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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RANGOON 000003 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/03/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL SOCI SNAR EAID ECON BM
SUBJECT: BURMESE REGIME CORRUPTS YOUTH AND COERCES SUPPORT 
 
RANGOON 00000003  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Classified By: A/PAO K. Penland for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  Charge met on Dec. 22 with NLD women leaders 
(including four Members-elect of Parliament) representing 
Rangoon, Mandalay, and Mogok cities; Bago Division; Karen 
State; Shan State; and Mon State.  The NLD matriarchs, some 
who had snuck out of their homes, covertly boarded trains for 
Rangoon, and shook the secret Burmese police assigned to tail 
them, shared their tales of regime activities that destroy 
their regions.  They encouraged the Charge to visit and 
witness for herself the government's corruption of youth, 
coercion of party support, and destructive economic policies. 
 The women all pointed to prostitution, gambling, and drugs 
as the regime's tools for systematically destroying and 
destabilizing young people.  END SUMMARY. 
 
NLD Engaged Despite the Odds 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) Senior NLD women leaders readily accepted the Charge's 
invitation to meet.  Some described how they had to sneak out 
of their homes and shake the Burmese secret police in order 
to attend.  They also demonstrated that they follow 
developments outside Burma closely, thanking the U.S. for its 
steadfast support for democracy in Burma and cautiously 
welcoming increased ASEAN pressure for reform.  They also 
encouraged continued U.S. pressure with ASEAN and at the U.N. 
 But the representative from Mon State stated that the recent 
ASEAN call for Aung San Suu Kyi's (ASSK) release is not 
enough.  ASSK must also be permitted to take an active role 
in the nation's politics.  "If she is not allowed to 
participate, it would be a big loss," she said.  The Charge 
assured the women that the U.S. would continue to press for a 
national reconciliation process that includes ASSK and "all 
members" of the body politic.  "You very much need a 
government that serves the people, rather than the people 
serving the government," the Charge said. 
 
Regime Encourages Prostitution, Gambling & Drug Abuse 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶3. (C) The Karen State MP-elect highlighted HIV/AIDS as the 
most serious problem in her state.  She said the Global Fund, 
which recently terminated its program in Burma, had never 
reached Karen State.  Others added that while the Global Fund 
was operating, the government blocked funds from reaching 
persons, and sometimes entire regions, known to be supportive 
of NLD.  The Karen State leader added that the regime 
attempts to distract the youth from current troubles by 
throwing street festivals, or "pwes."  Pwes are a beloved 
tradition in Burma, but the regime increases the appeal of 
the festivities by encouraging the pro-government Democratic 
Karen Buddhist Army  (DKBA) to supply brothels and 
prostitutes at the festivals, said the Karen State MP-elect. 
She said the easy supply and accessibility to prostitutes has 
caused an explosion of HIV infection.  She said of 20 
students tested for HIV in Karen State, 12 tested positive 
for the disease.  She stated she personally knew of three 
people from "good homes" who 
died in the last month from AIDS.  The Charge said she was 
aware that providing HIV/AIDS medical care in Karen State is 
extremely problematic, noting that one international NGO, 
Medicines Sans Frontiers-France, just announced its 
withdrawal from Burma because it received no government 
cooperation in accessing Karen and Mon states. 
 
¶4. (C) The NLD leader from Mogok, a mining town in northern 
Mandalay Division, also said that HIV/AIDS is rampant in her 
region, though not as bad as in Karen State.  She blamed the 
regime for corrupting youth in her city by encouraging 
gambling.  For 200,000 kyat (less than $200 U.S.), an 
entrepreneur can bribe or buy a "lease" from the government 
to operate a gambling facility.  She said the gambling dens 
degrade the morals of the youth, destroy their desire for an 
 
RANGOON 00000003  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
education, and leave no room for thoughts about politics. 
The women all agreed that gambling was a big problem 
throughout the country.  Lotteries are a pervasive part of 
Burmese culture, dating from the last King of Burma who 
created a lottery system in Mandalay to present day 
department stores offering weekly prizes to their patrons 
(the more you spend, the more tickets you receive).  In 
downtown Rangoon, gaming rooms accessible by ordinary 
citizens provide video gambling games at which people can win 
and lose actual currency. 
 
¶5. (C) Drug abuse is the third distraction the regime uses to 
steer the youth away from politics, according to the NLD 
women.  The Mogok representative claimed that the regime 
offers a bounty of 100,000 kyat (less than $100 U.S.) to each 
person who hooks a youth "from a good family" on drugs.  The 
Mogok leader added that methamphetamine pills confiscated by 
police immediately return to the streets and are sold by the 
local authorities at a lower price.  The women explained that 
local authorities promote gambling, drugs, and prostitution 
to also supplement their own low incomes.  The Mogok leader 
concluded that the regime is "systematically destroying and 
destabilizing young people." 
 
Regime Policies Destroy Farms and Families 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (C) The Bago representative said that the regime's spate 
of dam building has seriously damaged farming in the region. 
During the rainy season, when the dams are not needed to 
conserve water, the regime opens the dams, flooding 
surrounding villages and cities.  The regime also demands 
that farmers cultivate two crops of rice.  Farmers, however, 
prefer to plant one crop of rice followed by beans or 
watermelon, a rotation well suited for the region.  To punish 
the farmers for not following orders, the regime opens a 
nearby dam and floods the offending crops out.  The Bago 
representative added that the farmers willingly risk the 
ruination of non-sanctioned crops because rice, which they 
are instructed to grow, does not provide them sufficient 
profit -- especially after being forced to buy fertilizer and 
fuel from the government. 
 
¶7. (C) In Chaung Son, a Mon State coastal island, most 
families have at least one member who has migrated to 
Thailand for work, sometimes as commercial sex workers, to 
raise enough money to support their families.  Often, parents 
leave their children to fend for themselves for seasons at a 
time, the older siblings looking after the younger.  The Mon 
representative said the government does not address the root 
cause of the poverty in the region, but simply erects 
billboards discouraging trafficking and migration into 
Thailand.  The representative suggested an unspecified 
domestic cottage industry program would be extremely helpful 
in assisting the Chaung Son residents become self-sufficient. 
 
USDA Strong Arms Tactics to Gain Members 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The regimes' mass-member organization, the Union 
Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), has begun 
calling itself an NGO, though according to the NLD women, the 
public is far from fooled.  During a recent fire in Rangoon 
in which an estimated 2,000 homes burned to the ground, USDA 
encouraged concerned citizens to donate through USDA. 
Unsuccessfully, said the NLD leaders, because the people knew 
the funds would likely be diverted.  (NOTE:  As an example of 
the poor state of public services, according to one Burmese 
observer, fire trucks were first seen responding to the scene 
without water, then had to leave and bring water back to 
begin fighting the flames with an old-fashioned "bucket 
brigade.") 
 
¶9. (C) The Bago representative said that the USDA recently 
 
RANGOON 00000003  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
offered micro-credit loans to the public.  However, she said, 
as soon as people became organized to accept the loans, USDA 
wanted applicants to become USDA members and pay a fee for 
accepting the loan.  Although this scheme failed, USDA 
successfully coerces membership in other ways.  According to 
the NLD, USDA waives school fees for poor people who join the 
regime organization.  In addition, the USDA forces the top 
ten students of each school to join the organization.  These 
students receive an assortment of privileges, such as 
domestic scholarships.  The organization also forced its 
members to pay for USDA member uniforms that were never 
provided.  The NLD leaders did not criticize local citizens 
who felt obligated to join, saying, especially for poor 
people and civil servants, that it was a matter of basic 
survival.  Notwithstanding the regime's attempts to portray 
the USDA as a legitimate organization representing the 
people, the NLD leaders doubted USDA has any popular support. 
 
NLD Cut Off From NGOs and Social Life 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) The NLD leaders described the sacrifices they made 
for their political activism.  Their family businesses had 
been destroyed and they were forbidden to teach.  NLD is not 
allowed to form NGOs, and any NGO or religious association 
that invites the participation of an NLD member can guarantee 
regime scrutiny and trouble, said the NLD women.  Therefore, 
NLD members are shunned by NGOs and religious associations. 
If an NLD member attends a wedding or a funeral, the most 
basic of social functions, the regime often makes trouble for 
the relatives of the wedded couple or of the deceased.  The 
Karen representative said that although NLD cannot work 
openly with NGOs, the NGOs quietly keep her informed. 
Another women explained her willingness to persevere in the 
face of steady harassment:  "The Burmese people are patient 
people.  I will continue to struggle in the hope that my 
children or grandchildren will see change." 
 
¶11. (SBU) COMMENT:  The NLD women painted a harsh picture of 
a so-called government destroying people's livelihoods, 
corrupting the youth, and demanding that citizens join an 
organization formed to control the people rather than 
represent the people.  In Rangoon, an observer sees few overt 
signs of this oppressive control, probably a combination of a 
better-informed and relatively better-off population and an 
international presence.  The levels of education and 
prosperity decline dramatically outside Rangoon and a few 
other cities.  Government restrictions keep vast expanses of 
this country off limits to foreigners.  Thus the regime and 
its strong-arm organization have free rein to impose 
arbitrary measures intended to fill their own pockets and 
maintain control rather than deliver better services to the 
public.  Is there any wonder that this regime has no public 
support and ASSK remains popular despite 10 years of 
detention?  A few brave NLD members are willing to defy the 
regime to keep hopes alive in the people for a better future. 
 END COMMENT. 
VILLAROSA