Brown's Red Day

Leading Watson Figures Support Student Rally against Violence in Myanmar/Burma

Xu Wenli, in symbolic red, with Lincoln Chafee and demonstrators in the background
9.28.07 - Four of Watson's leading voices on world affairs lent their support on Friday to a Brown student rally protesting oppression in Myanmar/Burma: Former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former US Sen. Lincoln Chafee '75, UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Myanmar Paolo Sèrgio Pinheiro, and noted Chinese dissident Xu Wenli. Each took turns speaking before a gathering of over 100 students organized by the Brown Chapter of the US Campaign for Burma.

Cardoso promised to bring the Burmese protestors' plight before the Club of Madrid, an organization of former presidents whose mission is to promote democracy. Cardoso, a Brown professor at large based at Watson, is a past president of the Club, and the current Club president is Ricardo Lagos, who is also arriving at Watson this month as a professor at large.

Sen. Chafee, a distinguished visiting fellow, said the United States government should play a more meaningful role in the country, where the military government's response to peaceful protests has escalated in its violence in recent weeks.

Pinheiro, a visiting professor, told the crowd he would take their message to a special session being called by the UN on Myanmar/Burma next week in Geneva. Pinheiro has been at the center of multilateral attempts to stem the violence.

Watson Senior Fellow Xu – wearing the color red, as the students did, to show solidarity – condemned the government of China for blocking UN measures to apply pressure to the Myanmar government.

Student rally leader Andrew Lim underscored the power of the Internet and other media to break through to the protesters in-country, "showing that the American people are in solidarity… and one day, we can say we helped overthrow this terrible regime."

Read more on Pinheiro's work on this issue here.