Monday 5th January, 2026

The US was once known as the self-proclaimed global policeman. It has since graduated from that role and appointed itself as an international prosecutor, judge and executioner. On Friday night, it carried out a daring operation in Caracas, captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, 63, and his wife and took them to New York, where they are to be tried for narco-terrorism among other things. The US reportedly deployed 150 aircraft, including bombers, helicopter gunships, fighter jets and reconnaissance planes, warships and a large number of crack commandos in its operation codenamed “Absolute Resolve”. US President Donald Trump made himself out to be a dove during his first term and has been eyeing the Nobel Peace Prize. But he has laid bare his true face as a hawk during his second term.

Trump has condemned Maduro as a dictator involved in drug smuggling narco-terrorism and sought to justify his military action purportedly to make the latter face the ‘full force of the US law’. But while the US was cranking up offensive action against Venezuela, claiming to defend itself against drug smugglers, Trump pardoned former President of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernandez and released him from a 45-year jail term in the US for gun running and drug trafficking offences! Moreover, Washington had no qualms about bankrolling the right-wing Contras, who fought the Sandinista government in Nicaragua despite their involvement in smuggling narcotics into the US. It also backed the Mujahideen guerrillas, who were using opium smuggling to fund their war against the Russian-backed government in Kabul. Media reports, quoting the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, have pointed out that most cocaine routes to the US run through Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, and Venezuela is only a minor transit corridor. Most of all, on Thursday, President Maduro declared that he was open to talks with the US on drug trafficking and oil, but the US did not heed his offer and resorted to military action.

There is reason to believe that President Trump’s campaign against narcotics was not the real reason for the US invasion of Venezuela. Washington’s ulterior motive came to light when Trump told the media on Saturday that the US would run Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition”. What’s up his sleeve is not difficult to guess; he wants the US to take control of the Venezuelan oil fields. He has said the US oil companies will move in to fix Venezuela’s “broken infrastructure” and “start making money for the country”. Having removed Maduro from its path, Washington will now do everything in its power to install a puppet government in Caracas so that the US will have unbridled access to Venezuela’s oil and mineral wealth. Plunder is not considered as such when big powers engage in it for their enrichment!

President Trump has made a mockery of his much-advertised aversion to regime change operations conducted by the US as an extension of its foreign policy. He has warned Iran against using force against protesters trying to topple the incumbent government in Teheran. Will he stop there, or will he target other countries that he does not consider American allies, as part of his ambitious MAGA (Make America Great Again) mission?

Speculation was rife on Saturday that the unsuccessful presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, would secure the presidency with US help. The Constitutional Chamber of Venezuela’s Supreme Court has ordered that Vice President Delcy Rodríguez immediately assume the role of acting president of the country in the absence of Maduro.

Operation Absolute Resolve

was not without a touch of self-interest. The Dems Oversight Committee has flayed Trump, saying that Maduro was captured on the day the Department of Justice was set to explain its redactions in the Epstein files, which has the potential to be his undoing.

Russia and China have vehemently condemned the capture of Maduro and his wife. Most European leaders have unashamedly resorted to prevarication over the US military action against Venezuela. Among them are British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Only Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez has had the courage to take exception to the US military action. “Spain did not recognize the Maduro regime. But neither will it recognize an intervention that violates international law and pushes the region toward a horizon of uncertainty and belligerence”, Sanchez has written on X, calling for respect for the UN Charter. His is a voice of sanity, worthy of emulation. This is the position the civilised world must adopt to safeguard international law and promote global democracy and peace. Unfortunately, the so-called big powers have undermined the UN Charter to such an extent that one wonders whether it is now worth the paper it is written on.

Interestingly, the incumbent Sri Lankan government is led by a political party that unequivocally pledged solidarity with Venezuela and condemned the US, during its opposition days. JVP leaders would thunder at political rallies and protests, asking the US not to meddle with Venezuela. It will be interesting to see the JVP-led Sri Lankan government’s official reaction to Operation Absolute Resolve. Will it be able to pluck up the courage to emulate PM Sanchez or New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has strongly criticised the capture of Maduro and his wife and called the US military action at issue an “act of war” and a “violation of international law.”

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council (SC) has announced its decision to hold an emergency meeting on Monday on the US military operation in Venezuela and its fallout. Colombia’s request for the SC special meeting has reportedly been backed by two permanent members, Russia and China. But it is highly unlikely that anything worthwhile will come of today’s UN SC meeting.

Sri Lanka’s education sector is rarely in the news for the right reasons. It is perennially in turmoil and characterised by countless problems and clashes. Thankfully, the Education Ministry has walked back its controversial decision to extend the school day by half an hour. It is reported to have cited transport problems caused by recent disasters as the reason for the reversal of its decision. However, it is determined to go ahead with its education reforms amidst vehement protests from teachers, principals and other stakeholders.

The general consensus is that the education system in this country needs to be reformed, but the NPP government made a huge mistake by rushing to prepare education reforms without consulting other stakeholders and trying to shove them down the throats of principals, teachers and students. It should have adopted a conciliatory approach.

A stock excuse the government gives for its failure to fulfil its election promises is that one year is not sufficient for it to deliver on its campaign pledges, but it has formulated education reforms in double-quick time! There is no way the government can implement education reforms successfully without the cooperation of teachers and principals. Hence it should make a serious effort to secure their support.

All governments with supermajorities become impervious to reason and seek to bulldoze their way through. The NPP administration has failed to be different. It may have thought that it would be able to wear down the warring teachers’ unions by sticking to its guns. But the education sector trade unionists have proved that they are made of sterner stuff. They have warned that they will bring the government to its knees if it tries to force them into submission.

Schools have faced numerous disruptions during the past several years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, extreme weather events, etc. A strike in the education sector is the last thing the country needs at this juncture. A showdown between the education sector trade unions and the government must therefore be averted by any means.

When the government announced its decision to introduce education reforms, we argued that it had to engage all stakeholders, and heed the oxymoronic Latin adage—festina lente (‘make haste slowly’). Many experts in the field of education urged it to tread cautiously lest its reform project should run into resistance and fail. But the government chose to set about the vital task in a slapdash manner. The ongoing controversy over an adult content website mentioned in an English language module for Grade Six points to an inordinate haste on the part of those who formulated education reforms. This issue has left both the proponents and opponents of education reforms expounding conspiracy theories.

The proposed education reforms have been politicised to such an extent that they are now a political issue, which the Opposition is using as a bludgeon to beat the government. This situation could have been avoided if the processes of formulating education reforms had been made inclusive.

There is no shame in heeding dissenting views and making course corrections. Flexibility is not a sign of weakness. It is a hallmark of responsible governance. The government ought to put its education reform package on hold, and get all stakeholders around the table for an extensive discussion on it. A timeframe for education reforms must not be determined politically.

Independent educationists have provided valuable insights into the ongoing debate on education reforms. They are adept at designing learning systems, developing teaching approaches and influencing educational practices and policies to improve learning experiences and outcomes. The views of these experts, principals and teachers must be taken on board when education reforms are prepared.

Saturday 3rd Junuary, 2026

The Electricity Consumers’ Association (ECA) has said the government is planning to pass the cost of the voluntary retirement scheme for the employees of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), which is to be restructured, on to the public in the form of a power tariff hike. A proposal to this effect has been submitted to the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), the ECA has said.

The proposed tariff hike is said to be 11.57% for the first quarter of the current year. Speculation is rife that the PUCSL will grant the CEB’s request, and the public will be made to bear the cost of the voluntary retirement of about 2,500 CEB employees thanks to the cost reflective pricing mechanism. The problem is not going to end there; there are bound to be some more power tariff hikes.

One of the reasons given for Sri Lanka’s rupee crisis was the country’s legacy of below-cost pricing for utilities, such as electricity and fuel, by way of a ‘blanket’ type relief to consumers irrespective of their income level. These subsidies took their toll on the state-owned business enterprises (SOBEs) including the CEB and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), according to the Central Bank, which in its Annual Economic Review 2024 has noted that the banking sector financed the liquidity shortages of these SOBEs at the expense of productive investments. Hence the determination of the prices of electricity and fuel strictly in keeping with the cost reflective pricing mechanism. In fact, the IMF gave the previous government Hobson’s choice, by making cost-reflective pricing one of its bailout conditions.

The cost reflective pricing has not gone down well with the public, as is obvious, but it makes economic sense and goes a long way towards preventing the country facing another rupee crisis. Heavy subsidies are a drain on the state coffers and become unviable in the long run. In fact, it is a case of swings and roundabouts for the public where such subsidies are concerned; the state uses taxes to recover the costs of subsidies and legacy debts it assumes. However, it is nothing but unfair to make consumers bear the cost of massive overheads, waste and corruption that SOBEs, like the CEB and the CPC, are notorious for. The costs of the utilities must therefore be properly calculated in a transparent manner to prevent the exploitation of the public.

If the government goes ahead with its plan to pass the cost of restructuring the CEB on to the public through power tariff hikes, as the ECA has alleged, then the price of electricity will soar, taking a heavy toll on the economy.

In March 2023, this newspaper quoted energy expert Dr. Tilak Siyamabalpitiya, who went on to become CEB Chairman, as having said at an event organised by the CEB engineers, that Sri Lanka had the second highest electricity prices in Asia. Thus, power tariff increases are very likely to stand in the way of the government’s efforts to attract foreign investors and retain the ones who are already here. One of the factors that determine the competitiveness of investment destinations is the cost of electricity. The government must not lose sight of this fact.

The government has chosen to remain silent on the ECA’s allegation. But the truth will soon come out.