US embassy cable - 02RANGOON1555

C O N F I D E N T I A L RANGOON 001555 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/BCLTV 
CINCPAC FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/08/02 
TAGS: PGOV, BM 
SUBJECT: EX-STRONGMAN NE WIN DIES WHILE UNDER DETENTION 
 
 
Classified By: DCM: RON MCMULLEN FOR REASON 1.5(D) 
 
1. (C)  Summary:  Ne Win is dead.  The news has not yet hit 
the streets in Rangoon, but Ne Win's son told the DCM that 
reports of his father's death were true.  Ne Win's death is 
likely to have little political impact.  However, many in 
Burma will have trouble believing that "the old man" is 
finally gone.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (C)  Ne Win's son Ngwe Soe told DCM this afternoon that 
press reports that his father had died were true.  Following 
up on press reports that Ne Win died at 7:30 this morning, 
December 5, DCM attempted to visit the residence where Ne Win 
and his daughter Sanda Win have reportedly been under house 
arrest since March.  Authorities at the scene refused to 
comment on the reports but DCM encountered Ngwe Soe waiting 
by the police roadblock to the compound and apparently not 
allowed to enter.  Ngwe Soe acknowledged that his father was 
dead but asked that the DCM not convey this to reporters who 
were waiting nearby.  While we have no specific information 
on the cause of death, "the old man," as he is known here in 
Rangoon, has suffered from heart disease for years.  In 2001, 
he reportedly received a pace-maker at a hospital in 
Singapore and he may have made at least one follow-up visit 
since that operation. 
 
2. (U)  Ne Win, who ruled Burma with an iron fist from the 
late 1950's until the late 1980's, has lived in virtual 
seclusion for most of the last 15 years.  Although he is 
blamed for single-handedly destroying what had been a vibrant 
Burmese economy with his personal brand of pseudo-socialist 
policies, and for brutally crushing any political dissent, he 
was also grudgingly admired for his charismatic personality. 
He swept people into his cause and then, just as quickly, 
imprisoned, tortured, and killed those he perceived to be a 
possible threat.  In the late 1980's when dire conditions 
from his economic policies created riots and protests, he 
retired from power and was succeeded by the State Law and 
Order Council (SLORC).  In 1997, the SLORC renamed itself the 
State Peace and Development Committee (SPDC) and remains in 
power today. 
 
3.  (U)  Ne Win was 91 years old and is survived by two 
wives, two daughters, two sons and two-step daughters from 
his four marriages.  One daughter, Sanda Win, jealously 
guarded access to the father over the years and attempted to 
promote his legacy through her own three sons.  Other family 
members, including ex-wives and other children, were 
reportedly allowed only infrequent "audiences" with Ne Win. 
 
4. (U)  Sanda's efforts to promote her sons as successors to 
the Ne Win throne came to an abrupt and unexpected halt 
earlier this year when the sons and their father were 
arrested on charges of high treason and economic 
improprieties.  While the sons were roundly despised in 
Rangoon for their violent excesses and flagrant disregard for 
the law, few here believe that they had the brains or 
inclination to plot a coup attempt.  Their arrests and 
subsequent sentences, and Sanda and Ne Win's house arrest, 
are generally believed to be an effort by SPDC Senior General 
Than Shwe, once a Ne Win underling, to wipe away any 
speculation that he was still under Ne Win's influence. 
 
Comment 
 
5. (C)  We expect most ordinary Burmese will react to Ne 
Win's passing with glee but, unfortunately, it is unlikely 
that his death will have any effect on the current regime's 
political or economic policies.  Senior General Than Shwe has 
made a pointed effort in recent years to distance the SPDC 
from Ne Win's legacy and put an end to rumors that Ne Win 
still wielded any power.  Furthermore, Than Shwe, like Ne Win 
before him, has asserted his personal control through purges 
of powerful ministers and military members.  Of the original 
19 SLORC members only three - Than Shwe, Maung Aye, and Khin 
Nyunt - remain, and Than Shwe's authority is clearly 
unchallenged. 
 
Martinez