The Generals of Myanmar have decided to reassert their authority in a coup. It is questionable if they ever really let go of power in the first place. Keeping Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for 15 years was embarrassing after she won the Nobel Prize. They allowed free elections and she easily won, but the new constitution enabled the army to retain most of the power. She is a puppet president for a facade government hiding a military regime.

Aung San was answering questions to the UN about human rights abuses against the Rohingya (past post). It was apparent she wasn’t really the one in charge. So was the coup really a coup (Polygraphinfo)? The military already has the authority. They could be slowing down the “transition” to pure democracy or trying to scare people into obedience. In the latter case there may be a smell of revolution in the air, from civilians or ambitious younger officers.

Myanmar, like some other smaller Asian Marxist nations, is a satellite of China. The PRC has held economic control over the nation. Keeping it in turmoil and run by dictators created a dysfunctional watch dog for part of it’s southern border. CNBC wonders if US sanctions could push them politically back toward dependence on Beijing.

The real question is did they ever really leave the fold? I doubt it. The timing is suspiciously close to the take over of Hong Kong (South China Morning Post), questions about human rights in Xinjiang Province (The Guardian) and the WHO investigation into the origin of the Covid 19 virus (Sydney Morning Herald).

Related (Remember Cienfuegos?)