Washington foundation helped clergy, activists protest at junta
Monks in Myanmar have been taught how to stage non-violent protests by a US taxpayer-funded foundation.
At camps in Thailand, the National Endowment for Democracy has paid for monks and activists to be trained in how to select targets and opportunities for protest, protect themselves from infiltration by agents provocateurs and make best use of mobile phones and computers.
The endowment - which also funds human rights and civil society work on the mainland, including Tibet, and in Hong Kong - has been helping Myanmar's exiled pro-democracy groups for the past 10 years. Funding has risen gradually, and amounted to US$3.9 million last year.
It is expected to spend a similar amount this year and next.
The money funds media, human rights work and foreign lobbying in addition to training in protest tactics.