President Obama announced Friday that he will send Secretary of State Hillary
President Obama announced Friday that he will send Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the repressed country early next month, the first official in her position to visit in more than 50 years.
“We want to seize what could be an historic opportunity for progress and make it clear that if Burma continues to travel down the road of democratic reform, it can forge a new relationship with the United States of America,” Obama said Friday during his diplomatic mission to southeast Asia.
In deepening his engagement with Burma, also known as Myanmar, the president first sought assurances from democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. She spent 15 years on house arrest by the nation’s former military dictators but is now in talks with the new civilian government about reforming the country.
The two spoke by phone on Thursday night while Obama was flying to Bali on Air Force One, a senior administration official said.
The administration sees Clinton’s visit as a sign of success for Obama’s policy on Burma, which was outlined in 2009 and focused on punishments and incentives to get the country’s former military rulers to improve dire human rights conditions. The U.S. imposed new sanctions on Burma but made clear it was open to better relations if the situation changed.
“After years of darkness, we’ve seen flickers of progress in these last several weeks,” Obama declared Friday.
Still, Obama said he has deep concerns about Burma’s human rights record, treatment of ethnic minorities and closed nature of its society. Clinton’s mission is to explore what the United States can do to support progress on political reform, individual rights and national reconciliation, the official said.
Officials said Clinton would travel to Burma Dec. 1.
Love to see Obama deepening the ties with Asia