A row of mototaxis trying to refuel in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The lack of fuel is a central element of the crisis. Photo: EFE
Two hour power outages. An electric oven (when there is light) for cooking because there is no gas. Change the child to a kindergarten that can be reached on foot because there is also no fuel.
This is how Carolina Mansur (42), a Argentine who has lived in Sri Lanka since 2017the Asian country which, burdened by debt, high inflation and chronic lack of fuel aggravated by the war in Ukraine, is going through a profound crisis economic and social crisis which some analysts compare with that of Argentina.
“The issue is part of everyday conversations, as the lack of petrol and diesel affects almost all daily activities and forces us to resort to other types of strategies to continue with life as normal as possible,” Mansur explains. Clarione of Colombo, the capital of the country where she lives with her husband and son Julián, 3 years old.
Carolina Mansur in Minneriya National Park. She has lived in Sri Lanka since 2017. Photo: Courtesy: Carolina Mansur
“With my friends we are always share tips on addressing shortcomings“, He adds.
The peculiar characteristics of the crisis in Sri Lanka, and certainly the way it exploded, gave rise to it parallels with the situation in Argentina. The agency Associated Press in fact, it has included the country in a list of nations with the “most compromised economies”, due to global inflation accentuated by the war.
Sri Lanka mirror of Argentina?
Now, is the comparison correct? For Manzur it is a difficult parallelism to draw, since they are countries with very different idiosyncrasies, since in Sri Lanka religion and the ethnic factor are central elements.
To this we must add that the scarce energy resources of countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal or Lebanon mean this their dependence is almost totalwhich makes it more difficult to trace the way out of the crisis.
However, he perhaps acknowledges itthe way of doing politics is similar, but even more exacerbated“.
Protesters in Sri Lanka seized the presidential palace on July 9, at the height of the crisis in the country. Photo: AFP
In this sense, it indicates the political dynasty of the Rajapaksa, the family of the former president who resigned after a “pueblada” which took over the presidential residence, and who dominated power on the island all the time. the last 20 years.
“They promoted an unsustainable state superstructure in the pursuit of populist policies in favor of the country’s ethnic majoritythe Sinhalese population is the one most associated with the practice of Buddhism, ”says Mansur.
At the same time, he points out many of the causes reported by analysts: poor financial management and bad strategic decisions, the main one perhaps being that of former president Rajapaksa to ban synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, which caused tea production to collapseits main export.
Also indicates steady decline in exports and tax collection, which fell from 20% of GDP in 1990 to 8% today, has added to the decline in tourism caused by the pandemic.
“For me the key issue is chronic corruption at all levels, e a nepotism that manifests itself at incredible levels and that many do not question ”, he completes.
A situation “never seen before”.
One month after the “pueblada” in Sri Lanka, the crisis does not seem to offer solutions neither in the short nor in the medium term.
Ranil Wickremesinghe, the current president of Sri Lanka. Photo: Bloomberg
In a recent message to Parliament, the current president, Ranil Wickremesinghe warned that Sri Lanka is going through a “never before seen” scenarioand that the economic debacle poses a “grave danger” that requires the union of all.
The seizure of the presidential palace marked the culmination of a series of mass protests that lasted at least 4 months.
A foreign debt of 51 billion dollars with inflation of 60% and the threat of depletion of reserves are a combination that, combined with the consequences of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, has transformed daily life into a continuous struggle for basic supplies in a scenario of widespread scarcity.
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John the Tenth
Source: Clarin
