By Simon Lewis
WASHINGTON, Sept 17 (Reuters) – A delegation of U.S. officials traveled to Myanmar this week and met with the country’s military-backed government to secure the release of detained US citizen Adam Castillo, a Department of State spokesman said on Thursday.
The visit appeared to be the most significant engagement with Myanmar since the military deposed elected leaders including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in a 2021 coup, plunging the country into chaos.
Myanmar said on Wednesday it had freed and deported businessman and former U.S. Marine Castillo “in consideration of the bilateral friendly relations” between Myanmar and the US.
Washington has avoided sending senior officials to Myanmar or holding talks with the Myanmar government since the coup, which elicited a raft of U.S. financial sanctions against Myanmar’s leaders and businesses that support them.
The State Department spokesman said the US maintains a diplomatic presence in Myanmar and “engages with all groups” in the country, including authorities in the capital Naypyitaw, “on issues affecting US interests.”
“Throughout our engagements with authorities in Naypyitaw, the United States has and will continue to raise the need to cease violence, allow humanitarian access, and release political prisoners as part of efforts to bring about conditions for durable peace,” the spokesman said in a statement, issued anonymously.
The State Department declined to say who was in the US delegation or whom they met with.
The visit comes as Myanmar’s government is seeking international legitimacy. Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing — who brutally crushed protests against the military takeover, sparking a bloody civil conflict — installed himself as president earlier this year after holding elections widely decried as a sham.
Castillo was detained in June following a business dispute. His sister, Amanda Castillo, thanked President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance for working for his release in a statement on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Simon Lewis; additional reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Caitlin Webber and Cynthia Osterman)
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