During a parade to mark Myanmar’s Armed Forces Day on March 27, General Min Aung Hlaing, military tunic festooned with medals, inspected thousands of soldiers from an open-top jeep. The display of pomp was a signal of the 66-year-old’s viselike grip over the nation of 54 million since his February 2021 coup d’état.
From his podium, he warned that the pro-democracy rebels he is embroiled in a blood-soaked campaign against would be “tackled for good and all.” Since the putsch, villages have been terrorized by artillery and air raids, leaving tens of thousands killed and more than a million displaced. Even before he seized power, the U.N. accused him of massacring Rohingya Muslims with “genocidal intent.”
Min Aung Hlaing has returned Myanmar to a pariah state and made it the world’s second most authoritarian regime, per the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2022 Democracy Index. Only Taliban-ruled Afghanistan ranked worse.
Campbell is a TIME correspondent
- Why House Democrats Refused to Save McCarthy
- The 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time
- Inside One Indian iPhone Factory
- What Happens to Diane Feinstein's Senate Seat
- Self-Silencing Is Making Women Sick: Essay
- The Enduring Charm of John Grisham
- Kerry Washington: The Story of My Abortion
- Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time
