Issue link: http://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25044
You can now travel relatively freely The country is actively promoting tourism, welcoming visi tors ever since its "Visit Myanmar Year" program By staying in private guesthouses you can help bring people economic freedom, which can lead to political freedom Enlightened tourists who don't take the government-sponsored guided tour can serve as windows for the rest of the world Foreign presence makes it more diffic'ult for SLORC to carry out human rights violations A beautiful, stunning land with beautiful, stunning people . . To get informed or involved. call the National Coalition Government for the Union of Burma: 202-393-7342 melodramatic Patricia Arquette film, Beyond Rangoon. More than 3,000 people were killed during a student rebe llion on the scale of China's Tiananmen Square. While the world con demned the Chinese, no one even knew what happened in Burma. The world was not wit ness. Ten years later the doors are open. Next time journalists will be scribbling and cam eras rolling. Next time, if there is a next time, SLORC will know the world is watching. Are these reasons enough to visit Burma now? An occasional soldier. A rare checkpoint. Traveling in Burma, I felt no threat. Saw no hardship. No evidence of oppression. But it exists. In April 1997, the Clinton administra tion declared sanctions against Burma's mil itary junta for human rights violations. Unlike Cuba, the boycott on new investments does not restrict travel. Travelers to Burma must ask themselves tough questions. Will continued isolationism work when it has failed for so long? How will tourism change Burma? If they go, travelers must choose carefu lly. They must be vigilant, measuring the impact that lies in their wake. They must do the math. Who can say what is best for the Burmese? Surely only the Burmese themselves. Anything else reeks' of cultural arrogance-benevolent colonial father who loves his country but doesn't understand the language well enough to know what the people are saying. In Burma, I did not meet a single person who favored a tourism boy cott. Yet Aung San Suu Kyi urges that we stay away. Most Burmese support the Lady, among them my interpreter in Bagan, Ko Tim. But, he explains, "Because of my job, I can buy medicine for my son and books for my daughter. " On the question of tourism, he and the Lady walk a different path . Meanw'hile, the Burmese plod towards an uncertain future. By day, they find solace in the temples, earning "merit" towards a better life. In the evenings, after glancing first in both directions, they speak guardedly about politics. Their hearts swell with hope. The world is listening. III Other organizations include: Bay Area Burma Roundtable: 510-528-0653 The Burma Action Group (in London): 44-171 -359-7679 • Coalition for Corporate Withdrawal from Burma: 617-423-6655 The Free Burma Coalition: 608-263-9992 The Lawyers' Commission for Human Rights: 212-845-5200 Burma UN Office (Government-in-Exile): 212 -338-0048 Refugees International: 202-828-0110 Unitarian Universalist Service Committee: 617 -868-6600