Suu Kyi is demanding that the ruling junta belatedly recognize her party's victory in 1990 parliamentary polls, which would make her the country's leader. But the generals have no such plan. After releasing Suu Kyi from six years of house arrest in 1995, they have ignored her pleas for a power-sharing dialogue in the apparent hope that she will fade into irrelevance. The military regime also started liberalizing the economy, hoping a trickle of prosperity would placate the populace. The official exchange rate of the kyat, Burma's currency, is six to the U.S. dollar, but private money changers give 360 for a greenback.
Electric power fails constantly in the capital.
Three of Rangoon's new luxury hotels have asked for government permission to close, which was denied. Two months ago, she demanded that the parliament elected in 1990 be convened by Aug. 21, a deadline that passed unheeded. After setting the deadline, Suu Kyi decided to travel to the countryside to drum up support from her idl e and demoralized followers. In two attempts to visit Irrawaddy district, a main area of support, authorities halted her on a small bridge 32 km from the capital. After six days on the bridge in July, she was forced back to Rangoon in poor physical shape.