The military that ran Myanmar for decades will continue to play a major role in the country, said the former general who has presided over the transformation of a nation that only three years ago was considered one of the world’s most repressive.MONYWA, Myanmar – Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has met with rare public scorn as she tried to justify an official report endorsing a copper mine in northwestern Myanmar that is opposed by many local residents.
Suu Kyi traveled to the Monywa township on Wednesday to talk with protesters about the report, issued by a commission she led that investigated the Letpadaung mine’s operations and a police crackdown on protesters that left scores of people badly injured.
The report, made public Tuesday, said honoring the mining contract with a Chinese joint venture outweighed villagers’ demands that mining operations cease because of alleged social and environmental problems. It only mildly criticized police.
Villagers shouted denunciations of the report as Suu Kyi’s motorcade passed.
