The last time I was here, I could never have guessed that an American president would attack the judiciary, the press, women, minorities, our diplomat our intelligence professionals, and many of our closest allies…
The above is an excerpt from last week’s speech by the head of US Aid to Sri Lanka, Samantha Power. This was made on February 28, 2019. she came to the launching ceremony of the then Finance Minister Mangala’s biography. When she came to Sri Lanka in 2019, America was under the rule of President Trump. She was the US representative to the United Nations in the Obama administration before Trump came to power. Lost her position when Trump’s government came to power. Her visit to Mangala’s ceremony as an American citizen without any position. In her speech, Samantha also said that when her visit to Sri Lanka as the US representative to the United Nations in 2015, she never thought that there would be a repressive government in the US.
Samantha first came to Sri Lanka in 2010 during Mahinda’s government. At that time, she was Obama’s Special Assistant on Human Rights. During that time, she was known as a person interested in the war crimes and human rights violations. This is during Mahinda’s government. She played a major role in presenting a resolution against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Because of this, Mahinda’s supporters accused her that she was also complicit of the conspiracies to defeat Mahinda in 2015.
She returned to Sri Lanka in 2015 when Mahinda was defeated and the Maithri-Ranil government came to power. There, she befriended the then Foreign Minister Mangala. She managed to get Sri Lanka to ensure that a mechanism will be set up with foreign support to investigate human rights violations and war crimes. This was at the United Nations Human Rights Commission. A resolution for that was submitted to the Human Rights Commission jointly by America and Sri Lanka and was adopted. She and Mangala prepared the resolution. It received the full approval of Prime Minister Ranil.
After that, she returned to Sri Lanka for the launch of Mangala’s book. When Trump was out of power and Biden became president. Many thought that she would get a higher position in the US State Department, but she got the position of head of US Aid.
She came to Sri Lanka last weekend as the head of US Aid. When she came to Sri Lanka, the session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission had started. Currently, Ranil Wickramasinghe is the President of Sri Lanka. Foreign Minister Ali Sabri had stated that Ranil’s government would not accept the US-Sri Lanka resolution prepared and adopted by Samantha Power and Mangala at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in 2015. Everyone was waiting to see what Samantha Power would say about this.
‘When I came to Sri Lanka last season, I never dreamed that the then Prime Minister Ranil reject the human rights proposal that Mangala and I prepared as the President…’
If Samantha Power was correct, this story should have been told. But she didn’t say that. When she came to Sri Lanka, thousands of activists had been arrested. Before her arrival, an actress who had won international awards was arrested for joining the struggle. She didn’t say a word about these. It is not known if she has no authority to talk about it because she is the head of Us aid now. But she came to Mangala’s book launch event and condemned how Trump’s government lies to the people through the media. This time, Ranil’s government’s media called her visit to Sri Lanka as one to strengthen Ranil’s government. Previously, she was a hero to those who were oppressed during her travels, but this time Ranil’s government has turned her into an empty balloon inflated and sent up .
Upul Joseph Fernando
