Ecosocialist.scot is reproducing below an International Appeal for Solidarity with the People of Myanmar signed by progressive and socialist organisations in the Spanish State and that we support.   It can be found in Castilian here:  https://www.anticapitalistas.org/comunicados/manifiesto-de-solidaridad-internacional-con-el-pueblo-birmano/  The statement developed out of a similar initiative in France.

INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MANIFESTO WITH THE PEOPLES OF MYANMAR

On 1 February 2021, Burma’s military (Tatmadaw) staged a coup, declared a one-year state of emergency and transferred all powers to the military junta. The Tatmadaw arrested the president, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and hundreds of elected representatives of the National League for Democracy (NLD).

Since then, the Burmese people have resisted this military coup through the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), taking to the streets and holding massive strikes which have paralysed part of the public administration, banking and businesses, demanding an end once and for all to the military power that has been in place since 1962.  Protests have also spread to most of the regions where ethnic minorities live, demanding a new federalist constitution.  In addition, the repression suffered by the Bamar (the majority ethnic group) is generating a nascent inter-ethnic solidarity movement that is quite unprecedented in Burma.

But the military junta seeks to crush democratic resistance at any cost: using war weapons against the population while occupying hospitals to prevent their treatment; employing death squads and paramilitary militias to kill civilians indiscriminately; mass arrests and torture, including the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.  So far more than 500 people have been killed, hundreds are missing and thousands detained.

The movement continues its struggle under extremely harsh conditions and intense repression.  We know that the victory of the democratic movement is possible, but the struggle will probably be long, difficult and exhausting.  That is why today, more than ever, the international and inter-nationalist support is essential, showing that the Burmese workers’ and people’s movement is not alone.  That is why we want to express:

• Our strong condemnation of the military coup and our support of the Burmese people in their struggle for self-determination under democratic rule.
• We demand an end to repression, the release of all those detained and respect for the social, political and democratic rights of all the peoples of Burma.
• We call on European companies, EU institutions and Member States to ensure the suspension of all direct and indirect supply, sale or transfer to Burma of arms, ammunition and other military and security equipment, as well as training or other military and security assistance.
• We demand that European governments and companies sever all ties with the Burmese military, including the vast network of companies that control and financially support them and on which they rely for much of their power in the country.

Furthermore, the undersigned individuals and collectives call for international financial solidarity to support the democratic struggle of the Burmese popular classes.

Our solidarity focuses on the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), which includes health workers and “generation Z” (high school youth) who were the first to reject the coup, as well as trade unionists, including those of the CTUM trade union federation, which called for the general strike on 8 February. The MDC constitutes a framework for self-organisation of the resistance that is not subordinate to the NLD. Our financial solidarity will also support groups that defend the progres-sive aspirations of national minorities and associations that have been building solidarity between the Bamar (the majority ethnic group) and the other peoples of the Union of Myanmar

SUPPORTED BY:

Adelante Andalucia – anticapitalistas – Attac espana – bng – CCOO – CUP – ecologistas en accion – EH Bildu – Euskal Sindikatua- Esquerra Republicana – Intersindical Alternativa de Catalunya – Izquierda Unida -Langile abertzallen bazordeak – Mas Pais- Movimente Assembleario de Trabajadores-as de Sanidad – Podemos