Burma Cyclone

Packages sent in from international aid groups are finally being handed out to people in Burma – but with the names of Burmese generals scribbled on top of them. It seems that the catastrophe in Burma is being turned into an opportunity for pro-junta propaganda, writes the German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

In the midst of this natural disaster, the people of Burma were to vote for a referendum that according to opposition leaders is meant to further strengthen the junta’s military rule this Saturday. The elections were postponed only in Yangon and in the Irrawaddy-Delta.

On the day of this election, television stations continuously broadcast footage of military officials handing out aid to victims of the catastrophe, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung reports. One clip shows a box on which general lieutenant Myint Swe’s name was covering up a smaller label that read “help from the kingdom of Thailand”.

Read the entire article (in German) here.

-Lam