Myanmar Sanctions

In “Clinton to Ban New Myanmar Deals, Aides Say,” (April 22), Aung San Suu Kyi is referred to as a Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition leader. She is a Nobel Peace Prize winner but she is not the “opposition leader,” she is the democratically elected president of Burma (this is the name the people prefer) currently under house arrest by the military junta known (quite ironically) as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). If anyone should be labeled as “opposition,” a good start would be the illegal military forces that are preventing the will of the people of Burma from creating a democracy.

MICHELLE DIMAS

Silverlake

* Re “Unocal May Be Liable in Myanmar Case, Judge Rules,” April 17: The ruling should be addressed, if at all, to the federal government and the United Nations and not to multinational corporations.

The judge’s ruling could have a chilling effect on multinational corporations’ activities to undertake investment in less-developed countries. The net result will be a lack of economic development and lack of movement toward democratic process in these countries. The ruling will protect the alleged violators of human rights and the environment and would harm the general population.

NAKE M. KAMRANY

Professor of Economics

Director, Program in Law

and Economics, USC