Sri Lanka's president makes U-turn on IMF bailout

Colombo (AFP) – Sri Lanka's new leader on Thursday backed a controversial IMF bailout, marking a U-turn from his election pledge to renegotiate the deal secured by his predecessor.

Sri Lanka's President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (L) and Speaker Ashoka Ranwala arrive for the opening of parliament © Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP

Leftist President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who tightened his grip on power last week after winning a huge majority in the legislature following his own victory in September, vowed to maintain the IMF programme.

Sri Lanka went to the IMF for a rescue package after the country defaulted on its $46 billion external debt in April 2022 during an unprecedented economic meltdown.

The shortage of foreign exchange that left the country unable to finance even the most essential imports of food and fuel led to months of street protests and forced then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign.

The $2.9 billion loan secured early last year required Colombo to sharply raise taxes, remove generous energy subsidies and agree to restructure more than 50 loss-making state enterprises.


Dissanayake's National People's Power party had said it did not agree with the International Monetary Fund's debt assessment and would renegotiate the bailout programme.

But in his first address to the new parliament, where his party enjoys a two-thirds majority, Dissanayake said the economic recovery was too fragile to take risks.

"The economy is in such a state that it cannot take the slightest shock... there is no room to make mistakes," he said as he ruled out negotiations with either the IMF or creditors.

"This is not the time to discuss if the terms are good or bad, if the agreement is favourable to us or not... The process had taken about two years and we cannot start all over again," he said.

The delayed third review of the four-year loan programme could be concluded by this weekend, with the finance ministry holding talks with a visiting IMF delegation in Colombo, he added.

Sri Lanka expects the next tranche of about $330 million following an early approval from the board of the international lender of last resort.

Dissanayake's interim cabinet last month signed off on a controversial restructuring of $14.7 billion in foreign commercial credit tentatively agreed by predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The debt restructuring is a key IMF demand to rebuild the island's economy, which suffered its worst crisis in 2022 when it shrank 7.8 percent.

The dissatisfaction with traditional politicians held responsible for the economic collapse was a key driver of Dissanayake's electoral success.

In June, the government concluded a deal with its bilateral lenders to restructure its official credit amounting to $6 billion, but formal agreements are yet to be signed.

Under the deal announced on September 19, private creditors holding more than half of international sovereign bonds and foreign commercial loans to the South Asian nation agreed to a 27 percent haircut on their loans.

They also agreed to a further 11 percent reduction on the interest owed to them.

International sovereign bonds account for $12.5 billion and the balance of $2.2 billion is owed to the China Development Bank.

© 2024 AFP

Sri Lanka’s National People’s Power Sweeps General Election

Shiran Illanperuma

 November 19, 2024
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Logo of the National People’s Power – Fair Use

On October 15, data from the Election Commission of Sri Lanka showed that the National People’s Power (NPP) coalition scored a decisive victory in Sri Lanka’s first general election since defaulting on its external debt.

With 61.56 percent of the popular vote, the NPP won 159 seats in Parliament. This gave President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) a supermajority in parliament and the power to make constitutional amendments.

The NPP won a majority of the popular vote in 21 out of 22 electoral districts in the country. In the southern district of Hambantota, a traditionally left-wing Sinhala nationalist constituency that was the stronghold of the Rajapaksa family, the NPP secured 66.38 percent of the vote.

In the central Matale district, where the majority of voters are Tamil-speaking workers in tea estates, the NPP secured 66.16 percent of the vote. In the northern Jaffna district, a stronghold of conservative Tamil nationalist parties, the NPP secured a plurality, with 24.85 percent of the popular vote.

This is a significant turnaround for the NPP, as during the presidential election, AKD polled poorly in both the north and in the central tea estate regions.

These developments may indicate that traditional identity-based parties are undergoing a significant crisis of legitimacy, as economic grievances and bitterness toward the established political elite take center stage.

They also indicate the success of the NPP in driving a grassroots campaign that emphasized national unity, or in their words, “a national renaissance.”

Several parliamentarians who were a mainstay in electoral politics for decades lost their seats entirely. The disintegration of the two great poles of Sri Lankan electoral politics—the center-right United National Party (UNP) and its breakaway Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), and the center-left Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and its breakaway Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP)—continued.

Sajith Premadasa’s SJB, with just 17.66 percent of the vote, will sit in opposition. Namal Rajapaksa’s SLPP secured just 3.14 percent of the vote. Ranil Wickremesinghe’s new alliance, the New Democratic Front, secured just 4.49 percent of the vote.

Importantly, voter turnout declined from 79.46 percent in the September presidential election to 68.93 percent—the lowest turnout for an election since 2010. This likely played some role in boosting pro-incumbent bias as disenchanted voters of parties other than the NPP chose to stay at home.

Challenges Ahead

In the realm of economic policy, the new NPP government is sitting on the ticking time bomb that is Sri Lanka’s 17th IMF program and its accompanying debt restructuring deal, sealed by AKD’s predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe. One of AKD’s key campaign promises was to conduct an independent debt sustainability analysis and renegotiate this deal. This will be much easier said than done.

The debt restructuring deal negotiated by Wickremesinghe includes novel instruments such as “governance-linked bonds” which link interest rates to the government’s willingness to pass “anti-corruption” legislation—corruption being a dog whistle reserved for countries in the Global South that are insufficiently subordinated to the neoliberal paradigm.

The deal also includes “macro-linked bonds” which have no upside for Sri Lanka. According to these, higher GDP growth rates in the country will be met with higher interest payments to private bondholders, like BlackRock, who own the largest share of Sri Lanka’s debt.

Some analysts predict an economic meltdown starting in 2027 when Sri Lanka will have to begin repaying its external debt, likely running down its foreign currency reserves and forcing it to borrow again from international bond markets. In order to deliver on its campaign promise of system change, the NPP will have to put an end to this debt spiral and begin to industrialize the country.

In the realm of foreign policy, the NPP will have to navigate the recently elected Trump administration, which is likely to double down on the Indo-Pacific Strategy to contain China. Following the end of Sri Lanka’s Civil War in 2009, the U.S. has applied increasing pressure on the country, often leveraging human rights issues to push through a combination of economic and governance reforms.

In the past decade, the U.S. has attempted to push through economic agreements like the Millennium Challenge Compact which contained provisions to privatize land. It has also promoted military agreements like the Status of Forces Agreement and the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement, both of which aimed to improve interoperability between the U.S. and Sri Lankan military in order to draw the latter into the United States’ New Cold War on China.

Should it choose to take on these tasks, the NPP will have to tap into the insurgent multipolar movement in the Global South in order to build a united front against debt and imperialism. They will need to rekindle the Bandung Spirit and restore Sri Lanka’s leading position in the Non-Aligned Movement. Time will tell if the NPP is up to this task.

Internal Contradictions

A decisive factor in the next four years will be how the internal balance of forces plays out within the NPP coalition, where the biggest party is the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). Many of the NPP’s new parliamentarians are young and inexperienced and have few links with the old JVP. The latter was modeled on a Marxist-Leninist cadre-based party.

The ideological makeup of the NPP is therefore eclectic, including many middle-class professionals, academics, artists, and political activists. Some have a markedly liberal cosmopolitan character that is in stark contrast to the old JVP’s base of mainly rural cadres known for their militancy and patriotism. Managing this dialectic of old and new will be another challenge for AKD.

Meanwhile, the shock of an electoral wipe may force the right-wing forces, namely the UNP and SJB, to regroup. They will take every opportunity to evoke a red scare and paint even the most moderate reform as a communist takeover. They will use their links with imperialists in the West to do this.

Finally, there is the traditional nationalist camp which includes the Rajapaksas, various splinters of the Old Left, and Sinhala nationalists. It is clear that it is primarily the disenchanted voters of this bloc that form the bedrock of support for the NPP. Therefore, there will likely be much pressure on the NPP to live up to the populist and patriotic traditions of southern Sri Lanka.

This article was produced by Globetrotter. 

Shiran Illanperuma is a Sri Lankan political economist and writer. He is a researcher and editor at Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. He holds an MSc in economic policy from SOAS University of London. His research interests include industrial policy and structural transformation.

 

Saudi executes more than 100 foreigners in 2024: AFP tally

Agence France-Presse

Nov 17, 2024

A spike in executions undercuts statements by Saudi de facto ruler that the kingdom had slashed the use of the death penalty — FAYEZ NURELDINE

Saudi Arabia has executed more than 100 foreigners this year, according to an AFP tally indicating a sharp increase which one rights group said was unprecedented.

The latest execution, on Saturday in the southwestern region of Najran, was of a Yemeni national convicted of smuggling drugs into the Gulf kingdom, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

That brought to 101 the number of foreigners executed so far in 2024, according to the tally which is compiled from state media reports.

This is almost triple the figures for 2023 and 2022, when Saudi authorities had put to death 34 foreigners each year, according to AFP tallies.

The Berlin-based European-Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR) said this year's executions had already broken a record.

"This is the largest number of executions of foreigners in one year. Saudi Arabia has never executed 100 foreigners in a year," said Taha al-Hajji, the group's legal director.

Saudi Arabia has faced persistent criticism over its use of the death penalty, which human rights groups have condemned as excessive and out of step with efforts to soften its forbidding image and welcome international tourists and investors.

The oil-rich kingdom executed the third highest number of prisoners in the world after China and Iran in 2023, according to Amnesty International.

In September, AFP reported that Saudi Arabia had carried out its highest number of executions in more than three decades, surpassing its previous highs of 196 in 2022 and 192 in 1995.

Executions have continued at a rapid clip since then and totalled 274 for the year as of Sunday, according to AFP's tally.

- 'Execution crisis' -

Foreigners executed this year have included 21 from Pakistan, 20 from Yemen, 14 from Syria, 10 from Nigeria, nine from Egypt, eight from Jordan and seven from Ethiopia.

There were also three each from Sudan, India and Afghanistan, and one each from Sri Lanka, Eritrea and the Philippines.

Saudi Arabia in 2022 ended a three-year moratorium on the execution of drug offenders, and executions for drug-related crimes have boosted this year's numbers.

There have been 92 such executions so far this year, 69 of them of foreigners, according to the AFP tally.

Diplomats and activists say that foreign defendants usually face a higher barrier to fair trials, including the right to access court documents.

Foreigners "are the most vulnerable group", said Hajji of the ESOHR.

Not only are they often "victims of major drug dealers" but also "subjected to a series of violations from the moment of their arrest until their execution," he said.

Saudi Arabia is notorious for beheading those convicted of capital crimes, although official statements tend not to mention the method of execution.

The high number of executions undercuts statements by Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who told The Atlantic in 2022 that the kingdom had eliminated the death penalty with the exception of murder cases or when an individual posed a threat to many lives.

Jeed Basyouni, who heads Middle East anti-death penalty advocacy for the NGO Reprieve, said persistent drug arrests were "perpetuating the cycle of violence".

The overall number of executions was on track to exceed 300 for the year, she noted.

"This is an unprecedented execution crisis in Saudi Arabia," said Basyouni.

"Families of foreign nationals on death row are understandably terrified that their loved one will be next."

Sri Lanka reappoints Amarasuriya as prime minister

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's leftist coalition won a majority in snap parliamentary polls, provisional results showed on November 15. 

(File/AFP)

Reuters
November 18, 2024

Dissanayake, whose leftist coalition won 159 seats in the 225-member parliament in general election, also reappointed veteran legislator Vijitha Herath

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake reappointed Harini Amarasuriya as the prime minister of the Indian Ocean island nation on Monday.
Dissanayake, whose leftist coalition won 159 seats in the 225-member parliament in general election, also reappointed veteran legislator Vijitha Herath to helm the foreign affairs ministry.

Dissanayake did not name a new finance minister during Monday’s swearing-in, signaling that he will keep the key finance portfolio himself as he had done in September after winning the presidential election.

A political outsider in a country dominated by family parties for decades, Dissanayake comfortably won the island’s presidential election in September and named Amarasuriya as prime minister while picking Herath to helm foreign affairs.

But his Marxist-leaning National People’s Power (NPP) coalition had just three seats in parliament, prompting him to dissolve it and seek a fresh mandate in Thursday’s snap election.

The president leaned toward policy continuity as the sweeping mandate in general elections handed Dissanayake the legislative power to push through his plans to fight poverty and graft in the island nation recovering from a financial meltdown.

A nation of 22 million, Sri Lanka was crushed by a 2022 economic crisis triggered by a severe shortage of foreign currency that pushed it into a sovereign default and caused its economy to shrink by 7.3 percent in 2022 and 2.3 percent last year.

While the strong mandate will strengthen political stability in the South Asian country, some uncertainty on policy direction remains due to Dissanayake’s promises to try and tweak terms of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rescue program that bailed the country out of its economic crisis, analysts said.

Sri Lankan president's leftist coalition sweeps snap parliamentary elections


Barely two months after Sri Lanka’s new Marxist-leaning President Anura Kumara Dissanayake won the presidential election, his National People's Power coalition swept a snap parliamentary vote on Friday, empowering him to implement poverty reduction programmes in the financial crisis-hit island nation.

Issued on: 15/11/2024 - 
By: AFP/NEWS WIRES

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake took power after sweeping presidential elections in September 2024. © Ishara S. Kodikara, AFP

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's leftist coalition won a landslide victory in snap legislative elections, results showed Friday, as voters repudiated establishment parties blamed for triggering an economic crisis.

Dissanayake, a self-avowed Marxist, swept September presidential elections on a promise to combat graft and recover stolen assets, two years after a slow-motion financial crash imposed widespread hardships on the island nation.

His decision to immediately call polls and secure parliamentary backing for his agenda was vindicated on Friday, with his National People's Power (NPP) coalition taking at least 123 seats in the 225-member assembly and on track to win many more.

The coalition had a monumental 62 percent of the vote among the more than three-quarters of ballots counted so far, while opposition leader Sajith Premadasa's party was well behind with only 18 percent.

"People voted to get rid of corruption and a corrupt system," IT professional Chanaka Rajapaksha, who supported the NPP in the polls, told AFP on Friday.

In a sign of the magnitude of support for Dissanayake, his party won the most votes in the northern district of Jaffna, dominated by the island's minority Tamil community, for the first time since independence from Britain in 1948.

A man shows his inked finger after casting his ballot at a polling station in Sri Lanka on November 14, 2024. © Ishara S. Kodikara, AFP

Dissanayake, the 55-year-old son of a labourer, said he expected "a strong majority" in parliament to press ahead with his platform after casting his ballot in Thursday's poll.

"We believe that this is a crucial election that will mark a turning point in Sri Lanka," he said. "At this election, the NPP expects a mandate for a very strong majority in parliament."

Police said the nine-hour voting period passed without any incidents of violence, unlike most ballots of recent years, but three election workers including a police constable died due to illness while on duty.

Voter turnout was estimated at under 70 percent, less than in September presidential polls that saw nearly 80 percent of Sri Lanka's eligible voters cast a ballot.

Dissanayake had been an MP for nearly 25 years and was briefly an agriculture minister but his NPP coalition held just three seats in the outgoing assembly.

He stormed to the presidency after successfully distancing himself from establishment politicians blamed for steering the country to its 2022 economic crisis.

The financial crash was the worst in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka's history as an independent nation, sparking months-long shortages of food, fuel and essential medicines.

The resulting public anger culminated in the storming of then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa's compound, prompting his resignation and temporary exile.

Dissanayake's pledge to change a "corrupt" political culture has resonated with millions of Sri Lankans struggling to make ends meet following tax hikes and other austerity measures imposed to repair the nation's finances.

His JVP party, the main constituent in the NPP coalition, led two insurrections in 1971 and 1987 that resulted in at least 80,000 deaths.

But he was sworn in after September's presidential polls, described as one of the island nation's most peaceful elections.

'Investor confidence'

Some 17.1 million people are choosing between 8,800 candidates after a campaign that election monitors say was one of the most peaceful in the country. 

© Ishara S. Kodikara, AFP

Portraits of communist luminaries including Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Friedrich Engels and Fidel Castro hang in Dissanayake's office in the capital.

Since his rise to popularity, however, he has softened some policies, saying he believes in an open economy and is not totally opposed to privatisation.

Dissanayake had campaigned on a pledge to renegotiate a controversial $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout secured by his predecessor.

But since taking office, he has resolved to maintain the existing agreement with the international lender.

The country's main private sector lobby, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, is tacitly supporting Dissanayake and his programme.

Sri Lanka's stock exchange has gained over 16 percent in the eight weeks since Dissanayake won the presidency.

'Opposition is dead'

Sri Lanka GDP © John Saeki, AFP

Poll monitors and analysts said Thursday's election had failed to generate the level of enthusiasm -- or violence -- seen at previous polls.

"The opposition is dead," political analyst Kusal Perera said before the vote. "The result of the election is a foregone conclusion."

The outgoing parliament was dominated by Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, two brothers from a powerful political clan who have both served as president, but it has since splintered.

Neither Rajapaksa is contesting, but Mahinda's son Namal, a former sports minister, is seeking re-election.

(AFP)

Sri Lanka president eyes parliament win in snap election


By AFP
November 13, 2024


Thursday's election has failed to generate the level of enthusiasm -- or violence -- seen at previous polls, analysts say

 - Copyright AFP -

Amal JAYASINGHE

Sri Lanka votes Thursday in a second national election in as many months with a deeply divided opposition struggling to recover from a crushing defeat at presidential polls.

The snap parliamentary election was called by the new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake — the South Asian island’s first leftist leader — after he won polls on a promise to combat graft and recover the country’s stolen assets.

Dissanayake’s party is widely tipped to sweep Thursday’s parliamentary vote with analysts saying the opposition is in disarray.

The 55-year-old leader is seeking a two-thirds majority in the 225-member legislature to press ahead with reforms after the country’s economic meltdown in 2022, when then president Gotabaya Rajapaksa was ousted.

Polls for 17.1 million voters choosing between 8,800 candidates, open at 7:00 am (0130 GMT) on Thursday and close at 4:00 pm, with initial results expected Friday.

Dissanayake’s JVP, or the People’s Liberation Front, is the main constituent of the National People’s Power (NPP) coalition of professionals seeking to form the next government.

The NPP held just three seats in the outgoing assembly.

Dissanayake had been an MP for nearly 25 years and was briefly an agriculture minister, but he distanced himself from traditional politicians accused of leading the country to its worst economic crisis two years ago.

His JVP party led two insurrections in 1971 and 1987, leading to the loss of at least 80,000 lives, but Dissanayake took power peacefully in elections on September 21.



– ‘Foregone conclusion’ –



Despite previous promises to renegotiate a controversial $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout secured by his predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe, Dissanayake has chosen to maintain the agreement with the international lender.

The country’s main private sector lobby, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, is tacitly supporting Dissanayake and expects him to press ahead with reforms.

“Continuing reforms… could encourage both investor confidence and fiscal discipline, setting a foundation for sustainable growth,” CCC Secretary Bhuwanekabahu Perera told AFP ahead of voting.

He said Dissanayake’s approach to governance “may lean toward a balanced socialist-democratic model that acknowledges market realities.”

An IMF delegation is due in Colombo on Thursday to review economic progress before releasing the next tranche of $330 million of the bailout loan.

Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, who had campaigned to take part in a coalition government, vowed in his final campaign rally he would “put pressure” on Dissanayake to honour promises of tax cuts.

Poll monitors and analysts note that Thursday’s election had failed to generate the level of enthusiasm — or violence — seen at previous polls.

Political analyst Kusal Perera said there was little campaigning by opposition parties.

“The opposition is dead,” Perera said. “The result of the election is a foregone conclusion.”

Over 60 senior politicians from the previous administration have opted to stay out.

The outgoing parliament was dominated by the party of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa — the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), or the People’s Front — but it has since splintered.

Rajapaksa is not contesting, but his son Namal, a former sports minister, is seeking re-election.

Starving a Nation: The US’s Vengeful Siege on Cuba

Nilantha Ilangamuwa

November 8, 2024
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Map of Cuba with inset of the West Indies.

Just over a year after the Cuban Revolution’s resounding victory, a secret memo from Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, Lester Mallory, dated 6 April 1960, exposes the cold calculus behind the United States’ decision to impose a trade embargo on Cuba. Mallory’s covert words reveal the brutal truth: Fidel Castro’s revolution enjoys broad popularity in Cuba, and with no effective opposition on the horizon, the only way to destabilize Castro’s support is by inducing “disenchantment and disaffection based on economic dissatisfaction and hardship.” Mallory advocated a ruthless course of action—stripping Cuba of funds and supplies, cutting wages, and forcing the nation into “hunger, desperation, and the overthrow of [the] government.” This wasn’t a policy grounded in democracy or diplomacy; it was economic warfare, a vengeful tactic to break the will of a small island nation that dared to defy US dominance. And it has been devastatingly effective—this calculated vendetta has crippled Cuba for decades, imposing a chokehold America would never dare impose on more powerful adversaries.

For the 32nd time this October, the United Nations witnessed an overwhelming majority of nations condemning the US embargo—a scathing rebuke to this anachronistic hostility. Yet, undeterred, US officials continue to insist, “The United States stands with the Cuban people,” a statement drenched in irony as nearly a thousand alleged political prisoners remain detained in Cuban prisons. Whether or not these detentions are fair, the fact remains: the embargo was never intended to foster democracy, human rights, or political liberty; it was born out of an insatiable drive to punish and control. Mallory’s secret memo encapsulates this vendetta, exposing that for over six decades, US policy toward Cuba has been an exercise in calculated cruelty under the guise of justice.

The US embargo on Cuba, initiated in the early 1960s, is often framed as a crusade for democracy and human rights. Yet Mallory’s memo lays bare its true intent: it is a tool of economic warfare aimed squarely at the Cuban people. While the US claims to be an advocate for Cuban human rights, its actions are a blatant contradiction. 

Cuba’s revolution was centred on social reform, prioritising healthcare and education over militarisation—a direct counterpoint to the economic stranglehold the US has employed. The Cuban model, lauded for its focus on healthcare and social equality, underscores the power of a nation that chooses to resist foreign domination by empowering its citizens. Yet the US, hypocritically engaging with regimes that exhibit blatant human rights abuses, singles out Cuba for punishment, raising serious questions about its motivations. As Noam Chomsky once noted, “The embargo is not designed to liberate the Cuban people; it is designed to punish them.” This cruel approach has only fuelled Cuban nationalism, reinforcing the country’s resistance and echoing Castro’s declaration: “We will not be the colony of anyone.”

The US’s actions against Cuba go beyond economic sanctions; they include covert and overt acts of aggression aimed at destabilising the Cuban government and society. The Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961—an attempted coup—was explicitly crafted to overthrow Castro and reinstate a pro-American regime, but its catastrophic failure only solidified Cuban resistance. Plots to assassinate Castro with exploding cigars and poisoned milkshakes illustrate the extremes the US has gone to eliminate a leader who dared defy its authority.

Moreover, the US has resorted to economic and biological warfare, even introducing diseases to destroy crops and livestock—a clandestine form of economic terrorism aimed at decimating Cuba’s food supply and economic stability. Such actions starkly reveal the hypocrisy of American claims to support human rights while intensifying suffering for ordinary Cubans. Globally, a growing chorus of nations, from Venezuela and Nicaragua to European allies, has condemned these sanctions as vestiges of Cold War imperialism that destabilise the region and trample Cuba’s sovereignty. The Biden administration’s continued support for sanctions, despite widespread global opposition, is a glaring ethical failure. As Brazilian President Lula da Silva remarked, “The real crime against humanity is to allow people to starve while the powerful hoard wealth”—a searing indictment that resonates deeply in the context of Cuba’s enduring struggle under an embargo that impoverishes a nation for daring to choose its own path.

The question is clear: what will it take for the United States to abandon this outdated, punitive siege on Cuba? Cloaked in rhetoric of democracy and human rights, the embargo is a tool of calculated suffering, intended to coerce an entire nation into submission. The relentless hardships imposed on Cuban families—the deprivation of medicine, food, and basic resources—lay bare the hollow benevolence the US claims to offer. This blockade isn’t about safeguarding freedom; it is a political weapon punishing an independent people for defining their own destiny. Cuba’s resistance to this oppressive stance is not merely a national struggle; it is a rallying cry for the world to confront the hypocrisy of powerful nations that proclaim liberty while enforcing collective punishment on a small nation that defies their will. Ignoring the Cuban people’s suffering only perpetuates a cycle of coercion that mocks the very ideals of justice and liberty the US claims to uphold.

The US embargo against Cuba stands as a profound moral failure of humanity. The original intentions behind the embargo, as spelled out in Mallory’s secret memo, reveal a political vendetta dressed up as human rights advocacy. The continuing suffering inflicted on the Cuban populace exposes the profound ethical flaws of such policies. Not once, but 32 times, countries with a conscience and ordinary Americans have called for an end to this unjust embargo, recognising that this putrid, outdated policy punishes the Cuban people. It is a moral duty for all American leaders to dismantle this economic warfare that shackles humanity.

Nilantha Ilangamuwa is a Sri Lankan born author. He was the-editor of Sri Lanka Guardian, an online daily newspaper. He was also the editor of the Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives, bi-monthly print magazine, co-published by the Danish Institute Against Torture ( DIGNITY) based in Copenhagen, Denmark.