Down with the Myanmar military junta!

The International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS) unites with the workers, farmers, students, and people of Myanmar and the world in marking the anniversary of the February 1, 2021 coup d’etat by condemning the country’s military junta and the foreign powers that support it. It raises its three-finger salute to, and extends its warmest solidarity with, the people of Myanmar and their mass movements who are conducting a powerful parliamentary and armed struggle against the military junta and its superpower backers. 

The ILPS denounces the February 1 coup that removed a democratically-elected elite government and installed a brutal military junta. The junta has since carried out numerous and vicious violations of the human rights of the people of Myanmar. On the eve of the coup’s anniversary, human-rights group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners or AAPP reports that more than 1,499 people have been killed, 11,810 arrests have been made, 8,798 people are under detention, and 1,967 face arrest warrants under the junta.

Consumed by its desire to remain in power, the military junta has burned, bombed, and launched air strikes against, cities and villages across the country. In line with its mass murders, it has plunged the people of Myanmar deeper into poverty and underdevelopment and has not even pretended to provide an economic plan. It is opening up the country to foreign corporations that will plunder the country’s vast natural resources and exploit its workforce, and is strengthening various big businesses owned by its top officials.

The political and economic crisis in Myanmar has been bringing about a humanitarian crisis that affects neighboring countries. Many citizens are fleeing to India and Thailand even as, historically, residents escaping military rule have also fled to Bangladesh, Malaysia and China. This refugee crisis will definitely cause a considerable strain on the resources and social relations in the said countries. The solution can only lie in addressing the root causes of the conflict within Myanmar so that refugees can go home to their country.

We condemn the superpowers that support the military junta, China and Russia. Their support shows their imperialist ambition of strengthening their spheres of influence — even to the extent of backing  a dictatorial regime that brutalizes its people. It also shows the moribund character of the imperialist system, in which global powers take sides and intervene in conflicts that are internal to underdeveloped and sovereign countries. We likewise decry India, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines for supporting the junta.

The ILPS and the people of the world stand with the courageous and fighting people of Myanmar. We give our revolutionary salute to them, who are waging all forms of struggle against the military junta and for democracy. They are persevering in underground resistance that includes both street protests and armed struggle. The junta has unwittingly brought about the historically unprecedented unity of the country’s minority peoples, with the awareness that they have a common oppressor and must wage a common struggle.

One year after the fateful coup of February 1, the ILPS is calling on the people of the world to continue showing our solidarity with the people of Myanmar. Let us condemn the military junta and its superpower backers. We are calling on Myanmar’s neighbors and international humanitarian organizations to continue helping the refugees fleeing the country. Let us support calls for heightened sanctions and arms embargo against the junta, for a military no-fly zone in Myanmar, and a stop to the junta’s airstrike capacity against its people.

Let us continue to support the struggle of the Rohingyas and all minority peoples in Myanmar. Let us support the brave resistance of Myanmar’s working masses, youth and people.

Down with the military junta in Myanmar!
China and Russia, enablers of the fascist junta!
Stop the human rights violations in Myanmar!
Solidarity with the workers and people of Myanmar!
Long live international solidarity!

Signed by:

Len Cooper

ILPS Chairperson