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President Joe Biden has a range of economic options: from imposing targeted sanctions on individual military leaders to broader sanctions that hit industrial sectors or businesses under military control. Visa restrictions are also a way of putting pressure on generals, as such sanctions can be applied to the families of those affected – a blow to Myanmar military officials who, for example, may have children who wish to study in United States.
The difficulty lies in figuring out how to squeeze military officials – many of whom have few financial accounts in the United States – without harming the civilian population. Another way Biden could influence Myanmar is to impose “secondary sanctions” that penalize non-Americans doing business in Myanmar. This would have the effect of causing many non-US foreign companies to avoid the country.
U.S. officials, including General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have attempted to join their counterparts in Myanmar, also known as Burma. But according to information so far provided by US officials, there has been no chance of reaching key figures, including deposed de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is among the detainees.
“A very small circle of Burmese military leaders have chosen their own interests over the will and well-being of the people,” a State Department official said on a call with reporters on Tuesday. “We will continue to stand alongside the Burmese people.”
The United Nations Security Council, meanwhile, held a session to discuss Myanmar on Tuesday, but there were divisions over how to proceed between Western countries and China, which is Myanmar’s largest trading partner. and at times protected him on the world stage.
Britain, as President of the Security Council, urged members of the group to “condemn the military coup” and express “deep concern” over the detention of Myanmar civilian leaders, including Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, and civil society, according to a draft text obtained from POLITICO. A tense debate Tuesday morning dragged on after China asked for an extension, and ultimately ended without a deal.
“There is always hope,” said a national ambassador to the Security Council. “Some countries say they still don’t have instructions (from their national capitals), but the work continues.”
Myanmar’s generals staged the coup on Monday, as the country’s newly elected parliament was due to meet for its first session. The military, which ruled Myanmar for decades before allowing some civilian-led democracy in recent years, alleged there was fraud in the country’s November elections, which were won overwhelmingly. majority by Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy.
The coup is a major foreign policy crisis that Biden faces just days after taking office. Biden, who is committed to promoting democracy and human rights around the world, denounced the takeover and said his administration was considering imposing sanctions on the Asian country.
State Department officials who confirmed the coup decision – a legal process that can take some time – said on Tuesday they were in contact with partner and allied countries over the situation in Myanmar .
The United States will work with these other countries “to uphold respect for democracy and the rule of law in Burma, as well as to promote the accountability of those responsible for reversing Burma’s democratic transition,” he said. said a State Department official.
At the request of the White House, Milley contacted his Burmese counterpart, Min Aung Hlaing, now Myanmar’s de facto leader and commander-in-chief of Myanmar’s armed forces. However, Milley’s attempts to reach Min Aung Hlaing were unsuccessful, according to his spokesman, Col. Dave Butler.
Milley does not have a direct line to his Myanmar counterpart, but has contacted the defense attache at the Myanmar consulate in Washington, DC, according to a defense official.
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