Local News in Brief : Burmese Hold Protest
About 150 Burmese residents of Southern California protested Monday outside the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles, calling for an end to the 26-year rule of the Socialist Program Party in Burma.
“We want to get rid of the military dictatorship,” said U Kyaw Win, 54, a professor at Orange Coast College who marched at the head of the demonstration.
Kyi Win, 24, a first-year medical student at UCLA, said she was protesting in solidarity with students who have been killed during three weeks of street demonstrations in Rangoon, the Burmese capital. “Anybody that dies in Burma is a brother or sister of mine,” she said.
Some protesters said they feared for the safety of their families in Burma. “We cannot communicate. They censor letters to find out who’s against the government,” said Hocklai Hwan, 52, a civil engineer from Eagle Rock. Hwan said his brother-in-law was recently jailed in Burma for opposing the government.
About 350 people participated in a similar demonstration Sunday in San Gabriel Municipal Park.
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