Sunday, December 4, 2011

Video: Secretary Clinton's Remarks to Press in Rangoon

This is a couple of days old, but Mme. Secretary makes some important summary points on the last day of her visit to Burma. She had met with ethnic minorities and civil society leaders previously.

 

Press Conference in Yangoon, Burma


Press Conference
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Reuters/AP Soundbite
Yangoon, Burma
December 2, 2011



"There can be no true peace or justice until it is shared by everyone, in every part of this beautiful, diverse country. And while there has been some progress in political and social matters, particularly here in Rangoon, terrible violence continues elsewhere, especially in some of the ethnic nationality areas, which, in addition to the continuing conflicts, suffer from unacceptably high rates of poverty, disease and illiteracy."
“We are prepared to go further if the reforms maintain momentum, but history teaches us to be cautious. We know that there have been serious setbacks and grave disappointments over the last decades. And we want to see a sustainable reform effort that produces real results."
"We will match action for action, and if there is enough progress, you know, obviously we will be considering lifting sanctions, but as I said before we are still at the very early stages of this dialogue."
"We want to see all political prisoners released, we want to see a serious effort at peace and reconciliation, we want to see dates set for the election."