Burma is a brutal military regime, not a socialist one

The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Friday, May 23, 2008
Re: The world's most despicable socialist regime, May 17.

David Warren is wrong to call Burma a socialist regime.

In a 1988 coup, Burma's current military dictatorship replaced the previous Burmese Socialist Programme Party government, whose slogan, the "Burmese Road to Socialism," Mr. Warren mistakenly attributes to the current junta.

According to Burma Campaign UK, and other sources linked to Aung San Suu Kyi, the exiled democratically elected leader of Burma, the military junta in 1988 rejected and overturned the previous socialist government and its centrally planned economy.

It "immediately reversed 30 years of economic isolationism and welcomed foreign investment in order to build its military. Large investment is carried out through joint ventures with the military regime," according to the Burma Campaign UK.

Human Rights Watch also states that "foreign oil and gas investments shore up" the dictatorship, and that "this foreign investment provides a crucial source of support to the junta."

Clearly Burma has not been "sealed" off from capital investments.

Like the Chilean military dictator, Augusto Pinochet, who overthrew a democratically elected socialist government, and for whom Mr. Warren recently expressed his admiration, the Burmese junta has imposed a brutal military rule supported, in large part, through foreign capital.

As well as having no centrally planned economy, Burma appears to have nothing resembling a communist party structure.

Burma does not appear on published lists of communist or socialist countries.

Carol Wainio,

Ottawa

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/letters/story.html?id=386bf1fc-ca9b-4779-b052-c9d040dcd4b6



for those who want to missinform and propagate propaganda

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/columnists/story.html?id=d1dddec1-7b87-464f-952b-833653fa9abe

even though they're not even remotely 'socialist' in their ideology or administration. I've gotten into arguments with conservatroids who go so far as to attempt portraying Nazi Germany as 'socialist'...'it's right in their name!' After I set that record straight, they're not so amused when I suggest that Somalia must be their limited-government ideal :evilgrin: