The People of Burma Continue to Suffer

Der Spiegel reports that despite the cessation of street protests in the capital of Burma, the military junta is maintaining its crackdown on dissent throughout the small nation. The article has one of the few first hand accounts of the situation there and is well worth the read.

The international community has finally started talks with the military regime, but there has been little movement on the issue of preserving human rights. China remains a major stumbling block to imposing sanctions or initiating military action; from a Reuters article:

"Western countries are pushing for action by the [UN] Security Council, such as through sanctions, but veto-wielding China has said the situation in Myanmar is an internal affair and it opposes Security Council action."

This is a grave failure by the international community on the level of those in Zimbabwe, the Sudan, and Haiti. Unfortunately, there is little that can be done by the Western world at this time. My thoughts are certainly with the people of Burma, and I can only hope that increasing diplomatic pressure will help bring about a peaceful solution.