The visit marks a first by a secretary of state in over 50 years
U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Friday that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be visiting Myanmar next month, marking the first time in over half a century that a secretary of state will set foot in the country, the New York Times reports. The news came as pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi said on Friday that her party was ready to register for future elections, underscoring the opposition’s confidence in recent political changes in the country. “After years of darkness, we’ve seen flickers of progress in these last several weeks,” Obama said, acknowledging reforms recently undertaken by Myanmar’s ruling military junta.