stand up for democracy, wherever it is attacked. ”
Myanmar has been a Western democracy promotion project for decades and has been a symbol of success. But in recent years, there has been growing concern about the decline in authoritarianism. Disappointment with Suu Kyi, the former opposition leader, was in full swing, especially over her resistance to the oppression of Rohingya Muslims in the west of the country.
Myanmar emerged from decades of strict military rule and international isolation beginning in 1962, and Monday’s events were a shocking fall in power for Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her work for democracy. and promote human rights.
She lived under house arrest for many years when she tried to push her country towards democracy and when she became the de facto leader after winning her National League for Democracy elections in 2015.