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| Photo: courtesy of the AP |
Today the world is celebrating the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, an icon of democracy in Southeast Asia, she has been under house arrest for much of the past 21 years. She has led the fight for democracy against the ruling junta in the country known as Burma (or Myanmar). The daughter of the general who led the county to its independence, Aung San Suu Kyi picked up the mantle of freedom and democracy after her mother's death. In 1989 she led her party, the National League of Democracy (NLD) to a landslide victory over the military junta, winning eighty-two percent of the seats in parliament all but insuring democratization of a country long denied self rule. Instead the elections were annulled by the junta and Aung San Suu Kyi has spent most of the last 21 years under house arrest. Her release marks a huge victory for democracy but must also remind everyone of how much is left to be done.
