4 ms·

USAID has had a minimal presence in Myanmar for years - the junta kicked them and other NGOs out under the Biden administration [0] when the coup happened and t

USAID has had a minimal presence in Myanmar for years - the junta kicked them and other NGOs out under the Biden administration [0] when the coup happened and the US sanctioned Myanmar [1]. Furthermore, whenever disasters happened in Myanmar, it would be neighboring states that did the bulk of aid work because logistics to Myanmar are tough even at the best of times. Also, I agree with Hollerith - not everything is about the US and this thread has no relevance in a conversation about Tonga. [0] - https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/12/13/myanmar-junta-blocks-lifesaving-aid https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/12/13/myanmar-junta-blocks-lif... [1] - https://www.courthousenews.com/biden-administration-kicks-up-pace-of-sanctions-for-myanmar/ https://www.courthousenews.com/biden-administration-kicks-up...

zzzeek 2y ago
here's the NYT on this exact issue https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/world/asia/myanmar-earthquake-usaid-cuts.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/world/asia/myanmar-earthq... Trump’s U.S.A.I.D. Cuts Hobble Earthquake Response in Myanmar While China, Russia and other nations have rushed emergency response teams to the devastated country, the U.S., once a leader in foreign aid, has been slow to act.
- alephnerd 2y ago
  We cut aid to Myanmar in 2021 [0][1]. There has been no official USAID presence since, especially as the US has been sanctioning Myanmar since 2021. I agree with USAID's mission, but even if Trump was not in office today, the same result would have happened. China and India have extremely close relations with the Junta and the various EAOs in Myanmar, and Russia has close ties with the Junta following our decision to sanction Myanmar in 2021 (along with a massive air force base in Cam Ranh). On the other hand, the US has not had a similar presence in ASEAN since the 1990s. No western nation has provided aid for this very reason. Yet the NYT article skirts around this issue. 3 USAID advisors is not going to turn the tables when both China and India have deployed hundreds of military personnel and millions of dollars of aid, and US sanctions remain. [0] - https://thediplomat.com/2021/02/the-coup-in-myanmar-a-grim-future-for-aid-groups/ https://thediplomat.com/2021/02/the-coup-in-myanmar-a-grim-f... [1] - https://theweek.com/speedreads/964574/required-cut-foreign-aid-myanmar-after-formally-determining-military-takeover-coup https://theweek.com/speedreads/964574/required-cut-foreign-a...

zzzeek 2y ago

here's the NYT on this exact issue https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/world/asia/myanmar-earthquake-usaid-cuts.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/world/asia/myanmar-earthq... Trump’s U.S.A.I.D. Cuts Hobble Earthquake Response in Myanmar While China, Russia and other nations have rushed emergency response teams to the devastated country, the U.S., once a leader in foreign aid, has been slow to act.

alephnerd 2y ago
We cut aid to Myanmar in 2021 [0][1]. There has been no official USAID presence since, especially as the US has been sanctioning Myanmar since 2021. I agree with USAID's mission, but even if Trump was not in office today, the same result would have happened. China and India have extremely close relations with the Junta and the various EAOs in Myanmar, and Russia has close ties with the Junta following our decision to sanction Myanmar in 2021 (along with a massive air force base in Cam Ranh). On the other hand, the US has not had a similar presence in ASEAN since the 1990s. No western nation has provided aid for this very reason. Yet the NYT article skirts around this issue. 3 USAID advisors is not going to turn the tables when both China and India have deployed hundreds of military personnel and millions of dollars of aid, and US sanctions remain. [0] - https://thediplomat.com/2021/02/the-coup-in-myanmar-a-grim-future-for-aid-groups/ https://thediplomat.com/2021/02/the-coup-in-myanmar-a-grim-f... [1] - https://theweek.com/speedreads/964574/required-cut-foreign-aid-myanmar-after-formally-determining-military-takeover-coup https://theweek.com/speedreads/964574/required-cut-foreign-a...