MYANMAR’S military leaders yesterday stepped up pressure on monks who spearheaded pro-democracy rallies, announcing dozens of new arrests and defying global outrage and new sanctions.

Here in Jamaica, local Burmese nationals have stepped up their protest against the bloody crackdown in that country. In September, a small group of protesters took to the streets of Kingston in support of their fellow countrymen who have been protesting in that South-east Asian country against military dictatorship.

In the latest protest at Emancipation Park in St Andrew on Saturday night, scores of men, women and children participated in a vigil for the slain monks and other Burmese nationals.

Yesterday Myanmar junta said it had seized weapons from Buddhist monasteries and threatened to punish all violators of the law. This comes more than a week after soldiers and police opened fire on demonstrators peacefully seeking an end to 45 years of military dictatorship.

Main events in the political history of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma

. 1824-1886: Britain and Burma fight three wars, and Britain eventually annexes Burma.

. January 1948: Burma wins independence from Britain. Civilian government takes office.

. March 1962: General Ne Win seizes power in a bloodless coup, and the government adopts socialism, leading to economic ruin.

. March 1988: Students battle riot police in the largest city then known as Rangoon, starting a national uprising for democracy in which at least 3,000 are killed by security forces.

. September 1988: Army commander Gen Saw Maung announces a military takeover. Aung San Suu Kyi emerges as a pro-democracy leader, forms the National League for Democracy party.

. June 1989: The government renames the country Myanmar and changes the name of the capital from Rangoon to Yangon.

. July 1989: Suu Kyi is put under house arrest. She will spend 12 of the next 18 years in detention.

. May 1990: The junta calls general elections. Suu Kyi’s party wins a landslide victory, but the military refuses to hand over power.

. October 1991: Suu Kyi is awarded Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful struggle against the regime.

. July 1992: General Than Shwe takes over as head of the junta.

. November 2005: Government begins moving capital to Naypyitaw, 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Yangon.

. Aug 15, 2007: Government raises fuel prices by as much as 500 per cent.

. Aug 19: Up to 500 people in Yangon stage rare public protest against price increases.

. Sept 5: Soldiers fire warning shots at monks’ protest in Pakokku in the north, reportedly injuring several monks.

. Sept 22: Up to 10,000 monks protest in the northern city of Mandalay. In Yangon, Suu Kyi greets thousands of monks as they march past her house. It is her first public appearance in more than four years.

. Sept 24: About 100,000 people led by Buddhist monks demonstrate in the largest anti-government protests since 1988. Security forces respond with mass arrests and beatings.

. Sept 27: Security forces fire into a crowd of unarmed protesters, igniting international outrage. The government says 10 people are killed, but activists put the death toll far higher.

. Oct 2: UN special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, meets with Than Shwe during a four-day visit, urging the government to stop its crackdown on protesters. He also meets twice with Suu Kyi.

. Oct 4: Than Shwe says he is willing to meet Suu Kyi, but sets conditions.