Pro-democracy activists led hundreds of people in a rare march through Myanmar's main city of Yangon on Sunday, in protest against an enormous hike in fuel prices last week.
Myanmar's ruling junta doubled key fuel prices on Wednesday without warning, leaving many employees unable to afford the cost of getting to their work. Min Ko Naing, a prominent pro-democracy leader and one-time political prisoner, said a group of former student leaders decided to walk through the city in solidarity with residents who could no longer afford buses or taxis.
"The people from along the streets greeted and cheered us. Some people from the bus, they climbed down to participate in the demonstration," he told AFP.
"We showed that the price increase for petrol was too much," he said. Some 500 people peacefully marched through the city's outlying neighbourhoods for one-and-half hours. They did not shout any slogans or hold up banners, according to eyewitnesses.
Myanmar's repressive regime tolerates little public dissent. Plainclothes policemen stood guard during Sunday's march but authorities had yet to arrest anyone. Official media has yet to mention the nation-wide fuel hike, the first in two years, and station operators were at a loss to explain the sudden increase to angry customers.
At least 10 people staged a rare protest at a Yangon market in April over economic hardship following a similar demonstration over high taxes and soaring food prices in February.