{"id":1433606,"date":"2022-04-12T15:29:48","date_gmt":"2022-04-12T19:29:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1433606"},"modified":"2022-04-12T15:29:55","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T19:29:55","slug":"caruzo-how-china-green-policies-and-democratic-socialism-destroyed-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/caruzo-how-china-green-policies-and-democratic-socialism-destroyed-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"Caruzo &#8212; How China, Green Policies, and Democratic Socialism Destroyed Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcaruzo-how-china-green-policies-and-democratic-socialism-destroyed-sri-lanka%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1433606&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/sri-lankan-police-arrested-45-people-thursday-night-unrest-economic-crisis-afp-640x335-1.png\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">The collapse of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka has no brakes. Soaring costs of living, rolling power blackouts, food and medicine shortages, corruption, and gross mismanagement of its government have given forth to a massive wave of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2022\/04\/01\/sri-lanka-mob-storms-presidents-house-country-runs-out-food-gasoline\/\">protests<\/a> against the Southeast Asian nation\u2019s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.<\/p>\n<p>A combination of rampant nepotism \u2013 the Rajapaksa family all but own the country \u2013 woeful \u201cgreen\u201d economic policies, and dependence on the predatory Chinese Communist Party have left Sri Lanka in the worst economic crisis in its history.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>The Sri Lankan rupee is the world\u2019s worst-performing currency, having been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/markets\/rates-bonds\/sri-lanka-allow-rupee-weaken-230-per-dollar-2022-03-07\/\">devalued<\/a> by 15 percent in March 2022. By April, it had <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2022\/04\/09\/sri-lanka-debt-crisis-inflation-rajapaksa-protest-imf-ukraine\/#:~:text=After%20years%20of%20mismanagement%2C%20Sri,rebounded%20to%20its%20prewar%20level.\">lost<\/a> a third of its value. The country has undergone rampant inflation <a href=\"https:\/\/economynext.com\/sri-lanka-inflation-gallops-to-18-7-pct-in-march-2022-92331\/\">reaching<\/a> upwards of 18.7 percent in March 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Sri Lanka is unable to rely on its own currency and on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfirst.lk\/2022\/04\/11\/sri-lanka-could-run-out-of-reserves-by-the-end-of-the-month-ranil\/\">verge<\/a> of running out of foreign reserves, making it impossible to pay for its local and foreign debt. It is also significantly limited in how to access food after becoming dependent on international imports for basic supplies \u2014 as such, the government of Sri Lanka <a href=\"https:\/\/economictimes.indiatimes.com\/news\/international\/world-news\/sri-lanka-central-bank-governor-says-to-temporarily-suspend-foreign-debt-payments\/articleshow\/90794291.cms\">announced<\/a> on Tuesday that it would default on all of its $51 billion external debt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe government is taking the emergency measure described in this memorandum only as a last resort in order to prevent further deterioration of the republic\u2019s financial position,\u201d a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.treasury.gov.lk\/api\/file\/54a19fda-b219-4dd4-91a7-b3e74b9cd683\">statement<\/a> from the nation\u2019s Finance Ministry read.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>The country saw its food sovereignty demolished by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/news\/opinion\/the-indian-connection-behind-sri-lankas-disastrous-environmental-wokeness-4962938.html\">banning<\/a> fertilizers and chemicals in an attempt to move towards \u201corganic\u201d farming, which culminated in a severe reduction in yield. The measure was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/markets\/commodities\/sri-lanka-rows-back-organic-farming-goal-removes-ban-chemical-fertilisers-2021-11-24\/\">rescinded<\/a> in November 2021 after a series of farmer protests, but the damage was already done, leaving the country having to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deccanherald.com\/international\/world-news-politics\/sri-lanka-to-import-300000-tonnes-of-rice-from-india-1079412.html\">import<\/a> rice to stabilize its own internal market.<\/p>\n<p>Tourism, one of the country\u2019s largest sources of income, was severely affected by the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic \u2014 from 1.9 million tourists in 2012 to a mere <a href=\"https:\/\/skift.com\/2022\/04\/05\/sri-lankas-renewed-tourism-hopes-crushed-by-doubts-in-biggest-source-market\/\">280,000<\/a> in the first trimester of 2022. The few who have traveled to the country have found it so deteriorated that some have joined the protests.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A group of tourists currently in Sri Lanka staged a protest today at Kahawa in Ambalangoda against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over shortage of fuel. The tourists claimed they were unable to tour the country due to lack of fuel. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/EQgGWCZeWt\">pic.twitter.com\/EQgGWCZeWt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 DailyMirror (@Dailymirror_SL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Dailymirror_SL\/status\/1513479179735556098?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 11, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>As a result, it has become harder for the embattled Sri Lankans to access and afford food. Over the past four months, the cost of living in Sri Lanka has dramatically <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dnaindia.com\/world\/report-from-sugar-to-rice-check-skyrocketing-food-prices-in-sri-lanka-amid-economic-crisis-2943808\">skyrocketed<\/a>, with staples such as rice and cooking gas cylinders <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/business-59952980\">going<\/a> up 85 percent in the past four months from $7.50 to $13.25 \u2013 leading many families to cook using firewood instead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe used to have three meals a day but now we are having to skip dinner because of the little income that we have. This is all because of the increase in prices of essential goods,\u201d Sri Lankan woman Susila Irangani <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/global-health\/climate-and-people\/sri-lankan-families-go-hungry-cost-food-skyrockets\/\">stated<\/a> in a recent article to the U.K. <em>Telegraph<\/em>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>Vegetable and other daily rations from India have <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/world\/south-asia\/amid-economic-crisis-in-sri-lanka-ration-vegetables-from-india-reach-colombo\/articleshow\/90760670.cms\">palliated<\/a> the worsening situation, but many basic goods remain nearly unobtainable.<\/p>\n<p>A cup of the nation\u2019s traditional Ceylon tea, also known as Sri Lanka tea, <a href=\"https:\/\/ceylontoday.lk\/news\/prices-of-rice-pack-milk-tea-up-by-rs-10\">went<\/a> from 10 Sri Lankan Rupees in October 2021 ($0.031) to 100 LKR in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymirror.lk\/breaking_news\/Cup-of-milk-tea-will-be-Rs-100-from-tonight-Canteen-Owners-Assn\/108-233428\">March<\/a> 2022 ($0.31).<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>Medicine shortages have gotten worse with each passing day, and, coupled with the ongoing rolling blackouts it could lead to a severe health crisis in the nation. Hospitals have begun to run out of essential medicine and supplies, 80 percent of which the country has to <a href=\"https:\/\/economynext.com\/sri-lanka-faces-essential-drug-shortage-experts-warn-of-health-crisis-92663\/\">import<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Power <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/asia\/south-asia\/sri-lanka-economic-crisis-2022-power-cuts-b2048094.html\">blackouts<\/a> now plague the Southeast Asian nation that can last from ten to 13 hours at a time and could very well <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/asia\/south-asia\/sri-lanka-faces-13-hour-blackouts-hospitals-stop-surgery-as-crisis-deepens\">continue<\/a> into May. Street lights have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/asia\/south-asia\/sri-lanka-runs-out-of-diesel-faces-longest-ever-blackout\">shut down<\/a> to preserve electricity. Schools have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2022\/mar\/20\/sri-lanka-cancels-school-exams-over-paper-shortage-as-financial-crisis-bites\">canceled<\/a> exams because there is no paper for students to take the exams with and the country is no longer able to afford importing it.<\/p>\n<p>Fuel shortages in Sri Lanka have exponentially aggravated, with queue lines that go for hours and are now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymirror.lk\/latest_news\/Troops-deployed-to-CEYPETCO-fuel-stations\/342-233589\">overseen<\/a> by the Sri Lankan military. The sale of fuel through cans and barrels has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfirst.lk\/2022\/04\/11\/no-fuel-for-cans-from-tuesday-12\/\">banned<\/a> by the state-owned The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n[embedded content]\n<p>Local authorities have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfirst.lk\/2022\/04\/11\/another-sri-lankan-dies-in-fuel-queue-5th-such-death-so-far\/\">reported<\/a> at least five men dying while waiting in line for gasoline.<\/p>\n<p>President Rajapaksa and his ruling family have offered little in the way of answers to the crisis, leaving many to question their position in society.<\/p>\n<p>The country has been <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-the-rajapaksa-clan-in-sri-lanka-politics-7854579\/\">ruled<\/a> by the Rajapaska family for more than two decades now. Both the current president, Gotabaya Rajapaska, and his brother Mahinda Rajapaska (former president and current prime minister) are largely credited with having <a href=\"https:\/\/www.business-standard.com\/article\/pti-stories\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-controversial-war-hero-who-ended-lanka-s-3-decade-long-bloody-civil-conflict-119111700265_1.html\">ended<\/a> the 26-year civil war between the government and the Tamil Tigers.<\/p>\n<p>Nepotism is abundant in the Rajapaksa regime. The family has been part of Sri Lankan politics since the country gained its independence in 1948. Between 2010 and 2015, more than 40 members of the Rajapaska family <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-the-rajapaksa-clan-in-sri-lanka-politics-7854579\/\">occupied<\/a> government posts, cabinet positions, and even held diplomatic posts abroad. To this day, many members of the Rajapaska family <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/live-news\/20220401-sri-lanka-s-all-powerful-rajapaksas-under-fire\">continue<\/a> to occupy key government offices.<\/p>\n<p>The Rajapaksas largely led the country to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2022\/01\/11\/sri-lanka-begs-china-for-off-ramp-from-belt-and-road-debt-trap\/\">fall<\/a> prey to China\u2019s infamous debt traps under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The BRI offers predatory loans to poorer nations that the countries then use to pay China to buy infrastructure projects. China pockets the cost of labor, the interest on the loan, and \u2013 in cases like Sri Lanka\u2019s, territory within the country when it defaults on paying the loan. In 2009, Sri Lanka <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/national-security\/2017\/12\/11\/11-dec-17-world-view-china-takes-control-of-strategic-hambantota-seaport-in-sri-lanka-raising-concerns-in-india\/\">received<\/a> a $1.2 billion loan from China to renovate the Hambantota seaport. Unable to pay the loan and its high interests, the country had to cede control of Hambantota and 15,000 acres of its territory to China in 2017 on a 99-year lease as part of its loan repayment process, which could be potentially <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/china\/diplomacy\/article\/3122975\/mistake-china-can-extend-hambantota-port-lease-198-years-sri\">extended<\/a> to a 198-year lease.<\/p>\n<p>Food vendors <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ndtv.com\/world-news\/sold-everything-to-china-sri-lankan-traders-to-embattled-pm-2864111\">accuse<\/a> the Rajapaksa government of having sold everything out to China, as well, in addition to imposing policies that largely made Sri Lanka dependent on imports.<\/p>\n<p>Palitha Kohona, the Sri Lankan ambassador in China, has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/china\/diplomacy\/article\/3173637\/sri-lanka-not-caught-china-debt-trap-says-ambassador-beijing\">stated<\/a> that his country is not caught in a Chinese debt trap, but reports indicate that the Rajapaksa government appears to be seeking Chinese loans as a solution to Chinese loans \u2013 Reuters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/asia-pacific\/sri-lanka-talks-with-china-25-bln-credit-support-chinese-official-2022-03-21\/\">reported<\/a> in March that China is considering offering a $1.5 billion loan to Sri Lanka in addition to the $1 billion loan that the Sri Lankan government had already requested.<\/p>\n<p>Amidst a worsening crisis, the first cases of Sri Lankan citizens <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/india\/19-more-flee-lanka-for-tamil-nadu-total-arrivals-in-rameswaram-hit-39\/articleshow\/90768573.cms\">fleeing<\/a> the country have begun to surface.<\/p>\n<p>All members of the Sri Lankan cabinet aside from President Rajapska and his brother, the prime minister, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2022\/apr\/04\/sri-lankas-cabinet-resigns-as-protesters-anger-grows-over-economic-crisis\">resigned<\/a> amidst the growing protests this month.<\/p>\n<p>President Rajapaksa has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/asia-pacific\/sri-lankas-doctors-protest-against-drugs-shortage-crisis-persists-2022-04-06\/\">stated<\/a> that he does not intend to resign.<br \/><em>Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter\u00a0<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KalebPrime\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The collapse of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka has no brakes. Soaring costs of living, rolling power blackouts, food and medicine shortages, corruption, and gross mismanagement of its<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":239,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1433606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1433606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/239"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1433606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1433606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1433606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1433606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1433606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}