YANGON – Protesters gathered in Myanmar’s biggest city Monday despite the ruling junta’s thinly veiled threat to use lethal force if people answered a call for a general strike opposing the military takeover three weeks ago.
Despite roadblocks around the U.S. Embassy in Yangon, more than a thousand protesters gathered there, while 20 military trucks with riot police had arrived nearby.
The crowds were gathering after supporters of the Civil Disobedience Movement, a loosely organized group leading the resistance, called for people to unite on Monday's date for a “Spring Revolution.” The junta warned against the general strike in a public announcement carried last Sunday on state television broadcaster MRTV. “It is found that the protesters