Protestors swarmed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s palace in Sri Lanka, forcing him to flee and step down. The entire government in Sri Lanka will be restructured. When the people are hungry, no amount of rules and restrictions will prevent them from protesting. Sri Lanka ran out of food and ran out of fuel to cook whatever happened to be available.
The country’s foreign reserves were depleted. The government began to cut the power grids daily for increasingly longer periods. There was not enough fuel to power generators. Inflation soared to 45.3% in May, with food costs rising 58%. The United Nations estimated that 22% of the entire population had become food insecure and 86% of families “are resorting to at least one coping mechanism, including eating less, eating less nutritious food and even skipping meals altogether.”
“Gota Go Gama” (Gama meaning village) or GGG protests arose throughout the nation. Labor migration rose 286% this year, according to the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment. The government owes $51 billion in debt and cannot make any payments on loans. Their currency collapsed 80% and was basically worthless. Tourism halted after the pandemic, adding to the crisis. The people had hit rock bottom and knew exactly who to blame. President Rajapaksa and his brother, former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, are extremely corrupt. They allowed the problem to become a crisis; living lavishly as their people starved.
The revolutionary wave has only just begun. I warned that it would first come for emerging countries. However, do not think this incident will be isolated to one nation. Unrest is rising as living standards decline.
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