Senior General Than Shwe
On Tuesday's edition of The Bryant Park Project, we wrestled with the question of whether to say "Burma" or "Myanmar." In coming days, we'll aim to give you another dose of our guest, Maureen Aung-Thwin, director of the Open Society Institute's Burma Project/Southeast Asia.
But for now, it's on to the man behind the junta, Senior General Than Shwe—he says "Myanmar." General Shwe's nation recently cracked down on some of the largest pro-democracy demonstrations there since the army took over in 1988. After the bump, we'll give you five things to know about Shwe. Feel free to add your own in the comments field.
1.) Biopic: Shwe was born on February 2, 1933 (so he's 74), and became head of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (read: head of the whole deal) in 1992.
2.) Public relations: Last year, Shwe gave control of the armed forces to General Thura Shwe Mann. A story in the Mizzima News (where reporters call it "Burma") suggests the move was a "show piece" designed to make it look as though the military was yielding some of its control. Shwe remained in charge of the renamed State Peace and Development Council.
3.) Pursuits: Shwe has been taking lessons in French cooking. Radar reports that Shwe moved the capital from Rangoon to the jungle outpost of Pyinmana, after he was spooked by a bad horoscope.
4.) Friends and enemies: Democracy activist and later Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi defeated Shwe at the polls, with an 82 percent majority, in 1990. Shwe's government refused to let her party take over and instead placed Suu Kyi under house arrest, making her case a cause celebre for human rights activists (they say "Burma"). Bonus: Corey Flintoff on Suu Kyi's continuing influence.
5) Past lives: Shwe once toiled as a postal worker.
Know more: NPR.org on the situation in Myanmar
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