City official in Fort Worth suburb speaks out about the fall of democracy in Myanmar

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City official in Fort Worth suburb speaks out about the fall of democracy in Myanmar

Elizabeth Campbell
·2 min read

Saginaw City Manager Gabe Reaume worries about friends he made while on an official visit to Myanmar two years ago.

Reaume, 35, said Saginaw has a special connection to Myanmar, a country in southeast Asia where a military coup led to the fall of the fledgling democracy last month.

“My desire is to let as many people as possible know about what is going on. We need to teach our children about these heroes in Myanmar who are 9,000 miles away. They are peacefully protesting; they are showing us the ideal we all should strive for,” he said.

Reaume, who was a U.S. State Department fellow, spent three weeks visiting Myanmar’s former capital, Yangon, as well as Mandalay and other areas of the country. As a fellow he participated in an exchange program to strengthen democratic processes and local governments.

Reaume, who grew up in rural Michigan, said he saw many similarities to people living in the U.S. and Texas when visiting Myanmar. People are warm, friendly and welcoming, he said.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re in Texas or miles away,” he said.

Reaume said Saginaw hosted several visitors, including a young professional, Mya Thandar Oo, who spent time learning how democratic governments worked.

She learned about every aspect of governing a city, but she also became a close friend of his family.

John Ishiyama, a distinguished professor of political science at the University of North Texas who specializes in studying authoritarian governments, said there is a “crackdown” on information coming out of Myanmar so it is difficult to know what is going on in that country.

“If the rest of the world doesn’t exert pressure, there is little incentive for change,” Ishiyama said.

Ishiyama said the military coup on Feb. 1 brought down the fledgling democracy which had been in power since 2015. The party that fronted the military did poorly in the 2020 election which alarmed the regime, he said.

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, was part of the British empire until it gained its independence after World War II. The military gained power in 1962.

The military declared martial law after protests over the weekend where approximately 50 people were killed, according to news reports.

Fires were set at Chinese-owned factories in Yangon, but it is unclear whether protesters were involved.

Meanwhile, Reaume said for now he communicates with friends via Facebook messenger, and they are pleading for help and for people throughout the world to understand their plight.

“People in Myanmar want the same things people of Fort Worth want and people of Saginaw want, to be safe, free and create better lives for themselves and their children. The military has taken that hope,” Reaume said.

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