 Subsequent repression, including the brutal crackdown on peaceful protestors in September 2007, further strained relations.The United States lowered its level of representation in Burma from Ambassador to Chargé d'Affaires after the government's major outbreaks against opposition groups and protesters in 1988 and its alleged failure to honour the results of the 1990 parliamentary election, although it upgraded back on 13 January 2012, appointing Derek Mitchel as Ambassador and head of mission

US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, visited Myanmar in November–December 2011.In this visit, the first by a Secretary of State since 1955, Hillary met with the President of Myanmar, Thein Sein, in the official capital Naypyidaw, and later met with democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon.