[ad_1]
The United States has designated the military takeover in Myanmar as a coup, the US State Department said on Tuesday, a move that triggers restrictions on US aid to the country and could pave the way for sanctions.
The assessment comes a day after US President Joe Biden condemned the military’s impeachment of Myanmar’s civilian government and the detention of the country’s elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and other officials.
“After a review of all the facts, we considered that the Burmese military actions of February 1, after deposing the duly elected head of government, constituted a military coup,” said the spokesperson for the Department of State, Ned Price, in a Tuesday afternoon briefing. , using the old name of Myanmar.
“The United States is deeply concerned about the detention by the Burmese military of civilian government leaders, including State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi and civil society leaders,” Price said.
Under US law, Washington will now be prohibited from providing assistance to the Myanmar government.
But Price said of the $ 135 million in bilateral aid provided to Myanmar in FY2020, only “a very small portion” went directly to the government.
“We will work quickly to determine the implications for the Burmese military leaders and for their actions here, but there is a small part of this foreign aid that will actually be involved,” he said.
Threat of sanctions
On Monday, Biden said US sanctions that were lifted during Myanmar’s ten-year transition to civilian rule were under review and “appropriate steps could be taken.”
The Burmese military is already subject to US sanctions for its brutal campaign against the Rohingya ethnic minority, following a crackdown and resulting exodus in 2017 that the United Nations called “genocide.”
A US State Department official, speaking to reporters at a briefing earlier on Tuesday, said Washington would maintain humanitarian programs in Myanmar, including for the Rohingya, but “would also undertake a review wider of our aid ”to the country.
“As President Biden has said, we will take action against those responsible, including carefully reviewing our current sanctions stance with regard to Burmese military leaders and the companies associated with them,” the official said. .
The official also said Washington has not been in direct contact with Myanmar coup leaders or fallen civilian government leaders.
A widespread condemnation
The takeover of the military has been condemned by the UN and international organizations, paying particular attention to the response from China, Myanmar’s largest trading partner. China said it had “noted” the coup.
The coup sparked a bipartisan deal in the United States, with Republican Minority Leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, saying he hoped more sanctions would be imposed on the military, also known as Tatmadaw .
He added: “Congress has already given the executive the authority it really needs to quickly impose even more sanctions on the military.”
The United States has contributed $ 1.5 billion to Myanmar since 2012 to support democracy, internal peace and communities affected by violence, according to the State Department.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory in the country’s November 8 elections, but the military, which is guaranteed a quarter of the seats in parliament and has a party by proxy, cried scandal.
The military has claimed its takeover was a response to voter fraud, although there was no evidence of wrongdoing. He also said his actions were justified by the 2008 constitution, drafted by the armed forces.
[ad_2]
Source link
