Joe Biden, President of the United States, this Wednesday announced new sanctions against the generals responsible for the coup d’état in Burma (now Myanmar), including blocking access to assets valued at $ 1,000 million (€ 824 million).
“We will freeze assets in the US that benefit the Burmese government, while maintaining our support for healthcare, civil society groups and other sectors that directly benefit the Burmese people”, Biden said at a press conference at the White House, in which he announced sanctions.
The presidential order, he said, will prevent Burmese generals from accessing assets in the United States, worth about 824 million euros.
According to the American president, further sanctions will follow, targeting the coup d’état who arrested Burma’s main civil leader in early February, Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and several government party ministers and leaders, proclaiming the state of emergency, for a period of one year.
“We will identify this week a first package of sanctions and we will also impose strong export controls (…) The military must leave the power they have taken and show respect for the will of the people of Burma”, avisou Biden.
The military accused the electoral commission of failing to remedy the “huge irregularities,” which they said occurred during the November legislative elections, overwhelmingly won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). in English), in power since 2015.
Several generals from Myanmar are already under sanctions from the United States, due to violence against the country’s Muslim minority, the rohingya.
The State Department had previously announced that it will limit public aid to the Government of Myanmar. A particular focus on sanctions, the State Department said, may be US cooperation programs that indirectly benefit lower-ranking Burmese officials.
In addition to the interruption of financial aid to Burma, the US government will also make cuts in collaboration on various international aid programs.
However, all humanitarian aid – especially for Muslims rohingya – and any assistance “that directly benefits the people of Burma” will not be affected by these restrictions, the State Department said.
On Tuesday, the State Department denounced the use of force against protesters who last week protested in the streets against the military coup in Burma.
Protests in several cities were suppressed with water cannons and rubber bullets. “We strongly condemn violence against demonstrators. Everyone in Burma has the right to concentrate peacefully,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.
Monday, Ned Price indicated that Washington tried to speak to Burma’s top civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, after the coup that toppled her, but the requests were rejected.
The spokesman also said that Washington condemned the ban on demonstrations in Burma, where martial law was declared in several cities. On the other hand, the Burmese army also attacked the NLD headquarters in Rangoon on Tuesday, regardless of the United Nations’ call to end the crackdown on protesters calling for a return to institutional normality.
In a short statement on Facebook, the NLD writes that the military invested against the party headquarters and destroyed the building at around 21.30 local (15.00 in Lisbon).
The UN has condemned the “disproportionate” use of force against demonstrators contesting the recent military coup in Burma, denouncing the existence of “seriously injured” after the use of rubber and tear gas by the police.
On Monday, the Military Junta enacted martial law, after successive protests and an ongoing general strike, which is paralyzing the country, imposed a curfew in parallel and banned meetings with more than five people, as well as public speeches.
The measure, which affects several districts of Yangon, the country’s largest city and economic center, has also come into force in the regions of Mandalay, Monywa, Loikaw, Hpsaung and Myaungmya.
The United Nations Human Rights Council has scheduled a special session on Friday to address the situation in Burma, at the request of the United Kingdom and the EU, and with the support of at least 47 countries.
For its part, the UN Security Council called for the immediate release of representatives detained by the military.
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