Saffron struggle

Burma | Junta crackdown continues to show despite information blackout | Priya Abraham

People march toward a temple to protest against the military government in Yangon on Sept. 25.

After five weeks of demonstrations died, it was payback time in Rangoon. Military vehicles in one pre-dawn patrol warned residents over a loudspeaker: "We have photographs. We are going to make arrests!" So far, Burma's 45-year military junta has kept its word.

This month's pro-democracy protests are the first since Burmese challenged the junta in 1988. Adding new technology to their arsenal, the well-organized opposition broadcast their "Saffron Revolution" across the world. Video, photographs, and live web reports streamed out until the junta blocked internet and phone access.

Since then, it has been harder to glean new information from Burma. What is clear, however, is that the government's crackdown is continuing. Vendors and traffic were back on Rangoon's streets, but some Buddhist monks crammed the city's main train station, apparently ordered back to their villages. U.S. embassy officials visited 10-15 monasteries and found some chillingly empty. "Where are the monks? What was happened to them?" asked Shari Villarosa, the top American diplomat in Burma, in a press interview.