by Bernardo Cervellera

There are signs of change in Tehran and Yangon, but they are being held back by the old guard. The gap between rich and poor is growing, unemployment and educational systems on the brink of collapse. The international community and the churches must engage in the world of education and to ensure full religious freedom, both vital tools for development.

Yangon (AsiaNews) - I am writing these notes as I travel between Iran and Myanmar. I spent most of the month of April, visiting these two countries which are so important on the international stage. They seem to be moving on two almost parallel tracks: until very recently, one or two years ago, they were treated as pariahs by the international community, the first branded as the home of terrorism; the second, home to a violent military dictatorship. But relatively recently both have been sending signals of change: With the election of President Hassan Rouhani, it seems that Tehran is more open to a détente in relations with the States and to dialogue about everything, even about its nuclear program; with the birth of a "secular" as opposed to military government (although its members are all military men who left the army on purpose), Myanmar is trying to open itself up to world trade and democracy.

Yet in both countries, I found people from various trends and religions with a shared skepticism about the changes enacted by their governments. Their distrust is not so much of the new leaders and to their promises, but the parties who had controlled the world of politics and economics thus far and who tended to sabotage any change that could reduce their power.

In Iran, the ayatollahs who are all pervasive in political life and in society, are in league with  the so-called "Revolutionary Guards".  These have monopolized power since the days of Khomeini and even possess a parallel army to the national one. For the latter, a more open market means losing important slices of the economy and so they prefer to vent their anger on the West, supported in this by various religious authorities who are terrified by a possible wave of secularization that could wipe them out.

The Ayatollahs and Revolutionary Guard prefer to keep their closed world, controlled international relations, to browbeat people with their sermons and their religious police.

In Myanmar, the much touted democracy has failed to produce any change in the Constitution or laws , preventing the possible election of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi - in the elections scheduled for May 2015 - while selling off the nations vast natural wealth (forests, mines, precious metals, oil, energy) only to those who guarantee the military's stability and power. The most common joke on the open market in Yangon is: If you want to make tons of money, bribe a bureaucrat and become allies with the army.

The consequences of this imbedded attitude of closure are common to both situations: a) first, a huge gap between rich and poor that threatens to destabilize both nations. Moreover, in Myanmar practically the entire population live in poverty, a part from the military and their acolytes, throttled by a high rate of inflation and slavery; b) the collapse of the educational system, which fails to motivate young people to take responsibility and professionalism; in the best of case scenario, those who succeed, try to emigrate; c) there are strong limits on the religious freedom of Christians (and other religions). Freedom of worship is guaranteed, but Christians are not allow to make become actively involved in society with schools, hospitals, youth centers, vocational schools that could give new hope to young people and inject new creativity into a society aged and ossified by creaking power systems.

Two considerations can be drawn from this situation: 1) the universal Church, in helping the sister Churches of Iran and Myanmar, must focus much on education as a way to acquire professional skills and the ability to function in the modern world arena; 2) the international community, along with freedom of trade should demand religious freedom , not only to give breath to the spiritual enthusiasm of the population, but to liberate the true agents of development which, along with the Gospel, care for the least of these two great nations. Too many ayatollahs preach a morality that does not care about the poor; and too many military officers exalt patriotism, excluding entire sections of the population. The emergence of these new agents of development, capable of garnering the potential of a society, is the best way to render Iran and Myanmar true international partners.

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