e-Con e-News

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‘Before you study the economics, study the economists!’

e-Con e-News 23 February – 01 March 2025

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‘Our economy is running on conditions.

There is no economic independence or sovereignty –

it is under probation and being monitored.’

– President AK Dissanayake, 2025

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‘The nature of the political life of our island must be understood.

We were a colony, a benevolently administered dependency. So long

as our dependence remained unquestioned our politics were a joke.

– The Mimic Men, VS Naipaul, 1967

And so it turns out be, as other leaders – in Sri Lanka and around the world – have long known: that a party may ‘be in office, but not in power’ (see ee Quotes, Cheddi Jagan). This ee reproduces some choice & apt excerpts from Sir Vidia Naipaul’s 1967 novel (see ee Focus), which is said to be partly based on the repeated Anglo-US coups in Guyana in the 1950s and 1960s.

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‘Soon we saw that there had been no need, that our power was air.

We had no trade unions behind us, no organized capital.’

– Mimic Men, VS Naipaul

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And so the ‘stark admission’ from Sri Lanka’s President, has opposition critics declaring that the NPP government – which ‘has so far backed down from its campaign promise of renegotiating the unfavorable debt restructuring agreement brokered by the IMF’ – has, in fact, done so knowingly and willingly.

    The IMF’s ‘ambitious and often brutal austerity programs’ are indeed politically, socially & economically unfeasible. The government’s new budget missing the IMF’s deficit target, appears to be due to its promise to resume ‘public capital investment’ – nationally owned assets used for industrial productivity. However, these ‘public investment will be the first line of expenditure to be slashed’, predicts Shiran Illanperuma (see ee Focus)… unless… unless… 

    The ‘Global South now spends more in debt payments than it receives in grants & loans’, and we are ‘cursed with low growth rates due to a lack of investment’, especially ‘investment in the manufacturing sector’, which ‘is key to technological upgrading, upskilling labor, and unlocking rapid growth in the Global South’. Instead, ‘services have accounted for 81% of new foreign investment projects between 2020-23’.

     So, even as there is a ‘renewed push’ for industrialization across many countries – from President Lula da Silva’s New Industry Brazil (Nova Indústria Brasil/NIB) program to the Made-in-China 2025 program, ‘it is unlikely that any government in Sri Lanka can formulate & implement such cohesive plans without confronting the IMF & private creditors which have severely restricted the country’s economic sovereignty’.

     Meanwhile,  there was news this week too that the US-dominated IMF and World Bank are tying aid to Lebanon to ‘normalization’ of relations with Israel, and the disarming of Hezbollah (see ee Sovereignty).

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Has anyone noticed the eerie homophony between Sri Lanka’s SERU (State-Owned Enterprise Restructing Unit) and Ukraine’s SOERA (State-Owned Enterprises Reform Activity in Ukraine)?

    Another fake WWF (World Wrestling Federation) drama – better called, dissimulation – was staged this week in the USA’s Oval Office, showing Ukraine’s leader bantering with the US President. Then there is the kalabala (yet more kayfabe?) about USAID’s supposed demise, which is meant to divert from the real story:

    So keep dreaming! The US is reorganizing & outsourcing Empire. It is attempting to freeze their war on Russia (as it has done with its wars on Korea & China – Taiwan). The US is not ending their war in Ukraine, which they have all but lost. This is also evident in the US Vice-President JD Vance’s Munich speech, telling Europe to buy more US weapons rather than make their own, to attack Russia and China. Their Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE device is meant to sharpen ‘the tools of the US Empire – not dismantle them’ (see ee Sovereignty, US is Reorganizing/Outsourcing Empire)

    So Trump will surely come for Sri Lanka’s rare earth minerals next (if they haven’t already). US President Donald Trump is reported as yearning for rare earth minerals from Canada, Greenland & Ukraine so as to downgrade Europe’s & their settler states’ reliance upon Chinese exports of these hard-to-find materials. Like from Ukraine, the US can now demand, ‘Pay your debt or we’ll swipe – errrrr, swap – Sinharaja & all our graphite & yet unrevealed minerals & fuels in Sri Lanka.

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Recall: Ecuador’s government completed a Galapagos Debt for Nature Swap in May 2023, repurchasing $1.6billion of Ecuador’s outstanding bonds at ~40 cents on the dollar, saving Ecuador $1.1bn in debt service repayments. The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), funded by the Latin American Development Bank (CAF), acted as advisor to Ecuador’s Ministry of Economy & Finance on this ‘green’ transaction. 5 months later, Quito ratified the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with Washington. In December 2024 Ecuador’s President and Banana Co. Oligarch Daniel Noboa permitted the US military to use the environmentally fragile Galapagos Islands as a base for regional surveillance, to combat ‘drug trafficking, illegal fishing’ to prevent ‘violent conflicts… between narco-terrorist groups fighting over drug export routes’. Sound familiar? The archipelago had been declared a World Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1978.

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Last week ee began our glimpse into the over-100-year monopoly of Ceylon Tobacco Co, owned by British American Tobacco (BAT). CTC has deprived the country of billions through such ‘normal’ multinational corporate (MNC) practices as transfer pricing, concealing this data aided by such giant accounting firms as Deloitte, etc. This ee continues Charles Abeysekera’s study: showing how CTC has along the way hijacked not just the Ministry of Agriculture, but also the state banks – Bank of Ceylon and People’s Bank (see ee Focus).

     Our story begins with the traditional village economy still based on paddy & highland crops including vegetables; cultivating tobacco only for itinerant Muslim traders – then gradually supplanted by this Anglo-American multinational. This ee examines ‘CTC in the Mahaweli Scheme’ – its active involvement in non-tobacco activities, which their merchant media present to the public as acts of benevolence. Such MNCs or TNCs (transnational corporations) have penetrated into peasant agriculture, also replacing the government and its agencies: irrigation and land development departments, state banks, the cooperative system, and state marketing agencies, totally controlling smallholding peasants, leaving them no choice over crops and cultivation practices. They have also been destroying the forest cover, with the Forest Department reserving the right to the Company to cut such trees for fuel, setting up such companies as Charlanka Ltd – a joint venture between the USAID-funded Enterprise Development Inc. and the Sri Lanka State Timber Corporation!

    The story describes how CTC established a restricted market by creating a new layer of middlemen mediating between CTC and tobacco growing peasants, who had no direct dealings with either the CTC or the banks. TNCs have, in effect, replaced the state… Here then is the untold story of the sabotaging of the Paddy Marketing Board, by CTC, etc, just as Sathosa (Ceylon Wholesale Establishment, CWE) has been hijacked by Unilever, and the Fertilizer Corp. by England’s ICI-CIC etc. Most interesting is their control over technology:

‘Contrary to the large colonial enterprises of the past,

TNCs are more interested in the control of activities

than in the actual ownership of natural resources.

The real basis for their powerful position, therefore,

is not the property of land or mineral deposits but the

ownership of the technical process which it is difficult to

attack by the normal procedures of expropriation & nationalisation.’

– EH Jacoby

Meanwhile, England’s CTC has been shutting down their reliance on local tobacco farmers. This week CTC was reported as claiming its revenue fell down in the December 2024 quarter, due to smuggling. However, other countries point out that it is the cigarette companies themselves who are smuggling tobacco and cigarettes into their countries, to avoid taxes. And even better: it is the sophisticated corporate tobacco networks, with their enormous ‘supply chains’ of marketers and salesmen, who are also involved in smuggling prohibited drugs!!! Gangsters, anyone?

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Last week, media in Sri Lanka reported that ‘Lord Swire’ visited Port City… England once forbade the Sinhala calling the Buddha – ‘King’ – Budhurajananwahanse. They wanted the Buddha referred to as Lord Buddha, because England’s King ruled over all of us, including the Buddha. So now here comes Lord Swire, real name: Hugo George William Swire – and how did this Swire become a Lord like the Buddha, in English? The Swires were big profiteers off English slave cotton from the USA, then turned to carrying opium on their shipping lines (P&O, anyone?) from India to China, linking to the pirates Jardine-Matheson (who became the biggest landowners & employers in Hong Kong, and are still!) and set up the opium-financing HongKong & Shanghai Bank! Lordy! Lordy! Lordy!… Buddhu Ammo!

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Germany’s just elected chancellor Friedrich Merz once represented BlackRock in Germany, 2016-20. BlackRock has become one of the largest non-German shareholders in many of the country’s most important companies – from Deutsche Bank to Volkswagen, BMW to Siemens (which helped hijack Ceylon Steel Corporation). It turns out Europeincluding their settler governments & their economic systems have been fully privatized entities effectively run by corporations & banks. Then again, let’s recall England’s Royal African Co with its monopoly over the slavery of Africans, and the East India Co later morphing into the opium-dealing ‘private English’ Jardine-Matheson (which still controls Hong Kong) and palm oil-loving Unilever (which still controls SL), Anglo-American (which still controls South Africa), CTC, ICI-CIC, etc…?

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Contents:

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, Feb 28 (Daily Mirror) – Number of persons in all three armed forces will be reduced while they will be made sophisticated with equipment, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told Parliament today. 

“The Sri Lanka Army will be confined to 100,000 personnel, Sri Lanka Navy to 40,000 and Sri Lanka Air Force to 18,000, the President revealed. 

“Our aim is to acquire modern equipment to the forces. Almost all aircraft in the Sri Lanka Air Force are becoming outdated. Therefore, we will acquire new aircraft. The Sri Lankan Navy will also get new craft and new equipment. We will do it without any hesitation,” the President said.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, March 02 (Daily Mirror) – The special exposition of the Sacred Tooth Relic for the public will be held from April 18 to 27, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said.

It said the exposition to the public will be on April 18 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and thereafter, from April 19 to 27, daily from 12:00 noon to 5:30 p.m.

A preliminary discussion on the event took place today at the President’s House in Kandy, under the patronage of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

President Dissanayake expressed his gratitude to the Mahanayake Theras for granting the Buddhist community of Sri Lanka the opportunity to take part in this sacred event after 16 years. He emphasized that the Buddhist people of Sri Lanka aspire to see the Sacred Tooth Relic revered and worshipped throughout their lifetime.

The President also expressed his belief that this occasion would help restore the declining civility in the country and serve as a catalyst for religious and cultural enlightenment.

Highlighting the significance of organizing such events for the promotion of Buddhist enlightenment, President Dissanayake conveyed his hope that this exposition, which coincides
with the New Year celebrations, would help guide the country toward a new direction.

He anticipated the participation of hundreds of thousands of people, with large crowds expected to attend the exposition over the course of the ten-day event. The President stressed
that it is the responsibility of all to ensure the public can worship the Sacred Tooth Relic without hindrance and assured that the government will provide full support to facilitate
this opportunity for all.

During the discussion, it was decided to establish three separate lines for the public to venerate the Sacred Tooth Relic during the special exposition. President Dissanayake instructed
officials to follow the guidance of the Mahanayake Theras regarding the safety of both the Sacred Tooth Relic and the public.

It was also proposed that schools in Kandy be closed during the period of the exposition, with alternative dates for student education to be scheduled.

Considerable attention was given to ensuring adequate sanitary facilities for devotees and managing waste effectively. Plans were also made for a vehicle management system to handle
the increased traffic during the event.

Extensive discussions were held regarding the provision of healthcare, drinking water, and other essential services for the public. There was also a proposal to allow people who wish to provide food for devotees to register for the “Dansal”.

DARSHANA SANJEEWA BALASURIYA Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, March 02 (Daily Mirror) – Denying the allegation by Leader of the House Bimal Ratnayake that the former Speaker had used fuel worth Rs. 33 million within nine months from January 1, 2024 to September 24, 2024, which amounts to Rs. 4 million per month, former Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said spreading falsehood to gain power will not be successful every time.

The following is a statement issued by former Speaker Abeywardena in this regard:

“I would like to state at the outset that I have not resided in any official government residences since I first entered Parliament in 1983 and until September 2020, when I was appointed Speaker. In September 2020, after almost a month of being appointed, I had to shift to the official residence of the Speaker for official and security reasons.

“I solemnly declare that throughout the entire period of my tenure, I spent my personal money on my meals at the Speaker’s residence. There is no legal provision for government funds to be spent on the meals of a Speaker. However, when special guests, foreign ambassadors or foreign diplomats visit, it is a duty to entertain them, and such expenses are considered as expenses of the Speaker and are incurred at government expense. It is regrettable that all such expenses have been added and presented as expenses incurred for my personal meals.

“Also, from 1983 until I assumed the office of the Speaker in August 2020, even during my various Ministerial positions, I have always travelled in a single vehicle. Just as Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya found out after assuming office that she will have to travel with escort vehicles for security reasons, I too had to travel with three other vehicles after assuming the office of the Speaker. Every Speaker is allocated three vehicles (an official vehicle and two escort vehicles) and in addition, a jeep belonging to the Police Special Task Force was also allocated to me. I would like to inform the public that these vehicles were the only ones allocated for my needs and those of my security officers. In addition, five vehicles and fuel were allocated for five key officials of my staff.

“The vehicles and fuel provided to those officials were similar to and in accordance with the circulars mentioned in the instruction paper issued by the Secretary to the President of the present government on 21st January 2025 on the staff allowances of Ministers. Therefore, since spending Rs. 33.4 million on fuel for the three vehicles allocated for me over a period of nine months appears even statistically impossible and because running charts of all vehicles are available with Parliament. I request a special audit done in this regard.

“Although it is futile to present more detailed data in a social context that expects short answers, I would like to request journalists who are interested in investigating into the truth, to obtain the details on the above and other allegations made against me from Parliament under the Right to Information Act, and not only to investigate into the years 2023/2024 but also from 2020.

“I also request that legal action be taken immediately if there is any irregularity in this regard. Although spreading falsehoods was a successful strategy to gain power, I believe that using it repeatedly and on a daily basis to reinforce in the minds of the voters that the decision they had made was the right one, will not be successful, even in the short term. I couldn’t agree more with the statement by Minister Bimal Ratnayake when he said that a person cannot be judged a gentleman merely by his attire, but a gentleman is made by his conduct and actions. To this, I would like to further add that holding a high or low office also doesn’t guarantee that one is a gentleman.

“I would like to conclude my explanation by recalling the following two verses from the Dhamma Pada. There is no sin that cannot be committed by people who speak falsehood, ignore the Dhamma, and have no belief in the afterlife.

“If someone harms a pure-hearted and innocent person who has done no harm to others, that harm will return to that fool like a lot of dust thrown up into the wind.

“Since it does not take long for the realities felt by the people to transcend temporary psychological gratifications, I hope that the government led by Minister Bimal Ratnayake will be interested and intelligent in managing the state machinery well and leading the country towards development, and in fulfilling the good promises made to the people soon.”

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, March 03 (Daily Mirror) – In a bid to avert any energy crisis in the future, the government is hurriedly taking measures to purchase both petroleum products, including LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) from Qatar under a government-to-government agreement, an official said.

Chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) D.A. Rajakaruna told Daily Mirror that two rounds of talks had been conducted with Qatar Energy, formerly Qatar Petroleum, to explore the possibility of importing such products at cheaper rates under a government-to-government deal.

He said Qatar Energy is a state-owned company and, therefore, energy purchases under such a deal are possible.

Asked about similar plans with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), he said, “In that country, only private companies handle the process.”

Currently, Sri Lanka purchases fuel from the open market after calling for tenders from suppliers.

Besides, the government is planning for the rationalisation of setting up new filling stations in the future.

Mr. Rajakaruna said around 1,300 filling stations are in operation at the moment, but most of them have been set up in an ad hoc manner.

“At every junction, there is a filling station. Hereafter, new ones will be put up according to a scientific map being worked out by the Moratuwa University, ” he said.

Courtesy Adaderana

The two former Sri Lanka Army Intelligence personnel, who were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the abduction and assault of journalist Keith Noyahr in May 2008, have been granted bail by the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court, Ada Derana reporter said.

Accordingly, the two suspects were ordered to be released on two surety bails of Rs. 1 million each.

The two suspects had been arrested yesterday (01) in the Nawagaththegama and Elayapaththuwa police divisions by officers of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) based on investigations into the assault on journalist Keith Noyahr in May 2008.

On May 22, 2008, journalist Keith Noyahr, was assaulted after being abducted in a van in the Waidya Road area of the Dehiwala Police Division.

The arrested suspects are two retired Army Intelligence personnel from the Military Intelligence Corps (MIC), aged 42 and 46, and residents of the Nawagaththegama and Ulukkulama areas.

The CID is conducting further investigations into the incident.

Courtesy Adaderana

A discussion has been recently held between the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) and salt manufacturing companies at the CAA’s head office.

The discussion had taken place on February 25, and its purpose was to make the necessary interventions to release high-quality salt for industry and food use into the market at a reasonable price.

Accordingly, based on the pricing surveys conducted by the CAA regarding salt prices in the market, the varying prices of salt over the past period, the seasonal shortage of salt, and the challenges faced by the salt industry had also been discussed.

Representatives from eighteen institutions, including government officials and leading salt producers, attended the meeting, with significant focus placed on stabilizing prices, so that consumers are not inconvenienced due to the current market conditions.

The producers also expressed confidence that locally produced salt is scheduled to enter the market in the future and will be sold at competitive prices by the end of March.

They also agreed to the CAA’s request that prices should remain stable without further increases until then.

3 Minutes – SEPAL AMARASINGHE

Shenali D Waduge

US funding for GoSL entities & Civil Society 2015 to present 

Click to open list

With artificial intelligence” now becoming the buzzword, citizens should utilize it to gather information while knowing that it is not completely correct. It is an entity giving us information that is in public domain cutting time spent on searching. However, if incorrect data had been fed it is likely that the output we receive will undoubtedly be questionable. Therefore, while we cannot presume ChatGPT to be entire factualy what it is giving cannot be completely disregarded as well. It provides the sources and also encourages us to verify from the original websites, annual reports etc. Also, depending on how the question is asked the answers are likely to vary as well. But it provides a good foundation for investigation.

Therefore, the GoSL is dutybound to investigate as the Speaker himself as agreed to do, primarily because not only political parties, but Parliament, Central Bank, Judicial system, Ministries, Corporations – entire state entities ChatGPT claims to have received funding & collaborated in a variety of programs that constitute a violation of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty & territorial integrity as well as a threat to Article 9 of Sri Lanka’s Constitution as the very entities that fund the State are clamouring to change the Constitution with primary goal to remove Article 9 of Sri Lanka’s Constitution thus fulfilling the colonial goal that they have failed to do since 1505.

So the Trojan Horse has now after over 500 years of trying come inside the gates.

While our attention has always been on civil society, NGOs, think tanks ets being aligned & funded to destabilize Sri Lanka, the enemy has nicely crept into the State apparatus especially following the 2015 regime change.

Nevertheless, governments may come & go, officials can be changed or removed but the Nation must remain protecting & securing the civilizational history & heritage for it is that which has held the Nation together & protected all. Neither of the worlds 2 powerful faiths have moral standing to dictate given that all of the world’s wars involve them while the faith that heralds our nearest neighbor is also involved in unforgiveable destruction & vandalism of Buddhist heritage sites in the North & East.

Going through the list / the amounts disbursed / the programs that are being rolled out doesn’t take an idiot to connect the dots & picture what the ultimate goal is.

This should be a concern not only to the Govt, but the Opposition and every Nation loving citizen.

Pressure must be exerted to launch an immediate investigation on the State entites, MPs, Ministries etc receiving USAID funding while the Constitutional Committee must remove all MPs including PM who have either worked for US agencies or received funds from them. This is a violation of the Constitution & a major conflict of interest knowing that these international agencies are pushing to change the constitution and have been attempting to do so for many years.

Shenali D Waduge

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

රජය විසින් යෝජනා කර තිබෙන නව අපරාධ නඩු අධ්‍යක්ෂ ධුරය (රජයේ අභිචෝදක තනතුර) නීතිය දේශපාලනයට යටකිරීමක් බව හිටපු අගවිනිසුරු සරත් එන් සිල්වා මහතා පැවසීය.

මෙවැනි තනතුරක් 1970 – 1977 ආණ්ඩු කාලයේ ක්‍රියාත්මක විය. එකල නියෝජ්‍ය අපරාධ නඩු අධ්‍යක්ෂ පදවිය දැරූයේ තමා බැවින් මෙම කරුණ පිළිබඳව තමන් හොඳින්ම දන්නා බව පැවසූ සරත් එන් සිල්වා මහතා නීතිපතිවරයා සතු අපරාධ නඩු පිළිබඳ බලය විෂය භාර අමාත්‍යවරයා විසින් අපරාධ නඩු අධ්‍යක්ෂ ලෙස පත් කරනු ලබන වෙනත් බාහිර නීතිඥවරයකු යටතට පැවරීම බරපතළ වරදක් බව සඳහන් කළේය. මේ සඳහා ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවද සංශෝධනය කළ යුතුය. එදා මෙම පත්වීම උපයෝගී කරගෙන පැවති බණ්ඩාරනායක රජය දේශපාලනඥයන් අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීමට නියෝග නිකුත් කළේය.

එකල විපක්ෂයේ සිටි කීර්තිමත් නීතිඥයකු වූ ලලිත් ඇතුළත්මුදලි මහතාද මෙම දඩයමේ ගොදුරක් බවට පත්විය. ඇතුළත්මුදලි මහතා අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීමේ නියෝගය රැගෙන අපරාධ නඩු අධ්‍යක්ෂ මහේස්ත්‍රාත්ගේ පෞද්ගලික නිවසට ගොස් නියෝග ලබා ගැනීමට තැත් කිරීම එකල මහත් ආන්දෝලනයට ලක්වූ බව සඳහන් කළ යුතුය. එහෙත් ඉහළ අධිකරණ මගින් රජයේ අපරාධ නඩු අධ්‍යක්ෂවරයාගේ තීරණ ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කිරීමත් සමඟ අර්බුදයක් හටගත්තේය.

එනිසා වත්මන් ආණ්ඩුවද අතීතයෙන් පාඩම් උගත යුතුය. තමා දන්නා ආකාරයට නීතිපතිවරයා සතු බලතල වෙනත් පාර්ශ්වයකට පැවරීම බරපතළ අගතිදායක තීන්දුවකි. හිටපු නීතිපතිවරයකු සහ අගවිනිසුරුවරයකු ලෙස තමන් මෙම තීරණය සම්බන්ධයෙන් නැවත සලකා බලන ලෙස රජයෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටින බවද හෙතෙම සඳහන් කළේය.

මෙම නීතිය නිසා එදා බණ්ඩාරනායක රජය බලවත් අප්‍රසාදයට ලක්වූ අතර මහනුවර නීතිඥ සංගමය අපරාධ නඩු අධ්‍යක්ෂ පදවිය ස්ථාපිත කළ පනත ප්‍රසිද්ධියේ ගිනි තබා ඊට විරෝධය දැක්වූයේ යැයි ද හිටපු අගවිනිසුරුවරයා කීය.

– දේශය

By Maheesha Mudugamuwa and Michelle Perera Courtesy The Morning

• Fuel distributors stop new orders, warning of shortages tomorrow 
• Panic buying escalates as public fears fuel shortage
• CPC reassures public of sufficient fuel reserves despite protests
• Petroleum dealers suspend credit to Govt. institutions
• Govt. defends pricing formula, rejects calls for higher profits
• Fuel distribution as usual at LIOC, Sinopec, RM Parks stations: Min.

Long queues at fuel stations have been reported across the country since last Friday (28 February) night, as a growing dispute between fuel distributors and the Government intensifies. 

The situation is expected to worsen over the next few days, with fuel distributors warning of a complete fuel shortage by tomorrow (3) due to their ongoing protests.

The Petroleum Dealers’ Association has vowed to halt new fuel orders following the Government’s decision to abolish the 3% profit margin previously added to fuel prices. 

The protest has triggered panic buying, with many consumers rushing to fill up their tanks, fearing a shortage. Despite these actions, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) has attempted to reassure the public that there were sufficient fuel reserves in the country.

However, the association has made it clear that no new fuel orders will be placed and that post-payment fuel supplies to Government institutions, such as the Police and hospitals, will be suspended. 

The distributors argue that the new payment formula, which cuts into their profit margin, is unsustainable, especially given the high investment costs involved in running fuel stations.

Fuel distributors have confirmed that they will continue their stance of halting new orders, despite the Government’s agreement to meet with them on Tuesday (4). A spokesperson for the Petroleum Dealers’ Association expressed strong opposition to the Government’s decision to remove the 3% profit margin added to fuel prices.

In a media briefing, Petroleum Dealers’ Association Vice President Kusum Sandanayake explained that the existing fuel stocks at stations would only last until tomorrow (3) morning due to the suspension of new orders from Friday night.

The association stated that no new orders had been placed with the CPC for fuel distribution starting yesterday (1). It also announced that fuel ordering would cease from midnight on Friday (28 February), leading to a complete shortage of fuel at filling stations by tomorrow. 

The association’s Central Committee has scheduled a protest at the Presidential Secretariat later today (2).

The CPC’s decision to abolish the 3% discount given to distributors and implement a new payment formula is set to take effect tomorrow (3).

We will sell off all the fuel we have already purchased, but we will not be placing any new orders due to the unfair treatment we have faced,” the association said. 

It is becoming increasingly difficult for fuel station owners to continue operating under these conditions,” a representative added.

He further explained that private distributors faced significant costs, including maintenance expenses, which they needed to cover to keep their businesses afloat. Under the current system, a fuel station that handles 15 deliveries of petrol would only make around Rs. 62,300 in profit, which is simply unsustainable,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Fuel Station Owners’ Association (FSOA) President Kumar Rajapakshe expressed concerns to The Sunday Morning about the fairness of the recent price formula proposed by the CPC. 

He argued that the formula did not take into account the significant investments made in prime locations across the country, which were critical for their expected Return on Investment (ROI).

We have invested millions of rupees in these properties,” Rajapakshe said, noting that there were two types of fuel stations: those owned by the CPC and those that were privately owned. He emphasised that privately owned stations were the most affected by the new formula.

However, Rajapakshe pointed out that fuel stations operated by Lanka IOC (LIOC), RM Parks Ltd., and Sinopec had decided to maintain the 3% commission for distributors, ensuring no issues with fuel supply at those stations. 

We anticipate shortages and we have been asked to meet with them on Tuesday (4),” he added.

However, CPC Chairman D.J.A.S. De S. Rajakaruna clarified that the Government’s decision to revise profit margins was based on actual costs, not on sales prices. He further explained that the ongoing issue had been sparked by one group of distributors who had publicly announced their refusal to purchase fuel, which he said misrepresented the situation.

The situation is different from what was portrayed,” Rajakaruna said, noting that the CPC had 1,696 orders, LIOC 471, Sinopec 391, and RM Parks 366, totalling 2,924 fuel orders. He assured that distribution was ongoing as usual.

Rajakaruna also stressed that the new pricing formula was designed to protect distributors and prevent unfair profits at the expense of consumers. We consider distributors as part of the fuel network,” he added.

Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Economic Development Prof. Anil Jayantha Fernando echoed these reassurances in Parliament yesterday (1), stating that there was no fuel shortage in the country. He accused organised groups of attempting to create an artificial fuel crisis to exaggerate the situation.

The Ministry of Energy has backed the CPC’s decision to revise commission rates, rejecting calls for negotiations with the Petroleum Dealers’ Association. 

Ministry of Energy Secretary Prof. Udayanga Hemapala explained that the dealers’ demands for higher profits were unreasonable, as commissions should not fluctuate with fuel prices.

Previously, the dealer margin was around 2.5%, which was later increased to 3% when fuel prices were lower. Now that prices have doubled, continuing to calculate commissions as a percentage would result in excessive profits for dealers to the detriment of consumers,” he said.

Despite concerns over fuel shortages due to the Petroleum Dealers’ Association’s threat to halt new fuel orders, Hemapala reassured the public that there was no crisis. 

Fuel remains available in the country and any issues are related to distribution, not supply,” he explained. Even if private dealers refuse to place new orders, CPC-owned stations and Lanka IOC outlets will continue operations.

Hemapala stated that the situation primarily affected privately owned stations but noted that it was not a significant concern, as the situation could be managed without them.

In response to reports of long queues in Colombo, he attributed this to public panic rather than an actual shortage. He expressed confidence that the dealers would understand the rationale behind the Government’s decision and ultimately comply.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced its Executive Board has ​completed the third review under the 48-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) Arrangement, allowing the authorities to draw SDR 254 million (about US$334 million). 

This brings the total IMF financial support disbursed to SDR 1.02 billion (about US$1.34 billion).

IMF Deputy Managing Director Kenji Okamura issued a statement saying that reforms in Sri Lanka are bearing fruit and that the economic recovery has been remarkable. Inflation remains low, revenue collection is improving, and reserves continue to accumulate. 

Economic growth has averaged 4.3 percent since growth resumed in the third quarter of 2023. By the end of 2024, Sri Lanka’s real GDP is estimated to have recovered 40 percent of its loss incurred between 2018 and 2023. The recovery is expected to continue in 2025.

” As the economy is still vulnerable, it is critical to sustain the reform momentum to ensure macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability and promote long-term inclusive growth. There is no room for policy errors,” he said. 

Courtesy Hiru News

The Matara Magistrate’s Court has issued a foreign travel ban on former IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon, along with a warrant for his arrest issued earlier.

The court has also ordered the arrest of eight suspects, including Tennakoon, in connection with the shooting incident that occurred on December 31, 2023, in front of the W 15 Hotel in the Weligama-Pelana area of Matara.

The suspects have been ordered to be produced before the court as investigations continue.

උපුටා ගැන්ම දේශය පුවත්

ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාවේ හිටපු ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතාගේ ඉදිරි දර්ශනය තමා අගය කරන බව ඉන්දීය අගමැති නරේන්ද්‍ර මෝදි මහතා පවසයි.

ඉන්දියාවේ පැවත්වෙන NXT Conclave 2025″ සමුළුවට සහභාගි වීමට ඉන්දියාවට ගොස් සිටින රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා හමුවූ අවස්ථාවේ ඉන්දීය අගමැතිවරයා එහි ඡායාරූපයක් තම සමාජ ජාල ගිණුමේ පල කරමින් මේ බව සඳහන් කර තිබේ.

” මගේ මිත්‍ර රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා NXT සමුළුවේදී හමු වුණා. මම සැමවිටම අපගේ අන්තර්ක්‍රියා දෙස බලා සිටි අතර විවිධ ගැටළු සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඔහුගේ ඉදිරි දර්ශනය අගය කර ඇත්තෙමි”

ඒ අතර රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ යනු තනිකර හිඟන්නෙක් සහ හොරෙක් බවත් එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය බිමටම වැටී පරාජය වී සිටිද්දී ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා විසින් ඇල්ලුව අඩවුව හේතුවෙන් පිනට ජනාධිපති වීමට රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතාට හැකියාව ලැබූ බව අධිකරණ ඇමැති හර්ශන නානායක්කාර මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා ජනාධිපති කාලයේ උපදේශකයන් තිස් නවයක් සියලු පහසුකම් දී නඩත්තු කර ඇති බවද ඔහු පාර්ලිමේන්තුව අමතමින් පැවසීය.

ඊට අදාළ වියදම් ලේඛනයක්ද ඔහු පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කළේය.

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KAMALIKA PIERIS

ARMING SINHALA SETTLEMENTS, 1984

The Tamil response to the Maduru Oya settlement was an eye-opener for the small coterie of Colombo elite who had taken an interest in the matter. They found that settling Sinhalese in Eelam needed much more strategy than they thought.  Tamils who arrived here through settler colonialism were determined to prevent the return of the Sinhalese to the East. They intended to completely stamp out these Sinhala settlements by killing off the Sinhala settlers and the bhikkhus who supported them.

The first cold-blooded killing of Sinhala settlers was in 1984. LTTE attacked the Sinhala settlements at Kent and Dollar farms on 30 November 1984, and Kokkilai and Nayaru fishing villages on 1 December 1984. It was an orgy of killing. [1]

After the attacks, Sinhala farmers living north of Padaviya and the Sinhala fishermen settled along the Trincomalee-Mullaitivu coast and started fleeing to their original villages.  They left with their families and with whatever they could carry with them. [2]

Lawyer S.L.Gunasekara informed his friends in Colombo that Kent and Dollar farms have been attacked by the LTTE and settlers killed. Now Padaviya will fold up, he said. Padaviya is about 30 minutes drive from Kent and Dollar farms, one hour from Kokkilai.

A group led by S.L.Gunasekara   including Malinga Gunaratne and B.H. Hemapriya  went to Padaviya on 7^th December. They saw Sinhala villagers from Kokkilai and Nayaru piled into lorries and   leaving for refugee camps at Negombo, Duwa and Pitipana. Padaviya villagers were also getting ready to leave for refugee camps. This meant the Padaviya settlement would collapse

Ven. Halmillawe Ratanasara whose temple was at Parakramapura, told them that Padaviya residents were poor and had no resources.  We have no organization to support us, no finances. The villagers are living in the fear of death. they are no longer tending their crops.   The mood is of dejection and despair.

The Colombo visitors decided that Padaviya must not be allowed to fall. To do so, they must stop Padaviya residents from leaving. They announced that they will help only if the Padaviya residents continued to stay in Padaviya.

Despite the panic that had gripped Padaviya some farmers still remained with their families, said Malinga in his book. They had been given guns by Major Bohran of the army unit there. Gunasiri, who was from the Maduru Oya project, emerged as the leader. He said better to die fighting than run for the rest of our life.  

S.L. Gunasekera returned to Colombo, much concerned. He met Devinda Senanayake in Colombo on a private matter. Devinda Senanayake was the son of Robert Senanayake, brother of DS Senanayake. Gunasekera   told Devinda about the situation at Padaviya. Devinda went to Padaviya to see for himself.

Devinda and S.L. then drafted a report to Chief of Civil Defense, Brigadier Dennis Hapugalle. The report recommended two items.  The first was to arm and train the Sinhala villagers in the use of firearms.  The second was to station an army brigade in Weli Oya and to establish a string of army posts to guard the Sinhala villages. 

This report went to Security Council   and from there it came to the attention of Ravi Jayawardene who had returned to the country from Australia, where he was living. He contacted Devinda, whom he knew socially. They discussed how to stop the Sinhala retreat.

In the meantime, a handful of the Colombo elite were also concerned about the matter. There was Malkanthi (pseud) a Colombo socialite and her   husband Harendra (pseud). There was Sonia and Mithra   who hosted meetings at their houses. Others in the group included Malinga, Hemapriya and some members of the army. They had realized the need for discretion. we must fade away after the projects are completed, they said.

After the Maduru Oya fiasco, and the Yan Oya non-event, this group decided that now was not the time for new settlements. We must first consolidate what we have. The settlements needed armed protection. Their solution was to provide weapons and training to the settlers so that they could withstand an LTTE attack.

Malinga said in his book, with deep feeling that they had tried to inform Colombo politicians, about the threat to Padaviya. They knew about this because Karunatilleke and   Hemapriya had reported in 1983 to Mahaweli authorities that the LTTE were getting ready to attack Padaviya. they were training for this at Kent and Dollar farms. Padaviya settlers were going to be killed by the LTTE.

 Malinga and Co tried to ‘inject a sense of urgency’ to Colombo but failed miserably. Despite our pleadings, Padaviya remained unprepared, said Malinga.  Padaviya’s situation did not interest Colombo. It was as though Padaviya was not a part of the country.

Ravi Jayewardene’s interest in the matter was theretofore a tremendous boost to Malinga and his group.   They met with Ravi. In Ravi we found the support we needed, Malinga said. Ravi told them how to set about the matter. This must be a low key operation done in the strictest of secrecy, said Ravi.

he would select the trainers and supervise the training. They must be put through an assault course, given firing practice and brought up to combat level. This will take some time.  Ravi would also   obtain   the guns and ammunition needed by the settlers.  

Ravi found the future trainers. They came from the army. he trained them for the task. He had to personally supervise the operation to the minutest of detail. He received very little cooperation from the authorities.  His team was   ready by December 1984.

In the meantime the Colombo group met daily to work out the   logistics. Malinga was asked to identify the key Sinhala settlements.  Malinga told them that there were three critical areas, Padaviya, Trincomalee and Malwatu Oya,    in    that order. LTTE will strike at them all.  If we can hold these three settlements, LTTE will face a setback.  5000 guns around Trincomalee, 7000 round Padaviya and 5000 around Malwatu Oya plus training and they will look after themselves.

Further, If we   hold these three settlements, we can afford t lose small pockets in Mannar Mullaitivu and Jaffna, Malinga added.   The Sinhala concentrations in Jaffna and Mannar have already retreated.

The group discussed the possibility of getting monks in Yan Oya, Padaviya and Trincomalee to resettle people around the temples in those areas but did not carry out the idea. They focused on arming the settlements.

The group decided   to arm and train Padaviya settlers first.   Padaviya was of strategic significance. The settlement was only two miles from the sea. They went to Padaviya in first week of January 1985 taking Ravi Jayewardene, the team of trainers and the guns. Weapons went by road, people went by helicopter.

Dimbulagala Hamuduruwo was also brought there. Malinga had suggested this. Dimbulagala has the ability to muster support.  He is the only person who can take 50,000 people to any part of the country, said Malinga.  Malinga addressed the crowd.  Then Dimbulagala spoke. He chanted pirit for a few moments, tucked up his robes, gave a stirring speech and asked the settlers to hold on to Padaviya.

Halmillawa Ratanasara of Parakramapura together with the chief priest at Sinhapura had organized the volunteers for the training. Trainers had been given clear instruction on what to do. I won’t give the details, said Malinga in his book.  Later historians can find out how the defense system was mounted. But a fine defense system was developed at Padaviya. That is why Padaviya still stands today.

However, the Padaviya farmers had complained that they could not till the soil and earn their livelihood while at the same time watching out for the LTTE. After a full day’s farming it was not possible to function as security as well.

The Colombo group next decided to fortify Trincomalee and its hinterland. Morawewa was selected as the location for training, as there were Sinhala settlers there who were ready to defend Morawewa. Morawewa, Gomarankadawela and Tiriyaya leaders were contacted. They were told to get people form Yan Oya delta as well and come along.

The group went to Morawewa on third Saturday of January 1985 .They used the air force agriculture base camp at Morawewa for the training. Ravi supervised the training.  The trainers came from the STF. They were unable, however, said Malinga, to fortify south of Trincomalee, such as s Ali Oluwa and Muttur.

Then they went to Malwatu, where the settlements at Tantirimale and Villachchiya were under threat. They   selected Tantrimale for training.  Two aircrafts took the people and the guns.  

Looking back, Malinga notes that the whole operation was done silently, Padaviya, Trincomalee and Malwatu. No publicity, no fanfare.   Ravi was invisible. Malinga Gunaratne drew attention to the contribution of Ravi Jayawardene.

The fortification of   Padaviya, Trincomalee, and Tantirimale, using trained and equipped civilians was done by Ravi Jayewardene. The world must know this. There were no attacks on civilians there after this, concluded Malinga Gunaratne,

 Journalist T Sabaratnam, writing to Tamilnet provides another account of this period. He said that the  Devinda- S.L. report had reached Security Council. In one of the Security Council meetings, Brigadier Dennis Hapugalle submitted a report prepared by S. L. Gunasekera- and Devinda Senanayake. [3] KEEP

The  report advocated two measures.  The first was to arm and train the Sinhala villagers in the use of firearms.  The second was to station an army brigade in Weli Oya and to establish a string of army posts to guard the Sinhala villages. 

Those recommendations were accepted and Weli Oya Brigade Headquarters was established four kilometers from Kent Farm.  The former Chief of Staff of the Army, General Janaka Perera, was appointed the Commanding Officer.  Janakapura, a new town built in Weli Oya, was named after him, said Sabaratnam.

Arming of the Sinhala villagers began in mid- January 1985.  It was   announced in January 1985 that 50 to 100 Home Guards would be trained and deployed to guard Weli Oya. Ravi Jayewardene and the voluntary organization he founded, Sath Sevana, undertook that job.  Funds were provided by the government.  Sath Sevana started the arming operation from Padaviya and concluded with Gomarankadawela in the in the Trincomalee district.  By the end of April, all Sinhala villages in Weli Oya had been armed.

That policy resulted in the militarization of the Weli Oya settlements.All Sinhala border villages had been militarized by the middle of 1985.  The army became the enforcer of civil rule among the Sinhala villages in the region. But, arming of Sinhala border villages   only heightened Tamil militant activity.  It created a situation where an entire brigade of the army had to be deployed to protect the Sinhala settlers, concluded Sabaratnam.

In 2000, there was   another bout of support for the Sinhala settlers at Weli Oya, (former Manal aru) .This time it was for bunkers, not arms.

Weli Oya was attacked by the LTTE November 1999 using guns they had captured from the Army. These attacks on the Weli Oya villages resulted in a mass exodus to Padaviya. A group of Sinhala expatriates were at the Chaitiyagiriya temple on November 12, 1999. We were able to witness the confusion that resulted due to these attacks.

An alert Army Commando suddenly shouted for us to take cover when he heard the sound of an artillery shell pick up. We immediately ran for cover to an abandoned pond below ground level. that was the safest place in the absence of an underground bunker. Three artillery shells fell in the adjacent paddy field in quick succession, but no one was hurt.

It was on this day that we of the Thawalama Development Foundation decided to fund the construction of underground bunkers in Weli Oya, if and when the people decided to return to their homes from the refugee camps to which they were now rushing.

 With the readjustment of the forward defence line closer to the Weli Oya settlement, more than 60% to 70% of those who were displaced as a result of the November LTTE artillery attack, returned home, However, a similar exodus cannot be ruled out if another LTTE attack is staged unless underground bunkers are built .

We set up a project to construct underground bunkers for the protection of the Weli Oya Sinhala villagers and called for patriotic Sinhala organizations and citizens here and abroad to consider contributing t.

A project proposal was prepared by the 223 Brigade Commander. The total cost of the project was approximately Rs. 6.5 million for the construction of 622 underground bunkers in the settlement. The cost of a family underground bunker was estimated at Rs. 10,000 and nine larger underground bunkers were to be built for the five schools. Each of these bunkers was estimated to cost Rs. 30,000.

The Thawalama Development Foundation based in Colombo  could not implement such a large project single-handed. We therefore requested that an organization named the Weli Oya Development Foundation be established in the project area to assist us in this Endeavour with Ven.  Kuda Halmillewa Ratnasara Nayake thero of the Chaitiyagiriya temple as its president. This organization is presently successfully implementing the project at grassroots level in Weli Oya with the finances we provide.

Visiting Weli Oya on August 23, 2000 to see the progress achieved, we saw that at Janakapura, construction work on 15 family bunkers had been completed with the funds so far provided.  Funds for a further 30 family bunkers at Janakapura have been promised by expatriates living in the Middle East. 

At Athawatunuwewa construction work on 18 family bunkers had been completed with the funds sent in by the Sri Lanka Association North West UK. Two larger bunkers were under construction at the Athawatunuwewa village school.

 We have already received the necessary funds to construct the nine bunkers necessary for the five schools from the Buddhist Village Trust Sri Lanka based in the UK. This same trust also funded the construction of 17 family bunkers at Kalyanapura 1. The construction work on  family bunkers at this village too had been completed.

It was at Kalyanapura that we were made to realize the tremendous value of our timely action. Villagers pointed out to us several craters near their houses where artillery shells had fallen on August 18, at around 4.30 in the evening. They told us that on hearing the sound of the artillery shell pick up, all the villagers had rushed into the newly constructed family bunkers carrying their children with them.

They had hardly reached safety when the first shell exploded in the compound of Herath Banda. 25 shells followed before the bombarding ceased. No villagers were hurt thanks to the bunkers. The destructive power of the artillery shells was clearly evident to us from the banana trees that had been ripped to shreds and the deep gashes the shrapnel had cut on the barks of hardwood trees. Had it not been for the bunkers, that shell attack would have taken the lives of many of us, villagers said.

While we live in the unaffected areas of the country sleep soundly in comfortable bedrooms the families of Weli Oya spend their nights cramped up bunkers for the sake of survival concluded Thawalama Development Foundation,  in 2000. [4](Continued)

[1]  Malinga Gunaratne. For a sovereign state p 219?

[2] https://sangam.org/pirapaharan-vol-2-chap-43-the-massacres/ sabaratnam

[3] https://sangam.org/pirapaharan-2-chapter-23-manal-aru-becomes-weli-oya/

[4] https://www.sundaytimes.lk/000924/plus5.html

Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.

Cao Fei (China), My Future Is Not a Dream 05, 2006. Dear friends, Greetings from the desk of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. In his first month back in the White House, US President Donald Trump indicated his interest in annexing Greenland and brokering a peace deal for Ukraine that would include access to Ukrainian minerals and metals. It is important to note that Greenland has already been a point of contention around its vast holdings of rare earth minerals with such remarkable names as dysprosium, neodymium, scandium, and yttrium (there are seventeen rare earth minerals that are central to any advanced technology). Given that Greenland is part of Denmark, it is therefore beholden to European Union (EU) rules. In 2011, the EU published a list of critical raw materials, which included these rare earth minerals. Then, in 2023, the EU passed the Critical Raw Materials Act, which urged domestic production of these critical minerals and metals and their import into the continent. Ukraine, meanwhile, has an enormous trove of rare earth metals (from apatite to zirconium) as well as reserves of lithium and titanium. Trump demanded at least $500 billion of these reserves from Ukraine as payment for the US’s support in the war. ‘I want to have security of rare earth’, Trump told reporters in early February, sounding like a character from the Lord of the Rings. Currently, both the United States and Europe import almost all of these crucial rare earth metals from China. In late December 2024, in retaliation for the US tightening sanctions and tariffs on China’s technology sector, the Chinese government banned the export of antimony, gallium, and germanium as well as superhard materials (matter with a hardness greater than 40 gigapascals or GPa) to the United States. Under former President Joe Biden, the US had tried to derail China’s developments in artificial intelligence and chipmaking equipment by restricting the export of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips to China. China’s ability to squeeze the supply chain has created a crisis in the West, which is precisely why Trump made his remarks about Greenland and Ukraine’s rare earth cache. Liu Xiaodong (China), Diary of an Empty City No. 2, 2015. It makes total sense from the US national security position to seek a ceasefire in Ukraine. The US gains nothing from this war, which has become a matter of prestige for Europe’s elites. If Trump can restart relations with Russia, he could use that to leverage rights over minerals and metals in Ukraine as well as to demand control over Greenland’s resources (rather than outright annexation). But more than anything, if the United States is able to revive relations with Russia, it will seek to weaken the country’s alliance with China. This is the ‘Reverse Kissinger’ strategy: under US President Richard Nixon, National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger pursued an approach in the late 1960s to befriend China in order to isolate the Soviet Union, while Trump’s Reverse Kissinger approach seeks to isolate China by rupturing its links to Russia. On 4 February 2022, China and Russia signed a ‘no limits’ friendship agreement; twenty days later, Russian troops invaded Ukraine, and despite misgivings about this development, China supported the Russians throughout the war. It is, therefore, unlikely that Russia will accede to a Reverse Kissinger strategy, although there are sections of the Russian elite that are eager for a rapprochement with the West. The United States loses nothing if it enforces a ceasefire in Ukraine. Russia is not a major threat to US control over the world economy. It is merely a commodity exporter, namely of oil, natural gas, and other minerals and metals. The US knows that Russia will not attack it with its nuclear arsenal because that would be suicidal, and the US knows that Russia merely would like a security guarantee that its cities not be threatened by intermediate nuclear weapons held in neighbouring states. China, however, is seen by the United States as a serious existential threat. In the weeks since Trump began to announce his tariffs and potential annexations, a small Chinese company unveiled an open-source machine learning platform called DeepSeek that significantly outperforms US-based ChatGPT in a number of respects, including technical and mathematical tasks. Concurrently, during the impending ban of the social media platform TikTok, US users abandoned it not for a Western replacement but for China’s Xiaohongshu (or Red Note). Finally, China’s nuclear fusion device Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), Physics World wrote, ‘produced a steady-state high-confinement plasma for 1,066 seconds, breaking EAST’s previous 2023 record of 403 seconds’. This last development is an advance for the potential of a fusion power plant, a promise of almost limitless clean energy without significant radioactive waste. Yu Hong (China), A Man Playing the Hula Hoop, 1992. These advances are not accidental but a consequence of long-term planning by the Chinese government, led by the Communist Party. Since the 1978 reform era, China has been cautious about allowing foreign capital and industry into the country without benefit for the Chinese economy. That benefit came in the way of technology and science transfer in exchange for market access, a deal that the companies of the Global North – eager for a high-quality workforce and low wages – accepted. The Chinese government funded its higher education systems, provided incentives to private innovation, and used the surplus from exports to build infrastructure. The planned advances enabled China’s industrial sector to improve its productive forces and not rely merely on labour-intensive production or production using old technologies. By the time President Xi Jinping used the term ‘new quality productive forces’ during a visit to Heilongjiang Province in September 2023, this idea had manifested itself in the new factories across China (namely ‘dark’, or fully automated, factories). The following March 2024, at the Two Sessions meeting, the phrase ‘new quality productive forces’ entered the government work report. The Third Plenum in July 2024 deepened the concept by focusing on the promotion of ‘revolutionary technological breakthroughs, innovative allocation of productive forces, and in-depth industrial transformation and upgrading of industries’. Fang Lijun (China), Series 2 No. 10, 1992–1993. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute, established by the Australian government in 2001 and partly funded by the Australian military, has developed a Critical Technology Tracker that keeps close records of sixty-four critical technologies. Their latest report in August 2024 provides a twenty-one-year assessment of which countries lead in the development of critical technologies. Between 2003 and 2007, the United States led in sixty of sixty-four technologies, while China led in only three of them. Between 2019 and 2023, however, the US led in only seven of the sixty-four technologies, whereas China led in fifty-seven of the sixty-four. China leads in such diverse areas as advanced integrated circuit design and fabrication (semiconductor chipmaking), gravitational sensors, high-performance computing, quantum sensors, and space launch technology. The United States leads in atomic clocks, genetic engineering, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy, quantum computing, small satellites, and vaccines and medical countermeasures. The report notes that ‘China’s enormous investments and decades of strategic planning are now paying off’. The commitment to innovation has spread across Chinese society. In the Lingang New Area in Shanghai, the local government has articulated policies for an industrial area with high-level computing power to accelerate industrial innovation through the new quality productive forces that have been established. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has announced deep cuts to science funding in the United States. A Chatham House essay appeared at the end of January with the urgent title ‘The World Should Take the Prospect of Chinese Tech Dominance Seriously, and Start Preparing Now’. Interesting that the headline did not directly focus on the United States but on ‘the world’ because the writer worried that ‘in the most extreme scenario, China could eclipse the US rapidly’. Liu Wei (China), Revolutionary Family, 1992. In 1891, the late Qing poet and diplomat Huang Zunxian (1848–1905) took the elevator to the viewing gallery of the Eiffel Tower (opened only two years earlier). Huang wrote a poem, ‘On Climbing the Eiffel Tower’ (登巴黎铁塔), about the extraordinary views he enjoyed from there, looking down at the ‘million acres of the world’s most fertile lands’. Though the technology that enabled him to enjoy this view impressed him, he was less captivated by what was on the ground: All of Europe is an ancient battlefield; Its people love war and don’t compromise lightly. Today six great emperors divide the continent, Each boasting that he’s the strongest leader of the world. These fellows resemble the proverbial kings in a snail shell. Who wasted their time chalking up victories and defeats. Today, not much has changed but the vocabulary of the battlefield: tariffs, unilateral coercive measures, intermediate nuclear missiles, and the iron dome. During the pandemic, the watchword in US allies like India was ‘collaboration, not confrontation’. It would be so much better if the United States decided to collaborate with China for the well-being of the planet rather than trying to force the country to reverse its development. Warmly, Vijay

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

ජනාධිපති අනුර දිසානායක මහතා මෑතකදී සිදු කළ විදේශ සංචාරයන් සඳහා වැය වූයේ රුපියල් ලක්ෂ දහඅටක් පමණක් යැයි පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී අගමැතිනි හරිනි අමුරසූරිය කළ ප්‍රකාශයට පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී දිලිත් ජයවීර මහතා අභියෝග කරයි.

ඔහු පෙන්වා දෙන්නේ එම ගමන් එම මුදලින් රටවල් තුනකට සංචාරය කලේ යයි විශ්වාස කල නොහැකි බවයි.

‘ජනාධිපතිතුමා විදේශ සංචාර වියදම් අඩු කර ඇතැයි අගමැතිතුමිය කියනවා. ඔහු පා පුවරුවේ ගියත් මෙතරම් අඩු මුදලකින් රටවල් තුනකට ගියේ කොහොමද කියලා මම දන්නේ නැහැ’

වියදම් අඩු කිරීමෙන් පමණක් ලාභ උපයාගත නොහැකි බවද පැවසූ මන්ත්‍රීවරයා ආදායම් උත්පාදනය කෙරෙහි අවධානය යොමු කළ යුතු බවද කියා සිටියේය.

අයවැය හිගය පියවන්නේ කෙසේද, මෙරට ණය ආපසු ගෙවන්නේ කෙසේද යයි විමසූ මන්ත්‍රීවරයා අප අපවම රවටා නොගත යුතු බවද පාර්ලිමේන්තුව අමතමින් පැවසුවේය.

2010- 2014 දක්වා වසර හතරක කාලයේදී විදේශ සංචාර සඳහා හිටපු ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා රුපියල් කෝටි තුන්සිය පනස් හතකට වැඩි මුදලක් වැය කර ඇතැයි අගමැතිනී ආචාර්ය හරිනි අමරසූරිය මෙනවිය පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී අද පැවසුවාය.

හිටපු ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රිපාල සිරිසේන මහතා 2015-2019 අතර කාලයේදී විදේශ සංචාර වෙනුවෙන් රුපියල් තිස් අට කෝටියකට වැඩි මුදලක් වැය කර ඇති බවත් හිටපු ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා 2020-2022 කාලයේදී රුපියල් කෝටි දොළහකට වැඩි මුදලක් වැය කර ඇති බවත් ඇය ප්‍රකාශ කළාය.

හිටපු ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා 2023-2024 කාලයේදී රුපියල් කෝටි පනස් තුනකට වැඩි මුදලක් වැය කර ඇති බව පැවසු අගමැතිවරිය අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක ජනාධිපතිවරයා 2024 සැප්තැම්බර් සිට 2025 පෙබරවාරි දක්වා ගිය විදේශ සංචාර වෙනුවෙන් වැය කර ඇත්තේ රැපියල් ලක්ෂ 18ක මුදලක් පමණක් බවද කීවාය.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, Feb 27 (Daily Mirror) – The Singaporean authorities have cited inability to extradite former Central Bank Governor Arjun Mahendran to Sri Lanka in terms of the legal system of that country, posing a fresh challenge for the government in its attempt to investigate the bond scam which caused a loss of Rs.10 billion in 2015, Daily Mirror learns.

The Sri Lankan Attorney Generals Department sought the extradition of Mr. Mahendran who is implicated in the bond fraud that took place under the Yahapalana government. Mr. Mahendran, a Singaporean of Sri Lankan origin, was appointed Central Bank Governor at that time.

Last year, the Colombo Magistrate’s Court noticed him to appear before the court on February 25, 2025 over a case filed by the Bribery Commission.

The Colombo Permanent Trial-at-Bar bench has already issued a warrant through Interpol for the arrest of former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran in connection with the Central Bank bond scam

The case has been filed over the alleged misappropriation of bonds causing a loss of over Rs. 10 billion to the government of Sri Lanka in 2015.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in the run up to the presidential elections last year, vowed to bring him back to Sri Lanka. He even said it would be a priority of his government. After the presidential election, then Cabinet spokesman Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath announced that the Public Security Ministry had commenced legal investigations into the bond fraud, taking into account the findings of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry and the Parliamentary Select Committee.

The Central Bank bond scam, which occurred on February 27, 2015. The scam involved the issuance of government bonds by the Central Bank under the leadership of Mr. Mahendran as the governor.

Perpetual Treasuries Limited, a primary dealer in the bond market and owned by Mahendran’s son-in-law Arjun Aloysius, was a major beneficiary of the bond issuance.

A top source said that the legal authorities of Singapore had informed their Sri Lankan counterpart that Mr. Mahendran could not be extradited according to the law of that country.

The Commonwealth Schemes provide for extradition of fugitive criminals between Sri Lanka and Singapore as commonwealth countries.

Courtesy Adaderana

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has directed the District Secretaries to allocate Rs. 1,400 billion in recurrent expenditure for the implementation of productive projects at the grassroots level over the next eight months.

The President made these remarks during a discussion held with the District Secretaries, today (27) at the Presidential Secretariat, the President’s Media Division (PMD) reported.

The President also emphasized that by developing the rural economy, the country’s economic growth could be elevated by 3% to 4%. He stressed the need to enhance existing economic opportunities and identify new sources of growth during the expansion of the economy to rural areas, the PMD said.

The pension schemes proposed in the 2025 budget were also deliberated upon during this meeting.

Moreover, the President pointed out that there is a prevailing negative perception of the public sector and that inefficiency within government services has contributed to this situation. He underscored the necessity of creating satisfied and effective government officials, and emphasized the need to improve the efficiency of public services.

Currently, 30,000 vacancies have been identified within the public service, and the President stated that the government plans to recruit for these positions in categories, which would complete the mid-level staffing of the public service, it added.

The President emphasized that development is not limited to constructing buildings and bridges but also involves uplifting the fractured social structure, a responsibility that primarily lies with the District Secretaries.

Additionally, the District Secretaries raised issues specific to their districts, which were brought to the President’s attention, and extensive discussions were held on possible solutions and proposals.

The meeting was attended by the Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government, Dr. Chandana Abeyratne; Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration Alok Bandara, as well as the District Secretaries, according to the PMD.

Divaina Online

Courtesy The Island

Gnanasara Thera

The Colombo High Court yesterday (25) released on bail Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera, who was sentenced on 09 January, 2025, for a nine-month jail term for making defamatory comments on Islam.

The court issued the order after examining a revision petition filed by the counsel for Gnanasara Thera. They sought bail pending the hearing of an appeal filed related to the case and the announcement of a final decision.

The Colombo Additional Magistrate Pasan Amarasena also ordered the imposition of a fine of Rs. 1,500 on the defendant.

Police had filed this case against Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera under Section 291 of the Penal Code. The police alleged that the Thera violated ethnic harmony by declaring, Islam is a cancer… it must be eradicated” during a press conference held at Kirulapone on July 16, 2016.

Courtesy The Island

Thuyyakontha

… Easter Sunday carnage suspects among them

The government has issued a gazette extending the ban on several Tamil diaspora groups, alleging they supported terrorism-related activities,” The Tamil Guardian has reported.

The gazette, signed by Defence Secretary Air Vice Marshal (retd.) Sampath Thuyyakontha, declared that these organisations have repeatedly provided financial support for terrorism.” As a result, their financial and economic assets remain frozen, and Sri Lankans are prohibited from having any contact with them. Those that do risk being arrested.

The list also reaffirms the ban on 222 individuals allegedly linked to terrorism.

The organisations blacklisted by the Sri Lankan government include:

*  Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)

*  Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO)

*  Tamil Coordinating Committee (TCC)

*  World Tamil Movement (WTM)

*  Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE)

*  World Tamil Relief Fund (WTRF)

*  National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT)

*  Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO)

Other organisations listed include several linked to Islamic groups, such as the National Towhead Jema’ah (NTJ) and the Sri Lanka Islamic Student Movement (SLISM).

The Tamil Guardian reported that successive Sri Lankan governments have used terrorism laws to ban Tamil organisations that continue to function openly and legally in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and throughout Europe. This ban, however, stifles links between these diaspora organisations and Tamils, making it a criminal offence for Sri Lankan citizens to maintain contact with them.

The reposition of the ban follows a pattern seen in previous years. In 2024, Sri Lanka renewed its prohibition of Tamil diaspora organisations, days after India extended its own ban on the LTTE. The move was widely condemned as politically motivated and an attempt to justify Sri Lanka’s military presence in the Tamil homeland”.

By Poojathmi Rivithma Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, Feb 26 (Daily Mirror) – A total of 2.5 million people have started to focus on donating their eye corneas after their death, marking a significant step in supporting eye donation efforts, the Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society (SLEDS) said.

SLEDS Senior Manager, Janath Saman Matara Arachchi, told the Daily Mirror that 114 cities in 57 countries have been sending eye corneas, which help people suffering from blindness.

He said that, from the beginning until now, a total of 95,203 eye corneas have been sent overseas.

However, the most eye corneas have been donated to Pakistan, followed by Egypt gaining second place in receiving eye corneas.

Meanwhile, the process within Sri Lanka’s healthcare system is providing worldwide medical services where anyone can help for better access to eye care.

In Sri Lanka, 59,202 eye corneas have been donated for the local patients, improving the lives of many individuals suffering from loss of vision.

Furthermore, SLEDS continues raising public awareness on the importance of eye donation, with hopes to restore vision for many more individuals in the future.

Courtesy Hiru News

Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa arrived at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) this morning to provide a statement regarding the ongoing investigation into an Airbus deal involving SriLankan Airlines.

According to reports from the scene, he reached the CID at around 9.15 am.

The Financial Crimes Investigation Unit of the Financial and Commercial Crimes Investigation Division is conducting the probe following a complaint filed by a former Secretary to the Ministry of Public Enterprise Development.

Sugath Kulatunga

As a person associated with Export Development from 1975, in Sri Lanka and abroad, I am delighted to note the priority given to Export Development in the current Budget. I am also happy to see the restoration of the Export Development Council of Ministers and the proposal to formulate a National Export Development Plan.

An Export Development Plan is a statutory provision mandated by Article 12 of

Sri Lanka Export Development Act, no. 40 of 1979 vide:

12 (d) to formulate a national export development plan and program for approval by the Export Development Council of Ministers.

(e) to monitor the implementation of the national export plan and program and actively assist in the implementation of the plan.

Accordingly, the EDB formulated a comprehensive export plan on all relevant sectors of the economy with the participation of state agencies and the private sector. In the formulation of a new plan, it would be useful to look at the strategies and procedures followed in that successful operation.

In the following note the Budget proposals are given in Italics.

The Budget also proposes to support expansion of export-oriented investment, sector-specific zones, establishing eco-industrial parks….through Public Private

Partnership (PPPs) and privately run zones.”

Most effective way to promote investments is to make available well formulated feasibility studies on our potential. This too was a function provided for in the EDB ACT ref;

Article 12 (m) to carry out feasibility studies on export-oriented projects and to undertake any special projects on export development on a pilot basis.

In view of the absence of any other financial institution to provide funds for innovative investments involving some risk, the EDB Act provides for investments in selected export projects. In 1979 a special Division was created in the EDB to support the private sector formulate projects and evaluate them and serve as a Venture Capital window to invest in innovative pioneering projects. Through this facility a number of pioneering projects were established. But a subsequent Board of Management not only abandoned the concept of venture capital but disbanded the EDB division with its trained staff.

The Budget Speech states on Investment Promotion

Government will support expansion of export-oriented investment…

Budget Speech also stresses that

The development of small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurship is a key

objective of the Government.

A strategy followed with success by countries like India and Pakistan to induce investments and develop SMEs is to make freely available a comprehensive portfolio of feasibility studies on investment opportunities. Such professionally formulated investment proposals also obviate project failures.

A sample list of such feasibility studies/project reports are available on the following websites.

https://smeda.org/index.php/business-facilitation/smeda-downloads/pre-feasibility-studies;

https://smeda.org/index.php/business-facilitation/smeda-downloads/pre-feasibility-studies

https://www.entrepreneurindia.co/project-and-profile

https://www.niir.org/project-reports/

These agencies not only provide feasibility/project reports but provide consultancy services.

It is strongly recommended that the EDB Projects Division be restored and strengthened with technically qualified staff.

In order to enable the EDB to serve as a venture capital provider, the export cess should be continued and the cess collection be remitted directly to the EDB Fund as required by the EDB ACT in which (Section 14 (1) for a CESS on imports and exports.

By Sub Section 14 (5) it is required that the proceeds of the cess recovered under this section shall be paid monthly by the Principal Collector of Customs to the credit of the EDB Fund.)

The 2025 Budget proposals to establish a function of a development bank through a new administrative structure will be established through the existing state bank mechanism.

Government of Sri Lanka had established the National Development Bank for the purpose of promotion of industrial, agricultural, commercial and other development of the economy of Sri Lanka having regard inter alia to the development of the rural sector. One of the objectives of the NDB was to undertake development projects, including pilot projects, in order to achieve the purposes of the Bank. Unfortunately, the NDB acted like any other commercial bank and was finally privatized by CBK who was on a selling spree. It is no more national but continues to call itself national. The other development bank, the DFCC was also privatized. They are now doing quite well as commercial banks.

In the 1980s the EDB promoted the creation of a subsidiary unit in the then NDB, with contributions from the EDB, NDB, BOC and People’s bank as a venture capital unit. But the experience was that this unit functioned as a normal commercial bank and was risk averse. A new development bank has to be ready to take informed risks and should serve as a venture capital facility and not tainted by collateral dependent commercial banks.

We observe that there are a number of research findings which have not been commercialized and utilized for the benefit of the economy, and reaping the investment opportunities. For this purpose, we propose to allocate Rs. 1,000 million to create an Innovation Invention Fund for commercialization of Research Findings.

The proposed venture capital facility can serve the proposed Innovation Invention Fund for commercialization of Research Findings.

The neglect of this concern has already cost the country money as well as essential inputs into agriculture. One such example is the non-commercialization of a patent on Nano urea. Sri Lanka failed to take advantage of the nano urea patented by SLINTEC 12 years back. It is claimed that the local product is superior to the imported product as it has a 38-40 percent loading of nitrogen.

The irony is that the SLINTEC patent was sold to an Indian firm for 3 million US dollars in 2013 and later in 2021 the cabinet approved the purchase from India nano urea for 52 million US dollars for the maha season only. Our loss was a huge gain for India.

Industrial Development

The industrial sector in Sri Lanka plays a crucial role in its economy

predominantly in providing employment opportunities, increasing income,

fostering innovation, and driving exports.

The neglect of industrialization by our policy makers despite having the experience of a number of basic industries like ceramics, paper, plywood, leather and glass established during the days of World War II was inexcusable. This was due to the politicization of economic decisions which continued for the last seventy-five years of independence. The curse of the original sin of ignoring industrialization continues to plague the development of the country. A land with a potential economic miracle and a paradise has been made into a miserable failed nation. Leaders who achieved political independence of the county also made the country economically dependent on continuity.

The world is now in the fourth industrial revolution. The lack of vision of our politicians and policy makers have left us at least half a century behind in technology and industrialization. We may still have a leapfrog advantage to graduate from elementary technology into emerging high technology. For this the present education system has to be completely overhauled. Patch work measures will be unproductive.

Industrialization does not fall from heaven and not from radical statements. It  depends on the skills and basic technological knowledge of the manpower in the country. They go a long way to attract foreign investment which accelerates industrialization. In countries in East Asia which achieved rapid economic development, the triad of education,technology and industrialization functioned in unison.

In the near future we should have an industrial policy which is supported with a technology policy which in turn feeds into education policy.

Now on the more controversial subject of exchange control. One wonders why the repeal of the Exchange Control Act is not indicated in the Budget Speech.

According to a Global Integrity Report d during the last 22 years export proceeds that should have been repatriated back to the country but not sent back was USD 53.5 billion. The Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance of Ranil have been evasive on why no action is being taken to ensure that this vast sum is more than the total amount of our foreign debt of 36 billion USD.

The real reason why it will not happen is with the covenant the government has agreed with the IMF. These conditions are in the Attachment I. to the Letter of Intent dated March 6,2023 signed by both President Wickremesinghe and the Governor of the Central Bank Nandalal Weerasinghe in the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies.  At Page 98 of the IMF Staff Report 23/116, it is stipulated in Article 21:

21. We will phase out the administrative measures imposed to support the balance of payments, including those introduced on an emergency basis, once conditions allow. These measures include import restrictions, exchange restrictions, multiple currency practices (MCPs), and capital flow management (CFM) measures.

While the mentioned import restrictions, exchange restrictions, MCPs and CFMs could help mitigate FX shortages in the near term, we believe they should not be a substitute for the comprehensive policy package and ongoing macroeconomic adjustment. We are committed to phasing these measures out as the balance of payments stabilizes. To this end, by June 2023, we will prepare a plan for the phased removal of these measures during the program period as we make progress with achieving macroeconomic stability, particularly with respect to the exchange rate, debt sustainability, and financial stability, improved market access.

Reference footnote 36 the main CFM measures introduced or tightened in 2020-2022 and currently in force include: (i) a repatriation requirement for exports of goods and services; (ii) a surrender requirement for exporters on proceeds from exports of goods; (iii) a surrender requirement for banks on purchases of export proceeds; (iv) a surrender requirement for banks on purchases of inward worker remittances; (v) suspension of outward remittances on capital transactions; (vi) restrictions on purchases of Sri Lankan ISBs by local bank”.

These exports were generated with precious of foreign exchange released for imported inputs.  It is  proposed that this exchange control offence is brought under the proposed Proceeds of Crime legislation and this huge amount of funds criminally hoarded abroad is recovered urgently.

by Dimitris Konstantakopoulos

Feb 23, 2025

In a previous article (https://www.defenddemocracy.press/a-first-look-at-trumps-foreign-policy/) we highlighted the (apparent and at first glance) contradictory nature of Donald Trump’s foreign policy. On one hand, we observe an extreme expansionism reminiscent of the 1930s (Greenland, Canada, Palestine, Panama), and on the other, a significant push for peace in Ukraine and an end to the terrible tragedy that has struck this country.

Trump’s overtures to Moscow regarding Ukraine are, in principle, the most promising for the Ukrainian people, who are dying needlessly in the trenches by the hundreds of thousands, watching their country being destroyed. They are also promising for humanity as a whole, given the increased risk of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction being used, as well as the ongoing massive direct and indirect environmental destruction caused by this conflict.

Trump has acknowledged that Ukraine will never join NATO—a position that, if adopted by Biden or even Trump during his previous term, or by the supposedly democratic imperialist Europeans, would have prevented the war and the destruction of the second-largest country in Europe.

Trump also stated that Ukraine would not regain the territories of Donbass and Crimea, thereby respecting the will of the Russian majority in those regions. It is worth noting that Ukraine would not have lost” Crimea if the Americans had not orchestrated a coup in Kyiv in 2014. Similarly, it would not have lost” Donbass if Kyiv, Berlin, and Paris had honored their commitments under the Minsk 1 and Minsk 2 agreements, and if Mr. Biden or even Mr. Trump during his previous term had pressured Kyiv to implement them. Not only would Ukraine not have lost” these territories, but it would also have avoided the greatest catastrophe in Europe since World War II.

As we argued in our previous article, by making these statements and significantly reducing his support for the Zelensky regime, Mr. Trump is effectively acknowledging that NATO has been defeated by Russia and that its goals—overthrowing Putin’s regime and dismantling Russia—are unattainable.

Therefore, rather than continuing a war that cannot be won and that fuels anti-Western sentiment and alliances worldwide, it is better for the new leaders of the US to acknowledge reality and attempt a new, large-scale strategic maneuver.

At the same time, Mr. Trump is demanding, in a rather piratical and mafia-like manner, to seize Ukraine’s mineral resources—the concession agreement Zelensky is now being pressured to sign is worse than the war reparations Germany was forced to pay in 1918 at the end of World War I https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2025/02/18/7498843/ .

By the way, why do these European governments, who claim to want to continue the war because they supposedly care about the rights of Ukrainians, say nothing and fail to protest the plunder Mr. Trump is orchestrating in plain sight?

In reality, the United States itself and its allies should compensate Ukraine for the destruction it has suffered, primarily due to their own policies and the war they pushed it into (without underestimating the responsibilities of the local neo-fascist element and extreme nationalism, particularly in western Ukraine). What is happening now has never happened before. The CIA stages a coup in a country, drags it into a war with a neighbor and unimaginable destruction, and then the United States demands reparations on top of it all, instead of helping it recover in any way!

This detail” is revealing of the true intentions of the United States under Trump, and it is good to keep it in mind for those who have illusions about the type of policies the new American president intends to implement. Policies that are certainly very positive in the case of Ukraine, as they end a terrible catastrophe, but which risk being extremely destructive in other regions of the world.

Incredible Armaments in Europe. Preparing for the Next War!

On the other hand, regarding Europe itself, Mr. Trump’s policy is not without contradictions. For example, on one hand, he appears to be working for peace on the old continent, while on the other, he is demanding an increase in European defense spending to totally absurd levels, up to 5% of GDP (an increase that, if realized, will be the final blow to any attempt to fight for the preservation of the natural environment and what remains of the European welfare state).

However, no one is truly threatening Europe (**), but even if it were threatened, the solution would obviously not be the defense systems it plans to purchase—systems that, if used, would guarantee not only the destruction of the adversary but also of those who use them. These systems are, in reality, designed not to defend Europe but for America’s global wars.

Russia has only once, and on a very limited scale, launched an expedition to the west (we are not counting, of course, instances where it reacted to an attack it had suffered). On the contrary, since the 13th century and the invasion of the Teutonic Knights, it is Russia that has continually been attacked from the west, including Napoleon’s campaign, the intervention of 21 countries in the Russian Civil War, Hitler’s attack, and NATO’s attack using Ukraine as a proxy. Most of those attacks were perpetrated through Ukraine. Not only is Russia the one constantly under attack from the west, but it is also the one that unilaterally dissolved the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union itself.

The primary and foremost use of this European armament, therefore, can only be a future war against Russia, under better conditions. Secondarily, it can also serve to support NATO, that is, the Americans in other missions outside Europe.

We are not claiming that such a war will necessarily happen. We are simply pointing out that Trump’s policy in no way implies—and it could not be otherwise—any renunciation by the United States of Western imperialism and militarism, which are structural elements of the Western system. Without them, it is impossible to ensure the necessary transfer of a significant portion of global surplus to the West, without which Western capitalism could not function properly. The primary cause of wars is economic, not ideological. Ideologies are invented to serve interests, even if they retain a certain autonomy from the initial causes of their creation.

In our next article, we will examine Trump’s plans for a new Star Wars” and the new strategic framework in which the Americans are operating, which may explain the apparent contradictions in their policy.

(*) An interesting proposal to restore the flow of Russian gas to Europe and introduce a special tax for Ukraine’s reconstruction was made in a recent article by Greek-French university professor Dimitris Skarpalezos https://www.defenddemocracy.press/a-kapodistrian-agreement-for-ukraine/. Normally, the United States and its allies should also contribute to compensating Ukraine for the destruction caused by their policies.

(**) Only two countries in Europe face a real military threat, Greece and Cyprus. They are not threatened by Russia, but by a NATO member and EU candidate member that recently almost invaded Syria, has occupied half of Cyprus for fifty years, and periodically invades Iraq, without this overly disturbing the leaders of NATO and the EU! The same leaders who claim to be so concerned about Russia and its alleged threat to Europe.

Translated from Greek by Christian Haccur

War and Peace in Europe (Trump, Putin and Zelensky)

උපුටා ගැන්ම  ලංකා ලීඩර්

පාසල් දරුවන් ඉලක්ක කර ගනිමින් සූක්ෂමව බෞද්ධ සංකල්ප වලට පහරදීමට රාජ්‍ය අනුග්‍රහය ලබාදෙන බවට “ලංකා ලීඩර්” පාඨකයෙකු විසින් අප වෙත තොරතුරු වාර්තා කර ඇත. 

ඔහු සදහන් කරන ආකරයට බස්නාහිර පළාත් ආණ්ඩුකාරවරයාගේ මැදිහත්වීම මත චාල්ස් තෝමස් නැමති පුද්ගලයාගේ මොහෙයවීමෙන් ගම්/ දොම්පේ මහා විද්‍යාලයීය ක්‍රීඩාංගණයේදී 2025/02/28 දින පැවත්වීමට නියමිත දරුවන්ට රටක් රටට හෙටක් (අලුත් හුස්ම) වැඩසටහන සදහා බස්නාහිර පළාතේ ගම්පහ කලාපයේ සියලුම දරුවන් සහ දෙමාපියන් මෙන්ම විදුහල්පතිවරුන්, ගුරුභවතුන් හා අනධ්‍යන කාර්ය මණ්ඩලය  සහභාගීකරවන ලෙස දැනුම් දෙමින් බස්නාහිර පළාත් අධ්‍යාපන ලේකම්ගේ අත්සනින් යුතුව  ගම්පහ කලාප අධ්‍යාපන අධ්‍යක්ෂකක වෙත ලිපියක් යොමුතර ඇත. ගම්පහ කලාප අධ්‍යාපන අධ්‍යක්ෂ විසින් මෙම ඉල්ලීම ගම්පහ කලාපයේ සියලුම විදුහල්පතිවරුන් වෙත දැනුම් දී ඇති බවද ඔහු සදහන් කරයි.  මෙම වැඩසටහන මගින් සිදුකරනු ලබන්නේ සක්ෂමව බෞද්ධ සංකල්ප වලට පහරදීම බව සදහන් කරන ඔහු පවසන්නේ රාජ්‍ය ආනුග්‍රහය මත පාසල් දරුවන් ඉලක්ක කරගනිමින් සිදුකරන මෙවැනි ක්‍රියා සම්බන්ධයෙන් වත්මන් ආණ්ඩුව දැනුවත්ව භාවයෙන් මුනිවත රකිනවාද යන්න පිළිබඳ ගැටළුවක් බවයි. 

අදාල ලිපි පිටපත් ද ඔහු අප වෙත යොමුකර ඇත. එම ලිපි පහතින්