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 02 RANGOON 000253 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND EAP/PD; PACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/20/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KPAO BM NLD
SUBJECT: AMERICAN CENTER HELPING NLD EDUCATE ACTIVISTS AND 
GET ITS MESSAGE OUT 
 
Classified By: PAO Todd Pierce for Reasons 1.4 (b.d) 
 
¶1.  (C)  Summary: our American Center (AC) in Rangoon has 
attracted extra attention from both pro-democracy activists 
and the ruling regime as our programs reach more people. 
Representatives from Burma's National League for Democracy 
(NLD) contact the AC daily and regularly use our Information 
Resource Center to learn more about what is happening inside 
and outside the country.  Last week, the GOB ordered several 
local papers to run articles naming course participants and 
accusing them of being traitors for attending AC classes. 
Despite this unwanted attention, the courses continue and 
post works closely with NLD in establishing a new distance 
education course for 120 activists living outside Rangoon. 
Post also offers badly needed media training to the NLD's 
Information Committee to help them get their message out to 
broader audiences.  End summary. 
 
Under Pressure 
-------------- 
 
¶2.  (C)  During the week of February 13-17, two private 
weekly journals (The Yangon Times and 7-Day Weekly) had to 
run articles from the Information Ministry which assailed NLD 
members for attending courses in "human rights and political 
English" at the American Center and British Council.  The 
articles identified NLD attendees by name.  The editors of 
both papers called the PAO on February 16 to apologize for 
the articles, saying that the government insisted that they 
be run. 
 
¶3.  (C)  The courses in question cover democracy, human 
rights, and current affairs and have been a bee in the ruling 
generals' bonnet for several years.  They began at both the 
AC and British Council in 2003 at the behest of Aung San Suu 
Kyi.  In July 2005, the GOB abruptly cancelled the visa of 
the Amcit teacher running the AC course as she left Rangoon 
airport for a brief vacation.  She made regular personal 
visits to NLD headquarters, which is under constant GOB 
scrutiny. An Embassy spouse with a diplomatic visa now serves 
as the course instructor. 
 
¶4.  (C )  The recently planted articles understandably 
spooked the older NLD members, some of whom saw them as a 
harbinger that they would be arrested again.  They have 
decided to lay low for a few weeks and not attend AC 
activities.  But the articles have had no effect on younger 
party members, who continue to visit the American Center in 
droves, or on the crowds of students and other library 
patrons without close political ties.  The AC's open house in 
January drew almost 1,000 Burmese eager to learn about what 
we have to offer. 
 
Distance Education Courses on Democracy and Human Rights 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶5.  (C)  NLD Deputy Spokesman U Myint Thein told PAO in 
December that NLD members who have taken the course at the 
American Center now use the class materials, particularly the 
StreetLaw publications "Democracy for All" and "Human Rights 
for All," to develop two three-month-long correspondence 
courses for NLD activists living outside Rangoon.  One of the 
better English speakers at NLD translated the materials from 
English to Burmese on his own, and several others added 
examples from recent Burmese political history.  Several 
graduates of the AC course act as teachers, and the modules 
are mailed to students spread out throughout Burma via the 
Burmese postal service. 
 
¶6.  (C )  This new correspondence class demonstrates NLD's 
continuing ingenuity at circumventing the regime's 
restrictions, and provides a great way for us to get material 
on post's priority issues to NLD activists throughout the 
country.  The NLD has a much greater knowledge of who's who 
outside of Rangoon than we do, and they can spread our 
democracy and human rights information much more discreetly 
than we can.  The AC course we offer to NLD leaders has, 
almost accidentally, now become a very effective "train the 
trainers" exercise (UNAIDS provides NLD with material for a 
similar course on HIV/AIDS prevention which then gets 
disseminated to many of the same people via the postal 
system). 
¶7.  (SBU)  We also try to reach out to political activists in 
other ways.  Former political prisoners eagerly signed up for 
a newly launched political science book club.  Eleven bright 
students with no hope of admission to a Burmese university or 
studying abroad due to their political ties are now earning 
degrees through an Indiana University distance education 
program, funded by ESF funds and hosted at the center. 
 
Meet the Press 
-------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  Post has also helped NLD reach the international 
media more effectively.  The GOB has allowed a few more 
foreign journalists to visit Burma this year than in the 
past, when almost all were denied visas.  In the past four 
months, Amy Kazmin of "Financial Times" and Alan Sipress of 
the "Washington Post," received 10-day journalist visas. 
These correspondents, and others visiting the country under 
tourist visas, told us that they had trouble meeting with 
senior NLD spokesmen and leaders, and when they did speak to 
them, they got contradictory messages.  Amy Kazmin told the 
PAO that NLD officials refused her request for a meeting 
"because it was on a weekend."  Some felt that the NLD had 
missed opportunities to make effective statements when the 
Global Fund withdrew funding for Burma and when the GOB 
suddenly announced its move to Pyinmana. 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  Given the advanced age of many senior party 
officials and the regime's tight restrictions on NLD 
activities, it is not surprising that they sometimes have 
trouble getting their messages into international media. 
Recognizing this problem, NLD senior spokesman U Lwin 
recently set up an Information Committee with four able 
members, all eager to do a better job of informing the world 
about NLD activities.  In January, the PAO led a three-hour 
workshop on "Working with Western Media" for the committee, 
asking them to come up with press statements about various 
past and future events.  The workshop covered the Global Fund 
announcement in August 2005, and hypothetical future 
scenarios such as a strengthening of international sanctions, 
the death in custody of NLD members, the release of Aung San 
Suu Kyi or U Tin Oo, and other themes. 
 
¶10.  (C)  The workshop was the first time committee members 
had ever had such training.  At the end of the program, the 
PAO presented them with an email distribution list of all 
Western electronic and print media correspondents based in 
Bangkok and Singapore, and another list with email addresses 
of NGOs working on the Burma issues in Asia, Europe and 
America.  Over the past month, NLD has used these lists to 
get their message out much more quickly and to much wider 
audiences than ever before.  The NLD spokesman made more 
focused comments in late January when the ruling regime's 
sham National Convention adjourned than those the party had 
made in the past.  Post plans to run the workshop again in 
the near future to address additional scenarios and to test 
whether the mailing work well.  The GOB blocks access to many 
web-based email service providers, but savvy computer users 
in Burma can get around most obstacles using proxy servers. 
 
¶11.  (C)  COMMENT: Despite the unwelcome recent attention 
from the regime, the AC's course for NLD's current and future 
parliamentarians advances, and our work with the NLD remains 
robust.  We can take some credit for the quality and 
usefulness of what we provide, but real credit goes to the 
rank-and-file NLD party members who continue to attend our 
lectures, visit our library, take our English classes, and 
spread information to wider circles in Burma in the face of 
regime threats and harassment.  Yet we must turn away many 
more who are interested in our programs.  To meet the demand, 
we have proposed expanding our programs to Mandalay, where we 
already own property, and ultimately moving the current 
American Center into larger premises.  While expanding our 
programs, we must also do so quietly to avoid additional 
scrutiny or harassment.  End comment. 
VILLAROSA