“After a careful analysis of the facts and circumstances, we assess that Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the ruling party in Burma, and Win Myint, the duly elected head of government, were deposed in a military coup on February 1,” a State A department official said Tuesday, using another name for Myanmar. “We continue to call on the Burmese military leadership to release them and all other civil society detainees and political leaders immediately and unconditionally.”
The United States provides “very little” foreign assistance directly to the government of Myanmar and “the government of Myanmar, including the Burmese military, is already subject to a number of foreign assistance restrictions, including statutory restrictions on military assistance, due to its history human rights. “
The State Department official, speaking on a liaison with reporters, said the government “will undertake a broader review of our assistance programs to ensure they are in line with recent events”.
This review will begin “immediately” and “will examine all programs that indirectly benefit individual military or lower-ranking officers”.
“At the same time, we will continue programs that directly benefit the people of Burma, including humanitarian assistance and democracy support programs that benefit civil society. A civilian-led democratic government has always been the best opportunity for Burma to address the problems it faces. the country faces. ” said the official.
They also suggested that sanctions in response to the Myanmar armed forces taking power on Monday remain under discussion.
“As President (Joe) Biden said, we will take action against those responsible, including through a careful review of our current sanctions stance on Myanmar’s military leaders and companies associated with them,” said the official.
Biden warned in a statement the previous day: “The United States has lifted sanctions on Burma in the past decade based on progress towards democracy. The reversal of that progress will require an immediate review of our sanctions laws and authorities, followed by appropriate action. . “
The State Department official did not offer a timetable for possible sanctions. Officials told CNN on Monday that the government could distribute them as early as this week, but the decision to pull the trigger would likely be affected by the desire to move alongside the allies.
Congressional advisers informed by the State Department on Monday told CNN that members of Congress would likely introduce legislation to impose sanctions if the government did not impose them.
Myanmar’s armed forces took control of the country on Monday after arresting key government figures, including leader Suu Kyi, after months of growing friction between the civilian government and the military, known as Tatmadaw, over alleged irregularities. electoral
The State Department official told reporters on Tuesday that they “have not had direct contact with the military on the ground” since the coup, nor with detained civilian leaders.
“In terms of our ability to speak with party members (National League for Democracy) or with Aung San Suu Kyi herself, no, we were unable to do that,” they said. “Our understanding is that the majority of senior officials are under house arrest, and the leadership of the NLD, as well as some of the figures in regional government and civil society. But we have not been able to contact them, obviously we will continue to try to do so.”
The official noted that the United States is “in frequent contact with our allies and partners in the region”, including Japan and India, with whom they are “having daily conversations”.
“We certainly appreciate that some other countries have better contact with the Burmese military than we do, so we continue these talks,” said the official.
CNN’s Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.