Senator Jim Webb

This past weekend, Senator Jim Webb (D) of Virginia became the first senior U.S. politician to meet with the leader of Burma’s military government, General Than Shwe. Webb also managed to visit with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and secured the release of John Yettaw, the American jailed for swimming to the house where Aung San Suu Kyi lives under house arrest.

In this audio interview, WIDE ANGLE senior multimedia producer Lauren Feeney speaks with Maureen Aung-Thwin, director of the Open Society Institute’s Burma project and guest on this week’s episode of WIDE ANGLE, about the significance of Webb’s trip to Burma.