This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RANGOON 001449 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/29/2015 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL SOCI SNAR EAID ECON BM NLD
SUBJECT: REGIME'S DESTRUCTIVE ATTEMPTS TO CORRUPT YOUTH AND 
COERCE PARTY SUPPORT 
 
Classified By: APAO K. Penland for reasons 1.4 (b,d). 
 
¶1. (C)  SUMMARY:  On Dec. 22, Charge Villarosa hosted a small 
gathering of high-level NLD women (including four MPs) 
representing Rangoon, Mandalay and Mogok cities, Bago 
Division, Karen State, Shan State, and Mon State.  The Charge 
arranged the meeting to gather information on the situation 
outside Rangoon and to establish contacts that will serve as 
a foundation for the Charge's future travels.  The NLD 
matriarchs, some who had snuck out of their homes, covertly 
boarded trains for Rangoon, and shook the Burmese secret 
police assigned to tail them, shared their tales of 
government destruction in their region and encouraged the 
Charge to come and witness for herself the government's 
corruption of youth, coercion of party support, and 
destructive economic policies.  The regime is "systematically 
destroying and destabilizing young people," stated the Mogok 
representative.  The women all agreed that the regime used 
prostitution, gambling and drugs as tools to degrade and 
distract the youth of Burma. 
 
¶2. (C)  The NLD high-level representatives also took the 
opportunity to encourage U.S. pressure at the U.N. and with 
ASEAN.  The representative from Mon State stated that the 
Malaysian Foreign Minister's precondition for a visit, that 
Aung San Suu Kyi be released, is not enough.  Suu Kyi must 
also be permitted to take an active role in the nation's 
politics, she said.  If Suu Kyi is not allowed to 
participate, said the Mon representative, it would be a big 
loss.  The Charge told the women that the U.S. would continue 
to press for national reconciliation that includes Suu Kyi 
and "all members" of the country and political process.  The 
Charge also denounced the National Convention as a "sham," 
ridiculing the process for not allowing debate, questions, or 
full political participation.  "You very much need a new 
government that serves the people rather than the people 
serving the government," said the Charge. END SUMMARY 
 
Regime Encourages Prostitution, Gambling & Drug Abuse 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
¶3. (C)  The Karen State MP said that the HIV/AIDS problems in 
her state were very severe.  She said the Global Fund never 
reached Karen State.  (The NLD women said 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 is heightening the appeal 
of the festivities by encouraging the cease-fire group DKBA 
to supply brothels and prostitutes at the festivals, said the 
Karen State MP.  She said the easy supply and accessibility 
to prostitutes is causing an explosion of HIV infections. 
The MP said of 20 students tested for HIV in the Karen State, 
12 tested positive for the disease.  The MP 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 the Karen state is 
extremely problematic, noting that Medicines Sans Frontiers 
is going to withdraw from Burma because it received no 
government cooperation in accessing the Karen and Mon states. 
 
¶4.  (C) The NLD leader from Mogok also said that HIV/AIDS is 
rampant in her region, though not as bad as it is in Karen 
State.  She said the youth in her city are corrupted by 
regime-encouraged gambling.  For 200,000 kyat (less than 200 
U.S. dollars), an entrepreneur can bribe or buy a "lease" 
from the government to operate a gambling facility.  She said 
the gambling institutions degrade the morals of the youth, 
destroy their desire for an education, and leave no room for 
thoughts about politics.  The women all agreed that gambling 
was a big problem throughout the country.  (NOTE:  From the 
last King of Burma who created a lottery system in Mandalay 
to present day department stores that offer weekly prizes for 
their patrons (the more you spend, the more tickets you 
receive), lotteries are a pervasive part of Burmese culture. 
In downtown Rangoon, gaming rooms accessible by the most 
common person provide video gambling games at which people 
can win and lose real money). 
 
¶5.  (C) Drug abuse is the third distraction the regime is 
actively encouraging in a ploy to steer the youth away from 
politics, said the NLD women.  The Mogok representative said 
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 confiscated by police is simply sold back on 
the street by the authorities for a lower price. 
 
Regime's Backward Policies Destroy Farms and Families 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
¶6. (C)  The Bago representative said that the regime's spate 
of dam building has been extremely detrimental to farmers in 
the region.  During the rainy season, when the dams are not 
needed to conserve water, the regime opens the dams and flood 
surrounding villages and cities.  The regime is also strict 
in their demands that farmers cultivate only rice, said the 
leader from Bago.  When farmers deviate from the planned 
agriculture to grow beans or watermelon, crops well-suited 
for the region, the regime opens a nearby dam and floods the 
offending crops out, she said.  The Bago representative added 
that the farmers are willing to risk the ruination of 
non-sanctioned crops because rice, which they are instructed 
to grow, does not provide sufficient profit -- especially 
after being forced to buy fertilizer and petroleum from the 
government.  The Mogok representative said most people in the 
city support the NLD because of the government's intervention 
in agriculture, the few civil officials stationed in the city 
to respond to the citizens' needs, and the gem-mining 
concessions given to the Wa (who allegedly traffic drugs into 
the city). 
 
¶7.  (C)  In Chaung Son, an island in Mon State, many Burmese 
are forced to migrate to Thailand for work, sometimes in 
commercial sex work, to raise enough money to support their 
families, according to the Mon representative.  Often, 
parents are forced to leave their children to fend for 
themselves for seasons at a time, the older siblings looking 
after the younger.  She said the government does not address 
the root cause of the problem, but simply erects slogans 
discouraging trafficking and migration into Thailand.  The 
representative suggested a domestic cottage industry program 
would be extremely helpful in assisting the Chaung Son 
residents in becoming self-sufficient. 
 
USDA Increasingly Trying to Identify Itself as an NGO 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
¶8.  (SBU)  Currently the USDA is calling itself an NGO, 
though the public is far from fooled, according to the NLD. 
During a recent fire in Rangoon in which a purported 2,000 
homes burned to the ground, USDA encouraged concerned 
citizens to donate through USDA.  (NOTE:  According to one 
Burmese observer, fire trucks were first seen responding to 
the scene without water, then had to leave and bring back 
water to begin fighting the flames with an old-fashioned 
"bucket brigade."  Following the tragedy, the regime posted 
military at the site to prevent looting.  The regime also 
closed the site off entirely from view, and an AmCit who 
attempted to observe the burn site was dissuaded by the 
military.) 
 
¶9.  (C) The Bago representative said that the USDA recently 
offered micro-credit loans to the public.  However, she said, 
as soon as people became organized to accept the loans, USDA 
wanted applicants to join USDA and pay a fee for accepting 
the loan.  While this scheme failed, USDA successfully 
coerces party membership in other ways.  According to the 
NLD, USDA waives the school fees for poor people who join the 
regime party.  In addition, the USDA forces the top ten 
students of each school to join the party, according to NLD. 
These students receive an assortment of privileges such as 
domestic scholarships.  (In one of the saddest examples of 
USDA coercion, the party forced its members to pay for USDA 
party member uniforms that were never provided.) 
 
NLD Cut Off From NGOs and Social Life 
------------------------------------- 
¶10.  (SBU)  Meanwhile, 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, say the NLD women.  Therefore, NLD members are 
shunned by NGOs and religious associations.  The NLD says 
that if an NLD member attends a wedding or a funeral, the 
most basic of social functions, following the event, the 
regime is likely to make trouble for the relatives of the 
wedded couple or the deceased.  The Karen representative said 
that although NLD cannot work openly with NGOs, she quietly 
receives information from them. 
 
¶11.  COMMENT:  While none of the information in itself 
offered by the NLD members can be considered surprising, it 
is none the less galling that a government has so little 
respect, and feels absolutely no sense of obligation, for the 
welfare of its people.  The information taken together paints 
a gruesome picture of a regime that is targeting its youth 
for degradation and destruction.  An enemy government could 
not be much more cruel to the Burmese people than its own 
currently reining regime.  It is clear that the regime gets 
away with these atrocities by restricting the flow of 
information between regions and dissident parties.  This 
underscores the importance of the U.S. Mission to gather 
information outside Rangoon, establish a presence in 
Mandalay, and assist dissidents in networking and accessing 
information.  END COMMENT. 
VILLAROSA