Features
Anuradhapura and Rome: Pliny the Elder and his Encyclopedia of Natural History
By Prof.Kirthi Tennakone
ktenna@yahoo.co.uk
Civilisations evolve independently and through mutual interaction. Trade, invasions, emissaries and missionaries and the diffusion of ordinary folk across borders represent avenues of cultural interrelationship. The ideas and information aliens bring and their potentialities affirmatively further the advancement of a nation. Equally important would be the genetic advantage of ethnic mixing. Sri Lanka stands as a prime example of a country that progressed in this manner.
Few cultures have succeeded in exerting their influence far away from their indigenous territory. Here, the first and foremost have been Romans. For that reason, they also gathered a wealth of information about foreign lands.
A man who lived when the Roman Empire was marching towards its climax and wrote a compendium on all affairs of the world, from cosmology to cosmetics, was Gaius Plinius Secundus, popularly known as Pliny the Elder. His 2000th birthday falls this year. He will be remembered for thousands of more years as one of the greatest writers of all time.
Pliny researched and recorded so much about different cultures in the world, until the time he lived. His reference to a visit of ambassadors from the Anuradhapura Kingdom to the Court of the Roman Emperor Claudius fascinated historians worldwide. Pliny dispelled the myth that, apart from Italy and Greece, people living in other lands are barbarians, showing the world in the Anuradhapura era, Sri Lankans were just as civilized as Romans.
In ancient times, large distances limited human movement. The advent of navigation mixed up cultures faster, changing the world. The Phoenicians, the tribes on the Mediterranean coast between Lebanon and Greece, were the pioneer navigators. By about 1000 BCE, their ships sailed almost every corner in the oceans of the region. The Romans acquired ship-building technology and the art of navigation from the Phoenicians, expanded their fleet and conquered lands, becoming the greatest political power in the world by the 1st century. The Roman Empire, lasting for about 1000 years, from 625 BCE, influenced culture and happenings in Europe, the Middle East and Africa profoundly. Despite the motto “Roma Invicta”, meaning undefeatable Rome, the empire failed to repulse an attack by Germanic forces in 476 CE.
The Anuradhapura culture in Sri Lanka evolved independently but followed a path parallel to Rome in its rise and fall. The era beginning around 370 BCE, continued longer than Roman civilisation, overlapping with it for nearly 800 years. Although we advanced to the highest standards in empirical technology, unlike the Romans, our ancestors did not strive to acquire foreign lands by installing a huge naval infrastructure. Instead, they concentrated on agriculture, building remarkable irrigation systems. Anuradhapura was always under the threat of South Indian invasions but succeeded in defending itself until 1017 CE. And later, as the art of navigation advanced worldwide, because of its unique geographical coordinates, the island became an attraction for trade and invasion.
Traditionally, the religion of early Roman civilisation was mythology, but they were also inspired by Greek philosophers. The favoured philosophy was stoicism, which tells people to live following the virtues of wisdom, justice, temperance and courage. Buddhism, a religion as well as a philosophy that originated in India, guided the Anuradhapura culture. The teachings of Buddha are not very different from stoic ideals. In both cultures, the rulers subscribed to religion and philosophies, but many of them, in their deeds, acted contrarily because of their greed for power. Nero, who studied stoicism as a young adult, killed his mother and second wife. Kashyapa I, brutally asphyxiated his father, King Dhatusena, to death by immuring him in a wall. It is said that Dahutsena had previously ordered the burning of his own sister alive. Society often ignores the grave crimes of rulers and highlights their achievements!
Many historians attribute the fall of Rome and Anuradhapura to the fault of rulers.
Ramsay MacMullen, a leading authority on Roman history, argues in his book “Corruption and Decline of Rome” a key factor in Rome’s fall was the steady loss of focus and control over the government as its aims were thwarted for private gain by high-ranking bureaucrats and military leaders. Historians have also said that the oppressive taxation of citizens to support the government and army contributed much to the downfall of the Empire in 476 CE. Poor improvised by heavy taxation, preferred invaders taking over the government.
Similar circumstances opened the way for the collapse of Anuradhapura. The kingdom grew into prosperity, of course not without intermittent calamities, primarily because of the principles of righteousness advocated by Buddhism, which created a favourable environment for the collective effort essential to promoting agriculture and technology. Erudite monks in monasteries devoted their entire lives to studies, qualifying them to advise the rulers, their reputation reached foreign lands, notably India and China. In later years, internal strife and greed for power to enjoy royal pleasures escalated, driving the country into poverty. The Buddhist establishment became more demanding than scholarly. Just as in Rome, conditions suited to a foreign invasion emerged.
Although Anuradhapura and Rome advanced rapidly in the 1st century CE, well above other nations, direct contact between the two cultures has been limited. Despite the strength of the Roman navy, their ships could not sail vast distances and reach Sri Lanka because of the difficulty of determining geographical locations without instrumentation, even a compass. The Romans heard stories about Taprobane from Persian traders and Greeks and considered it a different world.
Pliny the Elder’s “Natural History”, a thirty-seven volume encyclopedia, stands as one of the greatest writings of antiquity, covering all branches of knowledge. The book is frequently cited in Sri Lankan literature because it discloses a vivid description of a delegation of emissaries from Sri Lanka to the court of the Roman Emperor, Tiberius Claudius Caesar (41-54 CE). What Pliny enumerates is undoubtedly centered on a fact. Some have endorsed all he has said as accurate and looked for clues in Sri Lankan history, while others consider many of his claims to be taken with a grain of salt. An extract from an English translation of Natural History reads:
“During the reign of the Emperor Claudius, an embassy came from this distant island to Rome. The circumstances under which this took place were as follow: Annius Plocamus had farmed from the treasury the revenues arising from the Red Sea. A certain freedman of his, while sailing around Arabia, was carried away by a gale from the north beyond the coast of Carmania. In the course of fifteen days he had drifted to Hippuros, a port of Taprobane, where he was most kindly and hospitably received by the king; and having, after a study of six months, become well acquainted with the language, was enabled to answer all his inquiries relative to the Romans and their emperor. But of all that he heard, the king was more particularly struck with surprise at our rigid notions of justice, on ascertaining that among the money found on the captive, the denarii were all of equal weight, although the different figures on them plainly showed that they had been struck in the reigns of several emperors. By this circumstance in especial, the king was prompted to form an alliance with the Romans, and accordingly sent to Rome an embassy, consisting of four persons, the chief of whom was Rachias.”
Above is a reasonable and acceptable story. The weight of the Roman silver coin denarii remained constant (3.9 grams) from 200 BCE to 64 CE. The King of Sri Lanka appreciated the fact that Roman currency stood undepreciated for a long period.
Pliny signifies the episode by telling, a 1st century Sri Lankan ruler, having learned from a sailor of a foreign country where prosperity and justice existed, wished to form an alliance by sending an emissary. Pliny was aware that justice did not prevail in Rome all the time. Claudius earned recognition as a reasonable emperor, whereas those before and after (Caligula and Nero) were the cruelest. Pliny finalised his book during reign of Emperor Vespasian, who always sought Pliny’s advice and firmly reestablished the rule of law in Rome.
Pliny does not indicate how he obtained information about the envoys and the year of their visit is not mentioned. He famously accused writers for not acknowledging the authorship of the sources from which information was gathered. Perhaps to avoid being criticized on the same grounds, he seems to have adopted a clever style of writing. On the basis of some good evidence, he researched and wrote a story connecting existing information (not verified), to imply all the details came from the envoys.
According to Pliny, the vessel in distress landed in the port of Hippuros, Taprobane. Although various interpretations exist, there is no evidence of a port by that name in Sri Lanka, certainly not at the time the sailor landed. In other sections of his writing, he states the most famous city on the Island is Palesimundus and there is a river, lake and promontory by the names; Cydra, Megsbe and Coliacum – words derived from Greek. The Ancient Greeks sometimes confusedly described Sri Lanka and Anuradhapura as Palesimundus. It is unlikely the ambassadors have said they are from Palesimundus. According to Pliny, the people of Taprobane, worship Hercules. In Greek Buddhism, the most powerful god Hercules is the defender of Buddha. Many other legends in Pliny’s Natural History, including the statement, the people of Taprobane do not hire slaves, are found in more ancient Greek texts.
Since the Greek invasion of Persia in 492 BCE and Alexander’s conquest of territories further east and his march to India in 327 BCE, the Greeks seem to have acquired a wealth of information about Sri Lanka and the surrounding region. Based on the data they collected, Eratosthenes (276-194 BCE) estimated the size of Sri Lanka, and later Ptolemy drew a map. Geographic locations were given names by the Greeks. It is said that more than 90% of ancient Greek literature was intractable since the pre-modern era. Presumably, during Pliny’s time, many of these documents were available.
When there are so many uncertainties and ambiguities in Pliny’s account, Sri Lankan authors have presented lengthy arguments to trace the origin of the name of the leader of the delegation, mentioned as Rachias, primarily to ascertain his ethnicity – a glaring reflection of our immaturity. Can we be certain someone would remember and spell a foreign name correctly?
Pliny also wrote the Sri Lankan ambassadors who visited Rome were astonished to see the constellations Great Bear and Pleiades, as these are not visible from Tabrobane soil. It may be because Sri Lankans are not stargazers; instead; they confidently believe their destinies are fixed by the positioning of planets, which they never dare to see by looking at the sky. And having seen the northern sky upon arriving at the shores of Italy they were amazed. Pliny also presents another inadmissible story; according to the ambassadors, in their country, the star Canopus lit the night, casting shadows. It is true that in Sri Lanka, Canopus appears higher in the horizon compared to Italy, but everyone knows, no star is sufficiently bright to cast shadows – possibly an exaggeration by Pliny.
The historical chronicles of any culture are important and need to be venerated. At the same time, we should keep in mind, their contents not be taken as absolute truth for natural reasons. As the accurate recording of data did not exist in those days, many claims stem from hearsay, folklore and speculation. The writers were biased and opinions and facts are intermingled. A danger would be the use of their contents as supporting evidence for decision-making.
Reading chapters of Pliny’s book, devoted to other subjects indicates he resorted to rational argument, compared to Eastern historians of the time, but sometimes linked factual and fictional data and assertions of others without critical examination. Pliny was a polymath, but not an original thinker like Plato or Aristotle. Although he denounced extravagances, his thinking seems to have been influenced by Roman elitism.
Pliny the Elder’s (22-79 CE) biography is strange, unique and exemplary. Born to a wealthy family, he studied in Rome, beginning his career as an officer in the army.He served in Germany. Africa and Spain as a higher- level administrator in the Roman Empire. Literarily and philosophically inclined, he devoted his entire spare time to reading and writing, did not get married and led an honourable life entirely free of vices. His nephew, named Pliny the Younger, has said that his uncle did not waste even a minute distracting from official duties or studies. He read and wrote until late at night. At the time he was eating or taking a bath, a servant was instructed to read a book aloud for him to listen to. He rarely walked, but carried in a chair by slaves, so that he could read while moving. His incomparable volume of writing and his knowledge in areas of science, engineering, geography, history and art attest to what his nephew said.
The last appointment, Pliny held was commander of the Roman fleet. In CE 79, he lived with his sister and nephew near Pompeii and close to the naval headquarters. On August 24th afternoon, Pliny was working on a manuscript, when his sister told him smoke was rising above a mountain. He wanted to rush to the scene out of scientific curiosity. Minutes later, he received a message from a friend, telling him Mount Vesuvius had started to erupt and asking help for evacuation. He commanded a fleet of boats for rescue missions and traveled to shore, ignoring warnings of the assistants who followed him. Because of his feebleness, he suffocated to death by inhaling toxic gases.
Pliny was a defender of the Roman cause and the Emperors, particularly Claudius and Vespasian sought his advice. Many times he made statements implying prosperity of the Roman Empire exceeded all the other parts of the world, but often he lamented the extravagances of citizens and corruption of rulers as a deterrent to progress.
According to Pliny, the Sri Lankan delegates who visited Rome said, in their country, an elderly man of mild and clement disposition without children is elected as the king and if he happens to father children, abdication would be the consequence; this is done so that there may be no danger of the sovereign power becoming hereditary. We know this was not practiced in Sri Lanka or in Roman Empire. Perhaps, Pliny wrote these lines as a message to Roman polity, because he witnessed the dangers of imperial succession based on hereditary claims. Though an ardent advocate of Roman expansionism, he hinted that justice and fair play stood higher in Anuradhapura those days than in Rome.
Features
Counting cats, naming giants: Inside the unofficial science redefining Sri Lanka’s Leopards and Tuskers
For decades, Sri Lanka’s leopard numbers have been debated, estimated, and contested, often based on assumptions few outside academic circles ever questioned.
One of the most fundamental was that a leopard’s spots never change. That belief, long accepted as scientific fact, began to unravel not in a laboratory or lecture hall, but through thousands of photographs taken patiently in the wilds of Yala. At the centre of that quiet disruption stands Milinda Wattegedara.
Sri Lanka’s wilderness has always inspired photographers. Far fewer, however, have transformed photography into a data-driven challenge to established conservation science. Wattegedara—an MBA graduate by training and a wildlife researcher by pursuit—has done precisely that, building one of the most comprehensive independent identification databases of leopards and tuskers in the country.
“I consider myself privileged to have been born and raised in Sri Lanka,” Wattegedara says. “This island is extraordinary in its biodiversity. But admiration alone doesn’t protect wildlife. Accuracy does.”
Raised in Kandy, and educated at Kingswood College, where he captained cricket teams, up to the First XI, Wattegedara’s early years were shaped by discipline and long hours of practice—traits that would later define his approach to field research.
Though his formal education culminated in a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Cardiff Metropolitan University, his professional life gradually shifted toward Sri Lanka’s forests, grasslands, and coastal fringes.
From childhood, two species held his attention: the Sri Lankan leopard and the Asian elephant tusker. Both are icons. Both are elusive. And both, he argues, have been inadequately understood.
His response was methodical. Using high-resolution photography, Wattegedara began documenting individual animals, focusing on repeat sightings, behavioural traits, territorial ranges, and physical markers.
This effort formalised into two platforms—Yala Leopard Diary and Wild Tuskers of Sri Lanka—which function today as tightly moderated research communities rather than casual social media pages.
“My goal was never popularity,” he explains. “It was reliability. Every identification had to stand scrutiny.”
The results are difficult to dismiss. Through collaborative verification and long-term monitoring, his teams have identified over 200 individual leopards across Yala and Kumana National Parks and 280 tuskers across Sri Lanka.
Each animal—whether Jessica YF52 patrolling Mahaseelawa beach or Mahasen T037, the longest tusker bearer recorded in the wild—is catalogued with photographic evidence and movement history.
It was within this growing body of data that a critical inconsistency emerged.
“As injuries accumulated over time, we noticed subtle but consistent changes in rosette and spot patterns,” Wattegedara says. “This directly contradicted the assumption that these markings remain unchanged for life.”
That observation, later corroborated through structured analysis, had serious implications. If leopards were being identified using a limited set of spot references, population estimates risked duplication and inflation.
The findings led to the development of the Multipoint Leopard Identification Method, now internationally published, which uses multiple reference points rather than fixed pattern assumptions. “This wasn’t about academic debate,” Wattegedara notes. “It was about ensuring we weren’t miscounting an endangered species.”
The implications extend beyond Sri Lanka. Overestimated populations can lead to reduced protection, misplaced policy decisions, and weakened conservation urgency.
Yet much of this work has occurred outside formal state institutions.
“There’s a misconception that meaningful research only comes from official channels,” Wattegedara says. “But conservation gaps don’t wait for bureaucracy.”
That philosophy informed his role as co-founder of the Yala Leopard Centre, the world’s first facility dedicated solely to leopard education and identification. The Centre serves as a bridge between researchers, wildlife enthusiasts, and the general public, offering access to verified knowledge rather than speculation.
In a further step toward transparency, Artificial Intelligence has been introduced for automatic leopard identification, freely accessible via the Centre and the Yala Leopard Diary website. “Technology allows consistency,” he explains. “And consistency is everything in long-term studies.”
His work with tuskers mirrors the same precision. From Minneriya to Galgamuwa, Udawalawe to Kala Wewa, Wattegedara has documented generations of bull elephants—Arjuna T008, Kawanthissa T075, Aravinda T112—not merely as photographic subjects, but as individuals with lineage, temperament, and territory.
This depth of observation has also earned him recognition in wildlife photography, including top honours from the Photographic Society of Sri Lanka and accolades from Sanctuary Asia’s Call of the Wild. Still, he is quick to downplay awards.
“Photographs are only valuable if they contribute to understanding,” he says.
Today, Wattegedara’s co-authored identification guides on Yala leopards and Kala Wewa tuskers are increasingly referenced by researchers and field naturalists alike. His work challenges a long-standing divide between citizen science and formal research.
“Wildlife doesn’t care who publishes first,” he reflects. “It only responds to how accurately we observe it.”
In an era when Sri Lanka’s protected areas face mounting pressure—from tourism, infrastructure, and climate stress—the question of who counts wildlife, and how, has never been more urgent.
By insisting on precision, patience, and proof, Milinda Wattegedara has quietly reframed that conversation—one leopard, one tusker, and one verified photograph at a time.
By Ifham Nizam ✍️
This summary document is based on an exemplary webinar conducted by the Bandaranaike Academy for Leadership & Public Policy ((https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqZGjlaMC08). I participated in the session, which featured multiple speakers with exceptional knowledge and experience who discussed various aspects of incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into the education system and other sectors.
There was strong consensus that this issue must be addressed early, before the nation becomes vulnerable to external actors seeking to exploit AI for their own advantage. Given her educational background, the Education Minister—and the Prime Minister—are likely to be fully aware of this need. This article is intended to support ongoing efforts in educational reform, including the introduction of AI education in schools for those institutions willing to adopt it.
Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept. Today, it processes vast amounts of global data and makes calculated decisions, often to the benefit of its creators. However, most users remain unaware of the information AI gathers or the extent of its influence on decision-making. Experts warn that without informed and responsible use, nations risk becoming increasingly vulnerable to external forces that may exploit AI.
The Need for Immediate Action
AI is evolving rapidly, leaving traditional educational models struggling to keep pace. By the time new curricula are finalised, they risk becoming outdated, leaving both students and teachers behind. Experts advocate immediate government-led initiatives, including pilot AI education programs in willing schools and nationwide teacher training.
“AI is already with us,” experts note. “We must ensure our nation is on this ‘AI bus’—unlike past technological revolutions, such as IT, microchips, and nanotechnology, which we were slow to embrace.”
Training Teachers and Students
Equipping teachers to introduce AI, at least at the secondary school level, is a crucial first step. AI can enhance creativity, summarise materials, generate lesson plans, provide personalised learning experiences, and even support administrative tasks. Our neighbouring country, India, has already begun this process.
Current data show that student use of AI far exceeds that of instructors—a gap that must be addressed to prevent misuse and educational malpractice. Specialists recommend piloting AI courses as electives, gathering feedback, and continuously refining the curriculum to prepare students for an AI-driven future.
Benefits of AI in Education
AI in schools offers numerous advantages:
· Fosters critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills
· Enhances digital literacy and ethical awareness
· Bridges the digital divide by promoting equitable AI literacy
· Supports interdisciplinary learning in medicine, climate science, and linguistics
· Provides personalised feedback and learning experiences
· Assists students with disabilities through adaptive technologies like text-to-speech and visual recognition
AI can also automate administrative tasks, freeing teachers to focus on student engagement and social-emotional development—a key factor in academic success.
Risks and Challenges
Despite its potential, AI presents challenges:
· Data privacy concerns and misuse of personal information
· Over-reliance on technology, reducing teacher-student interactions
· Algorithmic biases affecting educational outcomes
· Increased opportunities for academic dishonesty if assessments rely on rote memorisation
Experts emphasise understanding these risks to ensure the responsible and ethical use of AI.
Global and Local Perspectives
In India, the Central Board of Secondary Education plans to introduce AI and computational thinking from Grades 3 to 12 by 2026. Sri Lanka faces a similar challenge. Many university students and academics already rely on AI, highlighting the urgent need for a structured yet rapidly evolving national curriculum that incorporates AI responsibly.
The Way Forward
Experts urge swift action:
· Launch pilot programs in select schools immediately.
· Provide teacher training and seed funding to participating educational institutions.
· Engage universities to develop short AI and innovation training programs.
“Waiting for others to lead risks leaving us behind,” experts warn. “It’s time to embrace AI thoughtfully, responsibly, and inclusively—ensuring the whole nation benefits from its opportunities.”
As AI reshapes our world, introducing it in schools is not merely an educational initiative—it is a national imperative.
BY Chula Goonasekera ✍️
on behalf of LEADS forum admin@srilankaleads.com
The Trump paradox is easily explained at one level. The US President unleashes American superpower and tariff power abroad with impunity and without contestation. But he cannot exercise unconstitutional executive power including tariff power without checks and challenges within America. No American President after World War II has exercised his authority overseas so brazenly and without any congressional referral as Donald Trump is getting accustomed to doing now. And no American President in history has benefited from a pliant Congress and an equally pliant Supreme Court as has Donald Trump in his second term as president.
Yet he is not having his way in his own country the way he is bullying around the world. People are out on the streets protesting against the wannabe king. This week’s killing of 37 year old Renee Good by immigration agents in Minneapolis has brought the City to its edge five years after the police killing of George Floyd. The lower courts are checking the president relentlessly in spite of the Supreme Court, if not in defiance of it. There are cracks in the Trump’s MAGA world, disillusioned by his neglect of the economy and his costly distractions overseas. His ratings are slowly but surely falling. And in an electoral harbinger, New York has elected as its new mayor, Zoran Mamdani – a wholesale antithesis of Donald Trump you can ever find.
Outside America it is a different picture. The world is too divided and too cautious to stand up to Trump as he recklessly dismantles the very world order that his predecessors have been assiduously imposing on the world for nearly a hundred years. A few recent events dramatically illustrate the Trump paradox – his constraints at home and his freewheeling abroad.
Restive America
Two days before Christmas, the US Supreme Court delivered a rare rebuke to the Trump Administration. After a host of rulings that favoured Trump by putting on hold, without full hearing, lower court strictures against the Administration, the Supreme Court by a 6-3 majority decided to leave in place a Federal Court ruling that barred Trump from deploying National Guard troops in Chicago. Trump quietly raised the white flag and before Christmas withdrew the federal troops he had controversially deployed in Chicago, Portland and Los Angeles – all large cities run by Democrats.
But three days after the New Year, Trump airlifted the might of the US Army to encircle Venezuela’s capital Caracas and spirit away the country’s President Nicolás Maduro, and his wife Celia Flores, all the way to New York to stand trial in an American Court. What is not permissible in any American City was carried out with absolute impunity in a foreign capital. It turns out the Administration has no plan for Venezuela after taking out Maduro, other than Trump’s cavalier assertion, “We’re going to run it, essentially.” Essentially, the Trump Administration has let Maduro’s regime without Maduro to run the country but with the US in total control of Venezuela’s oil.
Next on the brazen list is Greenland, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio who manipulated Maduro’s ouster is off to Copenhagen for discussions with the Danish government over the future of Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of Denmark. Military option is not off the table if a simple real estate purchase or a treaty arrangement were to prove infeasible or too complicated. That is the American position as it is now customarily announced from the White House podium by the Administration’s Press Secretary Karolyn Leavitt, a 28 year old Catholic woman from New Hampshire, who reportedly conducts a team prayer for divine help before appearing at the lectern to lecture.
After the Supreme Court ruling and the Venezuela adventure, the third US development relevant to my argument is the shooting and killing of a 37 year old white American woman by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis, at 9:30 in the morning, Wednesday, January 7th. Immediately, the Administration went into pre-emptive attack mode calling the victim a “deranged leftist” and a “domestic terrorist,” and asserting that the ICE officer was acting in self-defense. That line and the description are contrary to what many people know of the victim, as well as what people saw and captured on their phones and cameras.
The victim, Renee Nicole Good, was a mother of three and a prize-winning poet who self-described herself a “poet, writer, wife and mom.” A newcomer to Minneapolis from Colorado, she was active in the community and was a designated “legal observer of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities,” to monitor interactions between ICE agents and civilian protesters that have become the norm in large immigrant cities in America. Renee Good was at the scene in her vehicle to observe ICE operations and community protesters.
In video postings that last a matter of nine seconds, two ICE officers are seen approaching Good’s vehicle and one of them trying to open her door; a bystander is heard screaming “No” as Good is seen trying to drive away; and a third ICE officer is seen standing in front of her moving vehicle, firing twice in the direction of the driver, moving to a side and firing a third time from the side. Good’s car is seen going out of control, careening and coming to a stop on a snowbank. Yet America is being bombarded with two irreconcilable narratives – one manufactured by Trump’s Administration and the other by those at the scene and everyone opposed to the regime.
It adds to the explosiveness of the situation that Good was shot and killed not far from where George Folyd was killed, also in Minneapolis, on 25th May, 2020, choked under the knee of a heartless policeman. And within 48 hours of Good’s killing, two Americans were shot and injured by two federal immigration agents, in Portland, Oregon, on the Westcoast. Trump’s attack on immigrants and the highhanded methods used by ICE agents have become the biggest flashpoint in the political opposition to the Trump presidency. People are organizing protests in places where ICE agents are apprehending immigrants because those who are being aggressively and violently apprehended have long been neighbours, colleagues, small business owners and students in their communities.
Deportation of illegal immigrants is not something that began under Trump. It has been going on in large numbers under all recent presidents including Obama and Biden. But it has never been so cruel and vicious as it is now under Trump. He has turned it into a television spectacle and hired large number of new ICE agents who are politically prejudiced and deployed them without proper training. They raid private homes and public buildings, including schools, looking for immigrants. When faced with protesters they get into clashes rather than deescalating the situation as professional police are trained to do. There is also the fear that the Administration may want to escalate confrontations with protesters to create a pretext for declaring martial law and disrupt the midterm congressional elections in November this year.
But the momentum that Trump was enjoying when he began his second term and started imposing his executive authority, has all but vanished and all within just one year in office. By the time this piece appears in print, the Supreme Court ruling on Trump’s tariffs (expected on Friday) may be out, and if as expected the ruling goes against Trump that will be a massive body blow to the Administration. Trump will of course use a negative court ruling as the reason for all the economic woes under his presidency, but by then even more Americans would have become tired of his perpetually recycled lies and boasts.
An Obliging World
To get back to my starting argument, it is in this increasingly hostile domestic backdrop that Trump has started looking abroad to assert his power without facing any resistance. And the world is obliging. The western leaders in Europe, Canada and Australia are like the three wise monkeys who will see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil – of anything that Trump does or fails to do. Their biggest fear is about the Trump tariffs – that if they say anything critical of Trump he will magnify the tariffs against their exports to the US. That is an understandable concern and it would be interesting to see if anything will change if the US Supreme Court were to rule against Trump and reject his tariff powers.
Outside the West, and with the exception of China, there is no other country that can stand up to Trump’s bullying and erratic wielding of power. They are also not in a position to oppose Trump and face increased tariffs on their exports to the US. Putin is in his own space and appears to be assured that Trump will not hurt him for whatever reason – and there are many of them, real and speculative. The case of the Latin American countries is different as they are part of the Western Hemisphere, where Trump believes he is monarch of all he surveys.
After more than a hundred years of despising America, many communities, not just regimes, in the region seem to be warming up to Trump. The timing of Trump’s sequestering of Venezuela is coinciding with a rising right wing wave and regime change in the region. An October opinion poll showed 53% of Latin American respondents reacting positively to a then potential US intervention in Venezuela while only 18% of US respondents were in favour of intervention. While there were condemnations by Latin American left leaders, seven Latin American countries with right wing governments gave full throated support to Trump’s ouster of Maduro.
The reasons are not difficult to see. The spread of crime induced by the commerce of cocaine has become the number one concern for most Latin Americans. The socio-religious backdrop to this is the evangelisation of Christianity at the expense of the traditional Catholic Church throughout Latin America. And taking a leaf from Trump, Latin Americans have also embraced the bogey of immigration, mainly influenced by the influx of Venezuelans fleeing in large numbers to escape the horrors of the Maduro regime.
But the current changes in Latin America are not necessarily indicative of a durable ideological shift. The traditional left’s base in the subcontinent is still robust and the recent regime changes are perhaps more due to incumbency fatigue than shifts in political orientations. The left has been in power for the greater part of this century and has not been able to provide answers to the real questions that preoccupied the people – economic affordability, crime and cocaine. It has not been electorally smart for the left to ignore the basic questions of the people and focus on grand projects for the intelligentsia. Exhibit #1 is the grand constitutional project in Chile under outgoing President Gabriel Borich, but it is not the only one. More romantic than realistic, Boric’s project titillated liberal constitutionalists the world over, but was roundly rejected by Chileans.
More importantly, and sooner than later, Trump’s intervention in Venezuela and his intended takeover of the country’s oil business will produce lasting backlashes, once the initial right wing euphoria starts subsiding. Apart from the bully force of Trump’s personality, the mastermind behind the intervention in Venezuela and policy approach towards Latin America in general, is Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the former Cuban American Senator from Florida and the principal leader of the group of Cuban neocons in the US. His ultimate objective is said to be achieving regime change in Cuba – apparently a psychological settling of scores on behalf Cuban Americans who have been dead set against Castro’s Cuba after the overthrow of their beloved Batista.
Mr. Rubio is American born and his parents had left Cuba years before Fidel Castro displaced Fulgencio Batista, but the family stories he apparently grew up hearing in Florida have been a large part of his self-acknowledged political makeup. Even so, Secretary Rubio could never have foreseen a situation such as an externally uncontested Trump presidency in which he would be able to play an exceptionally influential role in shaping American policy for Latin America. But as the old Burns’ poem rhymes, “The best-laid plans of men and mice often go awry.”
by Rajan Philips ✍️
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Business2 days agoDialog and UnionPay International Join Forces to Elevate Sri Lanka’s Digital Payment Landscape
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Features2 days agoThe Paradox of Trump Power: Contested Authoritarian at Home, Uncontested Bully Abroad
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News7 days agoInterception of SL fishing craft by Seychelles: Trawler owners demand international investigation
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Features2 days agoSubject:Whatever happened to (my) three million dollars?
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News1 day agoLevel I landslide early warnings issued to the Districts of Badulla, Kandy, Matale and Nuwara-Eliya extended
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News7 days agoBroad support emerges for Faiszer’s sweeping proposals on long- delayed divorce and personal law reforms
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News2 days ago65 withdrawn cases re-filed by Govt, PM tells Parliament