Image source: tribuneindia.com
US President Joe Biden has announced a series of sanctions on the military leaders of Myanmar in response to their recent action to overthrow a democratically elected leadership in a coup.
Tens of thousands have turned out in street protests against the February 1 coup, which overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government in the South East Asian country, despite a recent ban on large gatherings and a night curfew.
“Today I’m announcing a series of actions that we’re taking to begin imposing consequences on the leaders of the coup. The US government is taking steps to prevent the generals from improperly having access to the $1 billion in Burmese government funds held in the United States,” Biden told reporters at the White House on Wednesday.
In his first public address on the situation in Myanmar, which the US and several other western countries continue to call it by its previous name of Burma, Biden demanded that military must relinquish the power it seized and demonstrate respect for the will of the people of Burma as expressed in their November 8th election.
Biden said he has approved a new executive order enabling US to immediately sanction the military leaders who directed the coup, their business interests, as well as close family members.