RANGOON — Activists in Burma’s two largest cities took to the streets on Thursday to show their solidarity with farmers affected by the Letpadaung copper mining project, demanding justice for 56-year-old woman Khin Win, who was killed during a clash with the police in December.
In Rangoon, nearly two-dozen activists gathered in front of the Maha Bandoola Park before marching to the Chinese Embassy to attempt a protest in front of the building. Their efforts were thwarted when a column of police officers blocked their way to the embassy.
Mandalay saw a relatively large demonstration when several hundred Buddhist monks, activists and farmers from nearby villages joined local protesters. The Thursday protest was the second in Mandalay related related to Letpadaung in the last two weeks.
In both cities, protestors requested the Burmese Government and Wanbao, the Chinese mining firm operating the project in a joint venture, to follow the instructions from the Letpadaung Investigation Report, provide justice for the woman killed during protests and stop fencing farmland in the vicinity of the mine.3
