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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 military for the coup, calling it a “direct assault on the country’s transition to democracy and the rule of law.” The coup in Myanmar, also known as Burma, has also been strongly condemned internationally.
“The United States has lifted sanctions on Burma over the past decade based on progress towards democracy,” Biden said in a statement. “Reversing this progress will require an immediate review of our sanctions laws and authorities, followed by appropriate action. The United States will defend democracy wherever it is attacked.
Myanmar has been a project for promoting Western democracy for decades and has been a symbol of some success. But in recent years, there have been growing concerns that it is returning to authoritarianism. Disappointment with Suu Kyi, the former opposition leader, has been high, especially given his resistance to stem the crackdown on Rohingya Muslims in the west of the country.
Myanmar was emerging from decades of strict military rule and international isolation that began in 1962, and Monday’s events were a shocking fall from power for Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her work promotion of democracy and human rights.
She had lived under house arrest for years as she tried to push her country towards democracy, then became its de facto leader after her National League for Democracy won the 2015 election.
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