Pro-democracy demonstrators link arms to try to protect prominent labor activist Su Su Nway, center, from arrest (The Associated Press)
via Int'l Herald Tribune, August 30, 2007:
Myanmar junta fails to quell protests
or NYTimes:Continuing Myanmar Protests Defy Junta By SETH MYDANS
BANGKOK, Aug. 30 — Linking arms for mutual support, grim in the face of plainclothes paramilitary gangs, small groups of protesters in Myanmar have staged street demonstrations for nearly two weeks in the most sustained defiance of the country’s ruling junta in a decade.
The protests have dwindled in size since they began on Aug. 19, but to the surprise of outside analysts, they have continued to erupt in several parts of the country. They do not appear to be centrally organized and have continued despite the arrests of a number of antigovernment leaders.
[...]
The protests may also be spreading because of transmissions through the Internet of photographs and video that have slipped past government controls.
[...]
The readily accessible visual images have given the small demonstrations a disproportionate impact both abroad and at home."That's the big difference from 1988," said Mr. Mathieson, of Human Rights Watch, referring to antigovernment demonstrations that swept the country then. "The technology is completely different. Even though the military's power may be the same, the ability of the protesters to get their message around the country has grown."
The 1988 demonstrations were crushed by the military, bringing to power the current junta. Thousands of people were killed. read full article
