The news? Sri Lankan citizens revolted against the Prime Minister (who fled the country) and the President, who inherited his position, had to be 'relocated to a safe place' as thousands broke into the Presidential palace.
How did that happen? There are two causes.
...Seeking to become the first country to attain 100-percent organic farming, Rajapaksa’s ban on chemical fertilizers was first announced in 2020 and implemented in 2021 as part of his “Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour” national program. The move was promoted by citing health concerns over the use of fertilizers and shortages of foreign reserves to import the agricultural chemicals....
...Although opposed by entrenched lobbies, this has created opportunities for innovation and investment into organic agriculture that will be healthier and more sustainable in future,” Rajapaksa boasted at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference....
Ah, yes, the "innovation" and 'invest in green' line. You heard those words from Bai-Den officials, too. Just co-incidence, of course.
So how'd that work out for Sri Lankans?
...The implementation of the ban unleashed disastrous consequences on the Sri Lanka population, culminating in a steep reduction in yield and a dramatic increase in food prices. The ban left farmers with no choice but to seek out fertilizers through black markets, where they found it at often unpayable prices. Rice production fell by 20 percent, forcing the country to import rice from China, India, and Pakistan. Tea, one of the country’s biggest exports, saw record losses of up to $425 million.
Sri Lanka is undergoing an unprecedented crisis and a systematic collapse characterized by fuel shortages, with increasingly expensive prices and queues so long people have died waiting for gasoline. The fuel shortage has also left the country with scheduled rolling blackouts and turning off lamp posts to save energy. Severe shortages of food and medicines also plague the nation and, due to the increase in gas canister prices, many Sri Lankans have resorted to cooking using firewood. Inflation in the South Asian nation reached upwards of 17 percent during March 2022....
No food, no fuel, no heat, no light. "Innovative"!!!
Second cause: ignoring Donald Trump's advice.
...Billions of dollars of debt was incurred by pouring money in infrastructure projects and purchase of military weaponry, taking the country to the brink of bankruptcy.
Between 2010 and 2015, “[o]ver $5 billion in Chinese loans fueled an infrastructure boom,” the Japanese business newspaper Nikkei reported in May 2022. Financing projects “ranging from a new port to an airport and broad highways that cut across the rural hinterland.”...
...The massive Chinese investment in Sri Lankan infrastructure was part of Beijing’s global Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a multi-billion project that seeks to give China the control over strategic ports, highways and railway networks across Asia and Africa....
They were warned:
President Donald Trump’s administration repeatedly warned developing countries in Asia and Africa to beware of China’s uses of ‘debt diplomacy’ to rob them of their national sovereignty. In June 2020, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged developing nations to resist the lure of generous Chinese loans. Beijing was creating “an unsustainable debt burden” to subjugate poor countries, he cautioned.
Sri Lanka lost a war to two enemies: Big Green and Red China. Since the US faces the same enemies, you now have a very clear warning.
Act accordingly.
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