Myanmar activists are calling for a confrontation with the army’s billion-dollar empire

The United States imposed sanctions on the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, General Min Aung Hlaing, and five other members of the State Administration Council. This means that more than a billion dollars in assets will be frozen in the United States. But since sanctions have already been imposed on these high-ranking officers for their role in the trial of the Rohingya minority, the question is how much this will help.

‘Unwritten rule’

“America is not on the list of the most important trading partners,” says reporter Cass. “Army conglomerates mainly work with companies from countries that have fewer fundamental problems with undemocratically elected regimes. In addition, the unwritten rule applies in this region: Do not interfere in internal affairs.”

It is precisely this argument that China’s most important trading partner has used today. At the specially scheduled meeting of the UN Human Rights Council, the ambassador said that what is happening in the Southeast Asian country is a “fundamentally domestic issue.”

Together against Tadmadaw

External pressure or not: The protesters are not giving up. “It will not be easy, as in the past, for the army to keep power,” said Myanmar expert Mike Matelsky. According to her, this is evident from the ongoing mass demonstrations and the various groups of participants.

Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, students, teachers, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people, health workers, civil servants and factory workers; In the two largest cities, they are demonstrating together against the coup. “You can see that many underrepresented groups are making their voices heard,” says Matelsky. There’s always been a split, but a new generation thinks they can really make a difference.