US officials make rare trip to Myanmar to free former marine as isolated regime seeks greater recognition

Duong Van Giang/Vietnam News Agency/AP

US officials made a rare visit to Myanmar this week to secure the release of an American businessman who had been detained in the war-torn country since June.

The delegation met with officials of Myanmar’s military-backed government in the capital Naypyidaw on Tuesday, according to a US State Department spokesperson.

The meeting was the among the most significant engagements between the US and Myanmar since the military launched a coup in 2021, overturning the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and plunging the country into civil war and economic ruin.

“In those engagements, the US delegation secured the release of a detained US citizen Adam Castillo,” the spokesperson said in a statement. The spokesperson did not say who was part of the delegation, or which Myanmar officials they met with.

Myanmar’s rulers have been ramping up efforts to garner international recognition after holding stage-managed elections earlier this year that installed junta chief Min Aung Hlaing as president.

The ballot was widely denounced by critics as a sham, but the junta hoped it would convince some in the international community to re-engage with the Southeast Asian nation after years of isolation and sanctions imposed following the coup.

Khine Khine Soe/Myanmar Government/Reuters

Aung San Suu Kyi meets Red Cross official, after mounting demands the military prove she is still alive

Castillo, a former US marine who ran a security and risk management company in Myanmar’s commercial capital Yangon, was arrested on June 11 at the city’s international airport.

Myanmar accused him of using his position as the head of the American Chamber of Commerce to conduct lobbying in Washington, Reuters news agency reported.

However, his supporters called the charges “spurious” and linked his detention to a dispute with a Myanmar businessman.

“Adam was held for 97 days in Myanmar because corrupt businessmen made unfounded allegations about him to further their own business and political interests,” his sister Amanda Castillo said in a statement.

“I can’t wait to welcome my brother home, but I know it will be bittersweet for him. He had such great hopes for enhanced US/Myanmar relations, and he holds the deepest respect for the Burmese people, among whom he lived for many years.”

She thanked US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance for working for his release.

Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images

Myanmar’s military junta begins elections as civil war sparked by coup still rages

The US nonprofit Global Reach said it also worked to secure Castillo’s freedom. He was arrested upon returning from Malaysia, where he had been promoting his new book about his experiences in Myanmar through the 2021 military coup, according to the NGO.

“We are thrilled to see Adam coming home and are grateful for the collaboration and efforts from the Trump Administration. Members of the Trump Administration have been working quietly behind the scenes to secure Adam’s release,” said Mickey Bergman, Global Reach’s chief executive.

“We are also grateful to the leadership in Myanmar, for their cooperation and the decision to allow Adam to return home to his family safely.”

Myanmar said Wednesday that Castillo was deported “with the primary goal of maintaining friendly bilateral relations” between Myanmar and the US.

The United States and most Western countries have not recognized the military-backed government as the legitimate leaders of Myanmar.

The country’s most popular politician, 81-year-old Suu Kyi, remains in detention, and the military rulers continue to wage a catastrophic civil war , sending columns of troops on bloody rampages , torching and bombing villages, massacring residents, jailing opponents and forcing young men and women to join the army . The United Nations and other rights groups have accused the military of war crimes.

A Trump tariff letter is the best news this Southeast Asian junta has had in a while

The US, the United Kingdom and the European Union have all sanctioned the military and sought to limit contact with its representatives on the world stage. Washington and most Western capitals no longer station fully accredited ambassadors in the country, a diplomatic snub the ruling generals have long chafed at.

The State Department said in its statement that the US “regularly engages with authorities in Naypyitaw on issues affecting U.S. interests.”

Throughout those engagements, the US “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 spokesperson said.

Since the election, Min Aung Hlaing has embarked on a diplomatic push to normalize relations, especially with the country’s Asian neighbors. Last week, he met with Cambodia’s leaders in Phnom Penh after a similar visit to Vietnam.

In his newly minted role as president, Min Aung Hlaing has made a series of foreign visits, including to India, China, Russia, Laos, Thailand, Kazakhstan, and Belarus, to seek greater legitimacy and reengagement, as well as much-needed foreign investment.

Myo Kyaw Soe/Xinhua/Getty Images

‘This is far worse’: When conflict 2,000 miles away compounds civil war at home

Even the US appears to have eased pressure on Myanmar in recent years. In July 2025, Washington lifted some sanctions against allies of the Myanmar junta and their businesses. The UN Special Rapporteur for Myanmar at the time Tom Andrews called the move “a shocking turn in US policy that risks emboldening Myanmar’s military junta and its enablers,” as the companies removed from the sanctions list had been implicated in the arms trade.

Later that year, the Trump administration ended temporary legal status for Myanmar citizens in the US, arguing they could safely return, and cited the junta’s elections as evidence of an improving situation.

Even a letter warning Myanmar of the US’s intention to impose tariffs on the country was spun by Min Aung Hlaing as an “encouraging invitation to continue participating in the extraordinary Economy of the United States.” Min Aung Hlaing also asked that Washington consider lifting and easing economic sanctions on Myanmar.

Duong Van Giang/越南通讯社/美联社

本周，美国官员罕见地访问了缅甸，以确保一名自6月以来一直被关押在这个饱受战争蹂躏的国家的美国商人获释。

据美国国务院发言人称，代表团周二在缅甸首都内比都会见了缅甸军方支持的政府官员。

自2021年缅甸军方发动政变推翻昂山素季民选政府，使该国陷入内战和经济崩溃以来，此次会晤是美缅之间最重要的接触之一。

发言人在一份声明中表示：“在这些会谈中，美国代表团促成了被拘留的美国公民亚当·卡斯蒂略的获释。” 发言人没有透露代表团成员名单，也没有说明他们会见了哪些缅甸官员。

缅甸统治者在今年早些时候举行了一场精心策划的选举，将军政府领导人敏昂莱推上了总统宝座，此后他们一直在加紧努力以获得国际承认。

这次投票被批评人士广泛谴责为一场骗局，但军政府希望它能说服国际社会中的一些人在经历了政变后多年的孤立和制裁之后，重新与这个东南亚国家接触。

Khine Khine Soe/缅甸政府/路透社

在军方不断要求证明昂山素季仍然在世后，她会见了红十字会官员。

卡斯蒂略曾是美国海军陆战队员，在缅甸商业首都仰光经营一家安保和风险管理公司。6月11日，他在仰光国际机场被捕。

据路透社报道，缅甸方面指责他利用其担任美国商会主席的职位在华盛顿进行游说活动。

然而，他的支持者称这些指控是“捏造的”，并将他的拘留与他和一名缅甸商人之间的纠纷联系起来。

“亚当在缅甸被拘留了97天，因为腐败的商人为了自身商业和政治利益，对他提出了毫无根据的指控，”他的姐姐阿曼达·卡斯蒂略在一份声明中说。

“我迫不及待地想迎接哥哥回家，但我知道这对他来说将是百感交集。他曾对​​美缅关系的改善寄予厚望，并且对缅甸人民怀有深深的敬意，他曾与缅甸人民共同生活多年。”

她感谢美国总统唐纳德·特朗普和副总统JD·万斯为他的获释所做的努力。

Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images

缅甸军政府开始举行选举，政变引发的内战仍在持续

美国非营利组织“全球援助”（Global Reach）表示，他们也曾参与营救卡斯蒂略的工作。据该组织称，卡斯蒂略从马来西亚返回美国后被捕，此前他一直在马来西亚宣传他的新书，书中讲述了他在2021年缅甸军事政变期间的经历。

“我们很高兴看到亚当回家，并感谢特朗普政府的合作和努力。特朗普政府成员一直在幕后默默努力，确保亚当获释，”全球援助组织首席执行官米奇·伯格曼说。

“我们也感谢缅甸领导层的合作，感谢他们决定允许亚当安全返回家乡与家人团聚。”

缅甸周三表示，驱逐卡斯蒂略的“主要目的是维护缅甸和美国之间的友好双边关系”。

美国和大多数西方国家不承认军方支持的政府是缅甸的合法领导人。

该国最受欢迎的政治人物、81岁的昂山素季仍被拘禁，军方统治者继续发动灾难性的内战，派遣军队进行血腥镇压，焚烧和轰炸村庄，屠杀居民，监禁反对派，并强迫青年男女参军。联合国和其他人权组织已指控军方犯有战争罪。

特朗普的关税信函是这个东南亚军政府近来收到的最好消息。

美国、英国和欧盟都对该国军方实施了制裁，并试图限制其与国际代表的接触。华盛顿和大多数西方国家的首都已不再向该国派遣正式大使，这种外交冷落长期以来一直令该国的军方将领感到不满。

美国国务院在声明中表示，美国“经常与内比都当局就影响美国利益的问题进行接触”。

发言人表示，在这些接触过程中，美国“过去一直并将继续强调需要停止暴力、允许人道主义援助进入以及释放政治犯，以此作为创造持久和平条件的努力的一部分”。

自当选以来，敏昂莱一直致力于推动外交关系正常化，尤其关注与柬埔寨亚洲邻国的关系。上周，他在访问越南后，又在金边会见了柬埔寨领导人。

敏昂莱就任总统后，进行了一系列出访，包括访问印度、中国、俄罗斯、老挝、泰国、哈萨克斯坦和白俄罗斯，以寻求更大的合法性、重新加强对外联系以及急需的外国投资。

Myo Kyaw Soe/新华社/Getty Images

“情况更糟”：2000英里之外的冲突加剧了国内的内战

近年来，就连美国似乎也放松了对缅甸的压力。2025年7月，华盛顿解除了对缅甸军政府盟友及其企业的部分制裁。时任联合国缅甸问题特别报告员汤姆·安德鲁斯称此举是“美国政策令人震惊的转变，有可能助长缅甸军政府及其支持者的气焰”，因为被从制裁名单中移除的公司都与军火贸易有关。

同年晚些时候，特朗普政府终止了缅甸公民在美国的临时合法身份，理由是他们可以安全返回，并以军政府的选举作为局势好转的证据。

就连美国警告缅甸将对其加征关税的信函，也被敏昂莱解读为“鼓励缅甸继续参与美国非凡经济的邀请”。敏昂莱还要求华盛顿考虑解除和放松对缅甸的经济制裁。