World Notes BURMA

The city of Rangoon narrowly avoided another bloodbath last week when club- wielding government troops waded into 1,000 protesters on Martyrs Day, which marked the 42nd anniversary of the death of independence hero Aung San. The government reported that 44 people had been "detained."

It could have been much worse. Only hours earlier Aung San's daughter Aung San Suu Kyi, 44, the general-secretary of the opposition National League for Democracy, had canceled a scheduled protest march out of fear that the ruling military junta would turn it into a massacre. Said Suu Kyi in a letter sent to political parties throughout the city: "Let the world know that under this administration the Burmese people are like prisoners in their own homes."

Her words proved prophetic. The next day government soldiers placed Suu Kyi under house arrest, effectively cutting her off from all contact with the outside world. For most political observers in Rangoon, Suu Kyi's detention demonstrated that the junta never intended to honor its promise of holding a free and fair election next May.