For Burmese Exiles, Hope Amid Turmoil

Yet the dominant emotions expressed by members of the exile community are those of sadness and worry -- sadness for the nine protesters killed and dozens wounded by Burmese security forces in weeks of unrest, and worry that the confrontation will end in another bloodbath instead of the political dialogue the demonstrators seek.

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They also describe strong feelings of bitterness toward the U.S. government for what they call a longtime policy of downplaying Burma's problems, even as the military has shot protesters, nullified elections and kept Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, under house arrest.

"The United States says this is a brutal regime, but it has never cut diplomatic ties," said Khin Win, 71, a retired Voice of America broadcaster who lives in Maryland. As a reminder of U.S. indifference, he said, he kept a framed copy of a statement by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 that says the United States was "closely watching the situation" in Burma. That was the year the military shut down the democratic opposition after an election in which opposition candidates won 81 percent of the legislative seats.

Tint, a civil engineer by training, was one of those elected to Burma's parliament in 1990. But he said he fled almost immediately after the military crackdown and spent two years hiding in the jungle with ethnic guerrillas. Then he helped set up an opposition office in Thailand but was soon forced to leave. He said he has been "stranded" in Washington ever since.

His office has only two adornments on the walls: a framed photograph of a youthful Suu Kyi, now 61, whom all opposition exiles regard as their leader, and another of her father, a Burmese independence champion who was assassinated in 1947.

Tint's boss, an elderly mathematics professor named Sein Win, holds the title of prime minister of the coalition government, but his stature comes from being a cousin of Suu Kyi and the son of a martyred independence leader. Tint said Win, currently traveling in Europe, has no ambitions for power, and the coalition has pledged to dissolve and seek elections if democracy is restored.

Tint said that many Americans do not understand how much Burmese people have suffered. "They always say, if things are so bad, why do the people keep quiet? They see the smiling faces, and they think life is normal," he said. "They don't realize that after so many killings and so much oppression, the people learned a bitter lesson."

Recently, the Bush administration has signaled its displeasure with Burma's generals, including refusing to accept any more military ambassadors, granting waivers on visa restrictions to some Burmese political refugees and tightening economic and financial sanctions on senior members of the ruling military establishment.

Exile leaders in the Washington area are hoping the United Nations will also take a tougher stance this time by approving sanctions, despite China's veto power in the Security Council. But after so many years of frustration, they said, they are realistic about global politics, the strategic unimportance of their impoverished country and the limits of collective action.

"A small country like ours is always used as a bargaining chip among big powers. I have grave concerns about how far things will have to go to convince the international community," Tint said. "We have giant neighbors, but the will of the people cannot be ignored."