{"id":155683,"date":"2026-04-12T16:35:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T23:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=155683"},"modified":"2026-04-12T16:35:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T23:35:50","slug":"the-military-economic-political-blockading-of-sri-lanka-cuba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/04\/12\/the-military-economic-political-blockading-of-sri-lanka-cuba\/","title":{"rendered":"The Military, Economic & Political Blockading of Sri Lanka &\u00a0Cuba"},"content":{"rendered":"

e-Con e-News<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Posted byee ink.<\/a>Uncategorized<\/a>Tags:China<\/a>, Cuba<\/a>, history<\/a>, imperialism<\/a>, news<\/a>, politics<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

blog: https:\/\/eesrilanka.wordpress.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Before you study the economics, study the economists!<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

e-Con e-News 05-11 April 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Sri Lanka is also under a blockade like Cuba. You, me, we are all under<\/p>\n\n\n\n

a blockade. When the IMF<\/strong> \u2013 or any multilateral institution where<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the US Treasury is the main shareholder \u2013 imposes conditions on<\/p>\n\n\n\n

any government, or on our government, that\u2019s\u2026 a different<\/p>\n\n\n\n

kind of blockade. Even if it works within international law & rules<\/p>\n\n\n\n

& norms, etc, it is still a blockade. When the IMF imposes a new<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Central Bank Act<\/strong>, and they take monetary policy away from<\/p>\n\n\n\n

democratically elected officials, that\u2019s a blockade on our monetary<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

sovereignty<\/em><\/strong>. When they impose the Public Finance Management Act<\/p>\n\n\n\n

& they say you cannot spend on certain priorities;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

that the government has to have \u2018fiscal discipline\u2019, & can\u2019t<\/p>\n\n\n\n

respond to a crisis, that is also blockade on our fiscal capacity. These<\/p>\n\n\n\n

institutions are blockading our development. Their intent, their goal<\/p>\n\n\n\n

is identical to what is being done to Cuba. The severity, the medium<\/p>\n\n\n\n

may be quite different, but is it still the same. Everyone is now<\/p>\n\n\n\n

painfully aware we are in an energy crisis. It is interesting to think<\/p>\n\n\n\n

back to immediately after the Cuban revolution, which<\/p>\n\n\n\n

inspired so many, including young people back in the 1960s,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka nationalized oil, & the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

was founded in 1961; of course, we were punished for it. The<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hickenlooper Amendment<\/em>, to amend US foreign aid law, was designed in response<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to Cuba\u2019s nationalization of their own resources. It was 1st<\/sup> used against SL<\/strong>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

for nationalizing what was crucial to our own development at that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These weapons need not be bombs, planes, aircraft, they can be tools<\/p>\n\n\n\n

like the Hickenlooper Amendment<\/em>, just like blockades & sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The weapons used against Cuba today, used against Palestine, Iran, etc,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

will someday be used on us. It has happened before, & it is a matter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of time, before it happens again, especially if & when we have a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

situation in this country where the majority rise up & say no, we do<\/p>\n\n\n\n

not wish to capitulate, & surrender control over our resources;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

we want to live in dignity, like Cuba<\/em><\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cuba remains our lodestar, our torch in the darkness<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Shiran Illanperuma, They Hate Not Only Cuba<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Hate the Idea of Cuba (ee Random Notes<\/em><\/strong>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The siege of Sri Lanka<\/strong>, could be seen as more profound than in Cuba, for it involves a mental blockade<\/strong> as well. Unlike Cuba, we are not allowed to even think, let alone discuss, how an alternative economic system would enable us to escape from & heal over 500 years of destruction. The media, run by the soaps & suds of England\u2019s Unilever Corp etc, whose extensive advertising & marketing networks, PR agencies that promote & bloat politicians, prevent an authentic national conversation. Such a long-needed discourse would thresh & thrash out what a self-sufficient economy, which requires a modern industrial economic, political & military strategy, truly involves. Meanwhile, we are expected to prepare for an Indo-US invasion of Sri Lanka, and play the role of a \u2018rear base<\/strong>\u2019 for imperialism (like during their WWII), in preparation for their planned invasion of China (see ee Random Notes<\/em><\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The US Treasury\u2019s main instruments, the World Bank, the IMF<\/strong>, the ADB, their ratings agencies, all have one goal: to prevent any such debate, & any such modern (machine-making) industrial renaissance, and they are clearly willing to cause chaos if they cannot get their way. They are forcing the rest of the world to consider even nuclear weapons that can reach the premier fortresses of imperialism in the US & Europe, so as to attain commanding heights of economy, war & political life. The decision, this week, to turn down Russia\u2019s offer to build a nuclear plant<\/strong> here, is therefore truly symbolic of how far we have to go to truly plumb the depths of our real needs towards self-sufficiency (see ee Industry<\/em><\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018At the turn to the 20th<\/sup> century, a newspaper as \u2018respectable\u2019 as the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Times<\/em> could editorially threaten that those peoples who<\/p>\n\n\n\n

opposed the new world capitalist order would \u2018be extinguished<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

like the North American Indian<\/strong>\u2019.\u2019 (10 May 1898) \u2013 quoted in<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J Sakai, Settlers, the Mythology of the White Proletariat<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cause slavery to disappear<\/em><\/strong> & you will<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

have wiped America off the map of nations<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Karl Marx, The Poverty of Philosophy<\/em>, 1847<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Blowing up infrastructural facilities<\/strong> together<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With 1,000s of unarmed civilians is something<\/p>\n\n\n\n

that no leader, other than someone like Hitler,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

can bring himself to do.\u2019 \u2013 Island Editorial<\/em>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interval in Hell (see ee Sovereignty<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perseus wore a magic cap<\/strong> down over his eyes &<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ears as a make-believe<\/strong> that there are no monsters<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Marx, Capital<\/em>, 1867<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inaccuracy, misunderstanding, vapidity & sheer confusion exhibited by our puppet media & their foreign affairs experts is more than sad \u2013 it is criminal<\/em><\/strong>. The US-led white war on Korea saw them blowing up dams and other civilian structures. To this day, our news about the DPRK (North Korea) is a pure caricature<\/strong> brought to us by the BBC<\/em>! We therefore get history upside-down. Hitler, Nazism, fascism are the younger siblings of settler colonialism. The Nazis looked up to the USA\u2019s & Canada\u2019s white settlers as their \u2018older brothers\u2019. Nazi Gestapo leader Herman Goering\u2019s father was Imperial Commissioner in SW Africa (Namibia) and directed the 20th<\/sup> century\u2019s first genocide, of the Nama & Herero, 1904-8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Yet we do not even need to go abroad. The destruction of irrigation<\/strong> was a classic tactic during the invasion of Lanka, especially once they realized that traditional irrigation was the basis of the solidarity among the Sinhala \u2013 the reconstruction of such crucial infrastructure, the ensuing ruling puppets seem to have happily ignored. The current US war on Iran (nay, on the world) manifests this studied ignorance even more. The Strait of Hormuz <\/strong>was \u2018effectively\u2019 closed first by the European shipping insurance companies<\/strong> who refused coverage once the US war was begun, to impoverish Iran! So, it is the USA that brought it about. And, once again we repeat, it is not an \u2018Iran war\u2019, nor a \u2018Middle East Conflict\u2019 etc, but another US war!<\/em><\/strong> Neither is it an \u2018US-Israeli war\u2019; Israel is only a settler catspaw of US & European imperialism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Again, we look (forward) to history, and recommend such classics as WEB Dubois\u2019 Black Reconstruction<\/em>, Eric Williams\u2019 Capitalism & Slavery<\/em>, and J Sakai\u2019s Settlers, Mythology of the White Proletariat. <\/em>Williams\u2019 classic (which he banned on becoming Trinidad\u2019s PM!) details the role played by the powerful \u2018West India Interest\u2019, whose plutocratic slave sugar & cotton & tobacco plantation owners became a powerful lobby within England\u2019s parliament & ruling class. Yet their power was soon superseded by the even more powerful \u2018East India Interests\u2019, who set up \u2018indentured\u2019 slavery in the East (including the Pacific). The East India Company directors included many \u2018saints\u2019 & \u2018abolitionists\u2019, who inveigled themselves into the resistance to the chattel-slavery of Africans! The \u2018Honourable\u2019 East India Company too was soon superseded by the \u2018Private English\u2019 companies (especially to push opium on China), many of which are now major conglomerates in Asia & Africa (from William-Jardine, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Unilever, Anglo American, Tata, etc). And it is these banks & corporations that operate behind the IMF\u2019s & World Bank\u2019s dictates, demanding we privatize national resources, enfeeble organized labour, and avoid investment in modern industrial production.  Readers can decipher their demands to block investment in modern industry, and they even falsely claim to wish to promote industry (see ee Quotes<\/em><\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Village tanks & pasture reserves had been sold to estates,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

paddy fields & irrigation channels were silted up by the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

cutting of estate roads, & straying cattle were shot on estates.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The startling features of the enslavement of the \u2018workers\u2019 within Sri Lanka\u2019s plantation system, the \u2018human resource\u2019 practices imported from the settler Americas, is detailed in SBD de Silva\u2019s classic, The<\/em> Political Economy of Underdevelopment<\/em>. As ee<\/em><\/strong> Focus<\/em><\/strong> continues Chapter 9, we learn how this enslavement has had a devastating effect on all workers in Sri Lanka, Sinhala & Tamil. de Silva\u2019s detailing of an unfree labour market is significant, contradicting the much-promoted model of the Caribbean-born \u2018Economics Nobel Prize\u2019 winner \u2018Sir\u2019 WA Lewis<\/strong>, whose prescriptions were utilized by the powers that be to justify the status quo. Lewis claimed the plantations were \u2018modern\u2019<\/em><\/strong>& would draw people out of the subsistence peasant sector<\/strong>. Instead, de Silva pointed out, plantation labour had to be extracted in from the colonial disaster-prone South Indian economy, through deception & violence. Any simple comparisons between the Sinhala peasant, also dispossessed and exploited through colonial deception, and the migrant Tamil worker, have also remained highly fraught. And the colonial government eagerly sought to play one against the other<\/strong>, such tactics continuing to this very day<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. Who are you?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A. We are people of Walapane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. Why have you left your village?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A. Because we have lost all our property<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. How did it happen?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A. We were allowed to run into arrears with<\/p>\n\n\n\n

our paddy tax<\/strong> for 2 or 4 years. It was then called<\/p>\n\n\n\n

up all of a sudden. No mercy was shown to us<\/p>\n\n\n\n

& all our property was sold\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, de Silva, also showed how Sinhala workers were drawn into working on to the rubber<\/strong> \u2018estates<\/strong>,\u2019 and railways<\/strong>. He also detailed the many factors that deterred<\/strong> them from employment on tea plantations. Their conditions differed from the Indian workers, who were controlled both socially & politically (to this day!) by a kangany class fraction<\/strong>. de Silva intricately examined the different wages paid<\/strong>, and food consumed, the stealing of wages by labor contractors, and the disturbances arising from the unfair price increases by merchants, including the bribery of colonial police officers. All this is vital due to the saturated propaganda by the merchant media, which claims \u2018corruption\u2019<\/em><\/strong> to somehow be a \u2018postcolonial<\/em>\u2019 disease spread by the nasty thieving natives<\/em>, yet having to live in country of petty \u2018commissions\u2019, with their endless meetings & endless awards, where the top white Englishman is still called, \u2018The High Commissioner<\/strong>\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Parliament rocked by LKR13.2bn NDB fraud:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Systemic failure or regulatory lapse?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 The Island<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Bankers on Trial<\/strong> \u2013 \u20181) The Central Bank of (CB)SL:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Banking Supervision Unit is the 1st<\/sup> line of defense for the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must formally query: How did existing supervision protocols fail<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to detect these irregularities? What specific, updated regulatory frameworks<\/p>\n\n\n\n

have been implemented to ensure this does not recur across the sector?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) The External Auditors (Ernst & Young<\/strong>): Audit firms are paid to be the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

watchdogs of corporate integrity. Public Disclosure: We demand a clear<\/p>\n\n\n\n

explanation of how these discrepancies bypassed the audit process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Methodologies: Transparency is required regarding what new forensic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

auditing standards are being adopted to regain investor trust.\u2019 \u2013 ee Finance<\/em><\/strong>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NDB Fraud: Why Retail Investors Must Demand Accountability Today<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018NDB reports all-time high earnings last year \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018This achievement is not the end result of one-off gains<\/p>\n\n\n\n

but purely the outcome of focused execution<\/strong> in our<\/p>\n\n\n\n

fundamental banking businesses, disciplined credit<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

growth<\/strong>, prudent risk management<\/strong>, a strong deposit franchise,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sustained net interest margins, & the continuing efforts to<\/p>\n\n\n\n

improve our overall operating efficiencies on a consistent basis\u2019.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Director\/CEO Kelum Edirisinghe, Sunday Times<\/em>, 1 March 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Fitch assigns SL NDB\u2019s GSS bond \u2018BBB+(lka)\u2019 rating\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 EconomyNext<\/em>, 18 Feb 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IFC injects $166mn to boost Sri Lankan SMEs through major banks:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018International Finance Corporation (IFC<\/strong>), a member of the World Bank<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Group\u2019s financing, will be channeled through 3 leading private commercial<\/p>\n\n\n\n

banks: Nations Trust Bank, Commercial Bank of Ceylon,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

& National Development Bank (NDB<\/strong>). A core objective of the program<\/p>\n\n\n\n

is to promote inclusive growth by specifically prioritising lending to<\/p>\n\n\n\n

women-owned businesses & agribusinesses\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Island<\/em>, 2026\/02\/2<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NDB strengthens long-term strategic tie up with IFC<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Allen Forlemu, IFC Regional Director, Financial Institutions Group, Asia &<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the Pacific added: \u2018When SMEs thrive, entire economies move forward. Access<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to capital remains a critical priority for Sri Lankan entrepreneurs, & our<\/p>\n\n\n\n

partnership with the NDB is designed to address this by helping<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SMEs access the financing & the knowhow needed to scale & grow\u2019.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013  Sunday Times<\/em>, 2026\/02\/01<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Way forward with cryptocurrencies<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018NDB Bank<\/strong>, a co-sponsor of Sunday Times<\/em> Business Club<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

organised a discussion on \u2018Bitcoins & Cryptocurrency \u2013 stable or risky?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

with Subhani Keerthiratne, Director\/Financial Intelligence Unit<\/strong>, CBSL<\/p>\n\n\n\n

& Savan Wijewardene<\/strong>, entrepreneur & co-founder of Redhill,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singapore\u2019s largest local public relations firm\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013  Sunday Times<\/em>, 2026\/02\/01<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018CBSL has also indicated that the issue is contained<\/p>\n\n\n\n

at the institutional level, rather than becoming systemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, it\u2019s actually within NDB. So, we are watching the<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

situation carefully<\/strong>, & we are talking to the central bank.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013Evan Papageorgiou, IMF Mission Chief (ee Finance<\/em><\/strong>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A massive \u2018fraud\u2019 within the National Development Bank (NDB<\/strong>) was uncovered & reported this week (supposedly), and while it did not receive the same coverage as the coal fraud, and ongoing corruption<\/em> of \u2018politicians\u2019, it is far more indicative of the actual \u2018corruption<\/strong>\u2018 that really matters \u2013 the prevention & sabotage of investment in modern industry by a multinational corporation-enabled merchant & moneylender oligarchy, which promotes the colonial import-export plantation economy.  No doubt some low or mid-level thieves & clerks will be nailed & jailed. But the owners, & regulatory bodies (CBSL, CES, SEC) & the enablers (ratings agency Fitch, invited into Sri Lanka by World Bank, also recently rated it) will go scot-free. The NDB, now owned by a Norwegian development (see ee Who\u2019s Who!)<\/em><\/strong> was created under Act No 2 of 1979 \u2018to provide medium- & long-term finance for industry, agriculture, & infrastructure\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     However, it was funded through the World Bank & the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which ensured it would never advance towards \u2018supporting development finance\u2019.  In 1993, the NDB (& sibling DFCC) was privatised & \u2018expanded into commercial banking activities\u2019; & by 2005 it \u2018had completely lost its development mandate\u2019. \u2018Both the DFCC & NDB were once key pillars of Sri Lanka\u2019s developmental state model, which prioritised production, industrialization & employment creation.\u2019 This push of \u2018development\u2019 banks<\/strong> towards commercialization<\/strong> (& eventual fraud) \u2018was not accidental\u2019. It was part of the structural adjustment reforms introduced under IMF & World Bank programs from the late 1970-80s onwards. \u2018Development banks around the world were required to become more market-oriented\u2019, for \u2018capital markets and private commercial banks\u2019 would supposedly allocate credit more \u2018efficiently\u2019 than state-led development financial institutions. Such market fundamentalism then dismantled many state institutions that once supported development projects<\/em><\/strong>. This critical gap continues to hinder employment expansion, industrial recovery & rural development. As ee<\/em><\/strong> keeps emphasizing, the word \u2018development<\/em>\u2019 was an \u2018innovative\u2019 euphemism for \u2018colonial<\/em><\/strong>\u2019 in the 1950s (a word deemed offensive then) coined by the PR mavens of the Unilever Corporation. And see how our ministries & their NGOs have been paid to love the word and eagerly add them to their names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 The Island<\/em> published an article 29 March 2026 attacking Cuba, by Milinda Moragoda, who describes himself as a former cabinet minister & diplomat & Founder of the Pathfinder Foundation, a strategic-affairs think tank.\u201d  Moragoda\u2019s article \u2013 meant to be an imminent yet premature obituary \u2013 was headlined, \u2018Cuba & the end of an era<\/em>\u2018 & faithfully echoed the US government\u2019s recent threats to \u2018take<\/em>\u2018 Cuba.  In this ee Focus<\/em><\/strong>, Shiran Illanperuma responds eloquently to Moragoda\u2019s \u2018gaps, omissions & obfuscations\u2019 about Cuba\u2019s purported \u2018structural weaknesses\u2019. Illanperuma points to the 65 years of an unrelenting siege led by the USA, even as the UN General Assembly has for 32 consecutive years \u2018condemned the embargo against Cuba\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Earlier this year after the kidnapping of Venezuela\u2019s leader (& his spouse), the USA declared a blockade on oil to Cuba, causing immense unparalleled hardship. Moragoda also suggests Cuba and Venezuela could have been better off if they allied with the USA! Illanperuma instead points to the fate of those countries, such as Honduras & Puerto Rico, that have allied with the USA. There are even more innumerable examples of such fatal engagements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Haiti<\/strong>, has been under white siege for the last 225 years at least, and now only worsening under the USA. Haiti had dared to chase out 3 European armies (with the English suffering their worst military defeats there, sending them scurrying to invade Sri Lanka in 1796). Haiti\u2019s leaders have long been kidnapped \u2013 the latest kidnapping by the USA, Canada & France, taking place in 2004. Indeed, Haiti \u2013 then Hispaniola \u2013 was the first country in the Americas to be invaded by Europe (Columbus), and their long heroic resistance<\/strong> has been compared to Sri Lanka, by Philip Gunawardena<\/strong>\u2018s biographer Ananda Meegama<\/strong>. Sri Lanka was invaded by Portugal in 1505. It is an irony that this week, we have once again agreed to send \u2018peacekeeping\u2019 troops to Haiti, when our past experiences with \u2018peacekeepers\u2019 here and there have already told us that imperialism has no such need for \u2018peace\u2019, here or there.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Indeed, all one needs to do is investigate a little more of the history of the Americas (read Eduardo Galliano\u2019s Open Veins of Latin America<\/em>). This ee Focus<\/em><\/strong> therefore also includes Ma Guihua<\/strong>\u2018s most intriguing history of Cuba and the role Chinese workers have played in its liberation struggles, as well as their role in building the USA (railroads, California farming, etc). ee\u2019s<\/em><\/strong> <\/em>focus<\/em><\/strong> on Cuba <\/strong>is also timely, for we expect the USA, after their recent defeat in West Asia, to renew their attack on Cuba, as part of their aim to exclude non-Europeans from the Western Hemisphere (Africa says, good luck to that!) if they cannot repress our vitality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Their possible threat to invade Cuba at this hour, recalls the USA\u2019s invasion of Grenada in 1983, which they did after suffering a major defeat in Lebanon, where 300 Marines were blown up in a single attack in Beirut. Grenada (population less than a 100,000) was also attacked because it was the 1st<\/sup> English-speaking country to revolt in the Americas & declare its wish to be a socialist country<\/strong>. This was deemed \u2018the threat of a good example<\/em><\/strong>\u2018. The USA then re-installed the English monarchy, and Charles III is now called, \u2018The King of Grenada\u2019!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Appearing, unexpectedly, at the relaunch of the US-based<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International Executive Services Corps, Minister Milinda<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moragoda offered an explanation for his presence. He was<\/p>\n\n\n\n

there because the US ambassador had asked him to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018But when the US ambassador asks you to come, you don\u2019t<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ask why. You just come,\u2019 confessed Mr Moragoda unashamedly.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 ee Sovereignty<\/em><\/strong>, One day in the future on our sunny isle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Returning to Milinda Moragoda<\/strong>\u2018s delusions, we find he has now taken to penning even more screeds on foreign policy, especially in The Island<\/em>. Apparently, Pathfinder Foundation<\/strong>, the thinktank \u2018founded\u2019 by Moragoda, has been \u2018increasingly projecting itself as Sri Lanka\u2019s de facto foreign policy engine room\u2019.  \u2018The lines between diplomacy, private influence, and self-interest are blurring\u2019, begging the question, \u2018Who really runs Sri Lankan foreign policy?\u2019, asked LankaEnews<\/em><\/strong> (no relation to ee<\/em><\/strong>) in July 2025 (\u2018The Diplomatic Delusion: How the Pathfinder Foundation is Acting Like SL\u2019s Shadow Foreign Ministry<\/strong>\u2018, see ee Sovereignty<\/em><\/strong>). Moragoda, is not remembered as a guardian of public accountability.\u201d His \u2018business legacy includes one of the country\u2019s most infamous financial disasters\u2019: \u2018the spectacular failure of Mercantile Credit<\/strong> Ltd\u2019, that \u2018defaulted after borrowing over Rs1bn from the Central Bank<\/strong> of Sri Lanka. Moragoda is described as \u2018a one-time cabinet minister & political darling of Western diplomats. Mercantile\u2019s failure devastated thousands of depositors and left Sri Lankan taxpayers footing the bill.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u2018Two decades later, Moragoda has resurfaced\u2026 as the head of a private think-tank that is now performing<\/em> foreign policy\u2019. \u2018What began as a policy research institute has turned into something far more ambitious: an unaccountable power hub that wields outsize influence over Sri Lanka\u2019s international posture, particularly in relation to India & the Indian Ocean region\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     LankaEnews<\/em> adds, \u2018Established in 2006, the Pathfinder Foundation<\/strong> describes itself as \u2018an independent, non-partisan think-tank providing policy insights\u2019. But insiders and veteran diplomats tell a different story. Over the past few years, Pathfinder has quietly assumed the trappings of a parallel foreign ministry<\/strong>. Its officials attend high-level diplomatic events. They host closed-door roundtables with foreign ambassadors. They publish white papers that are circulated \u2013 and sometimes even cited \u2013 by foreign policy officials. More troublingly, Pathfinder representatives have reportedly claimed to diplomats in Colombo that they are the \u2018real voice\u2019 of Sri Lankan foreign policy. \u2018It\u2019s a classic case of a shadow state,\u2019 says a retired ambassador with over 3 decades in the SL Foreign Service. \u2018Pathfinder is trying to usurp institutional authority without any mandate, public scrutiny, or accountability. That\u2019s dangerous\u2019.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u2018Some Pathfinder events have been described as \u2018alternative diplomatic briefings,\u2019 where foreign envoys are encouraged to view the thinktank\u2019s positions as semi-official Sri Lankan policy. Some diplomats within the Foreign Ministry, see Pathfinder as \u2018actively undermining the state\u2019s institutional integrity<\/em><\/strong>\u2018. In recent months, Pathfinder has taken an increasingly brazen approach to its \u2018influence operations\u2019. One high-level diplomat from a Western embassy, speaking off the record, said: \u2018We were told by a Pathfinder official that they had a direct line to the President\u2019s Office & all foreign policy was being routed through them. It was bizarre \u2013 & frankly, inappropriate.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Both the President & the Foreign Minister \u2018have made no official link with the Pathfinder Foundation\u2019. Pathfinder, however, \u2019employs several retired civil servants and former diplomats \u2013 many of whom are used as a \u2018face\u2019 to lend the organisation credibility. These individuals, while once respected public officials, now serve a private body whose ultimate accountability is to its founder & funders \u2013 not the Sri Lankan people. Critics say this is a deliberate strategy: to create a fa\u00e7ade of authority by parading former bureaucrats in front of diplomats and foreign donors, while using their presence to suggest continuity with official Sri Lankan foreign policy\u2026 Pathfinder has also \u2018aggressively courted Indian strategic thinkers & bureaucrats, hosting Indo-Lanka Track II dialogues and publishing glowing assessments of India\u2019s Indo-Pacific strategy. At several bilateral events, Pathfinder officials have reportedly implied that they can broker messages directly to Sri Lanka\u2019s leadership.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The Foreign Ministry disagrees. \u2018India is being misled if it believes Pathfinder speaks for the Government of Sri Lanka,\u2019 said one ministry official, \u2018We have professional diplomats & formal channels. Pathfinder is not one of them.\u2019 LankaEnews<\/em> wonder if Moragoda is \u2018cultivating India\u2019s strategic community to build leverage back in Colombo?\u2019 and asks: \u2018Who funds Pathfinder, and how are those funds used? They are urging the Government, particularly President AK Dissanayake & Foreign Minister Herath, to: \u2018Investigate Pathfinder\u2019s financial records, including donor funding and how the money is spent. Publicly clarify the boundaries between official foreign policy & thinktank engagement. Conduct a review of all former civil servants employed by Pathfinder, and determine whether they are representing the state without legal basis. Task CIABOC (Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption) & the Central Bank to reopen inquiries into Moragoda\u2019s role in the Mercantile Credit collapse. Introduce legislation to regulate foreign policy lobbying & ensure transparency in public-private partnerships in the diplomatic sphere\u2019 & finally posits, \u2018Who appointed Milinda Moragoda to speak for us? The answer: No one.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     ee <\/em><\/strong>has often pondered this same question. Moragoda has been labeled, \u2018a notorious CIA-funded US Contractor\u2019 and Wikipedia<\/em> claims \u2018leaked US Embassy cables show Moragoda to be a long-time information source of the US Embassy in Colombo\u2019 and the US Government\u2019s \u2018key partner in SL\u2019. US Ambassador to SL Ashley Wills (in 2003) called Moragoda, \u2018a perfect fit\u2019, \u2018married to a US citizen, with plenty of Washington connections, many from his days as a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation & at Harvard\u2019: A \u2018big picture\u2019 person, Moragoda is also highly aware that the USA is the most powerful country in the world, and he feels it is better that Sri Lanka recognize that fact and work within it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Much to national chagrin, \u2018Moragoda was made a High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India, from Aug 2021-3 Sept, under Presidents Gotabaya Rajapaksa & Ranil Wickremesinghe, and before that was made a Senior Adviser to President Mahinda Rajapaksa from 2011-15, and was his Minister of Justice & Law Reforms, 2009-10, from just after the terrorist war was ended. Even before that he was made Minister of Tourism, 2007-9; Deputy Minister of Policy Development and Implementation, and then Minister of Economic Reform, Science and Technology, from 2001-4, entering the scene when Chandrika Bandaranaike was made President, a presidency famous for the intrusions of the Billy Clinton Foundation and Clinton\u2019s (& other presidents\u2019) main sponsors, the Rockefeller Foundation<\/strong>, a front for the energy monopolists, Exxon \u2013 Standard Oil \u2013 Corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     ee<\/em><\/strong> first encountered Moragoda when midst the general wasteland known as public TV, the program In Black & White<\/em> starring MM himself, was broadcast from 1999-2004 on Capital Maharaja\u2019s MTV<\/em>, which like much of the media in Sri Lanka are imperialist lip-services. Moragoda\u2019s talk-show was sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation; the Rockefeller family is the fronting oligarchy of the Exxon Corporation<\/strong>. Moragoda is compared to other Exxon cut-outs like Russia\u2019s Kirill Dmitriev, who wishes Russia will ally with Europe & the USA, and the anti-Russian Mohammed Javad Zarif, Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister in 2021, who was removed as VP in 2025. In 2020 Moragoda drew up Sri Lanka\u2019s National Security Doctrine, Foreign Policy Doctrine<\/em>, & Post-Covid Economic Policy Doctrine<\/em>. Pathfinder promotes the implementation of the MCC<\/em><\/strong>, advocated via its Post-Covid Economic Proposal<\/em>. The MCC demands changes to the constitution and land policy & land laws prior to signing of the MCC agreement. The incessant, almost weekly, saturation of his name in the media, indeed suggests he\u2019s being puppeteered by the dogs of war & profit\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

________<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contents:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Military, Economic & Political Blockading of Sri Lanka & Cuba<\/a><\/blockquote>