World

Activist Premakumar Gunaratnam says he was marked for death by Sri Lanka’s security boss a decade ago. The architect of his abduction went on to become president, but now the dissident has played a key role in the leader’s downfall.

Now 56, Gunaratnam was snatched by armed gunmen from his home near Colombo, bundled into a white van, and driven away to a secret location where he was restrained, stripped and tortured. 

Plainclothes men operating in unmarked vehicles seized dozens of other dissidents, journalists and opposition politicians in 2012. Many were never seen again.

Gunaratnam, a radical leftist who was about to launch a new political party, was one of the lucky ones: international pressure secured his unexpected release four days later.  

Sri Lanka’s security forces were controlled at the time by Gotabaya Rajapaksa — who later became president, oversaw the country’s worst economic crisis and last week fled the island before resigning after his home was stormed by protesters whom Gunaratnam helped to marshal.

“He abducted me and wanted to assassinate me,” he told AFP. “But this is not personal,” he added with a wry smile.

Local media describe the activist as a “key mover” in building an ostensibly leaderless months-long protest movement that channelled frustrations over the economic crisis into a political revolution.

It brought about the downfall of a political clan that had once been adored by much of the country for ending its decades-old civil war, despite an international outcry over atrocities by government troops in the conflict’s final weeks.

Rajapaksa’s ouster and hurried flight to Singapore were a “win for democracy”, Gunaratnam told AFP, but added that the protesters’ mission would be unfinished until he returned to face justice in a Sri Lankan courtroom.

“He is one of the key responsible persons for the abductions and disappearances, and he is one of the responsible persons for war crimes,” he said.

– White vans –

Security forces allegedly abducted troublesome opponents so often during and after Sri Lanka’s ethnic war that being “white-vanned” became a euphemism for kidnapping.

Rajapaksa acknowledged the practice of white-van abductions to a local reporter in 2019, but added that it pre-dated his time as Sri Lanka’s defence secretary and said it was unfair to “pinpoint” him for blame.

Gunaratnam looks back on his 2012 ordeal with remarkable good humour, though it came only a few months after two of his close comrades disappeared, never to be seen again. 

He had been granted Australian citizenship after fleeing the country, fearing retribution for his political activity, and he credits lobbying by Canberra’s ambassador for saving his life. 

Gunaratnam has spent a lifetime in revolutionary politics and, in a country with a long history of armed conflict and human rights abuses, it was not his first close brush with death. 

While a teenager, he joined a leftist political insurrection in the 1980s and, according to Sri Lankan journalist Victor Ivan, commanded a group of university students disguised as soldiers when they raided an army camp in Kandy for weapons.

He was eventually arrested in a trap reportedly set by army commander Sarath Fonseka, whom Gunaratnam accuses of presiding over hundreds of extrajudicial killings in the northeastern city of Trincomalee during the conflict. 

“I was counting down the days until the end of my life,” he told AFP.

He was only released, he says, because the government had come under pressure for murdering other cadres and needed to demonstrate that some of those missing were still alive. 

Fonseka is now a possible candidate in the parliamentary vote to replace Sri Lanka’s president.  

Among the candidates is Sajith Premadasa, the son of the president whose administration Gunaratnam fought to overthrow in the 1980s — a testament to the cloistered nature of Sri Lankan politics.

One of the ministers in that government was Ranil Wickremesinghe, now the acting president and frontrunner to succeed Rajapaksa.

Many Sri Lankan protest activists are against all the presidential candidates and are instead calling for the abolition of sweeping executive powers, which the movement blames for allowing corruption and political violence to flourish.

Gunaratnam, who long ago abandoned armed struggle, said the street campaign needed to push forward to force more comprehensive political reforms. 

“We don’t expect democracy from the rulers,” he added. “That’s why people came to the streets and showed what democracy is.”

Mexico has resumed building part of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s flagship tourist train project, an official said Monday, despite a judge suspending construction on that section on environmental grounds.

A judge indefinitely suspended construction of part of the Mayan Train in the Yucatan peninsula in late May.

The ruling followed a legal challenge brought by opponents, including scuba divers, who are concerned about the effect of the train on wildlife, caves and water-filled sinkholes known as cenotes.

But construction resumed on July 13 under a measure implemented in November that deemed the government’s major infrastructure works “national security.”

Under that ordinance, Lopez Obrador intends to shield the train and other projects from lawsuits that have delayed construction, as well as to expedite obtaining permits and licenses.

The Mayan Train “is a work of national security because of the railroads,” said Javier May, head of the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism, the government agency overseeing the project, on Monday.

The public security and interior departments are determined to resume construction of the 60-kilometer (37-mile) section between the resorts of Playa del Carmen and Tulum, May said.

Lopez Obrador hopes to inaugurate the roughly 1,500-kilometer rail loop linking popular Caribbean beach resorts and archeological ruins by the end of 2023.

In the May ruling, the federal judge cited the “imminent danger” of causing “irreversible damage” to ecosystems, according to one of the plaintiffs, the non-governmental group Defending the Right to a Healthy Environment

Authorities were found to have failed to carry out the necessary environmental impact studies before starting construction of the section, one of several being built by the military, the NGO said in a statement.

The government appealed the decision.

On Monday, environmental organizations Greenpeace and Save Me from the Train separately warned that the Mexican government had resumed work without waiting for the appeals process to be completed, which in their opinion both violates the law and poses a major risk to the Riviera Maya ecosystems.

Lopez Obrador has insisted the railroad will not affect the cenotes and alleged that environmentalists have been infiltrated by “impostors.”

A jury was selected Monday for the trial of former Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon for defying a subpoena to testify before lawmakers investigating the attack on the US Capitol.

Bannon, who led Trump’s successful 2016 presidential election campaign, was among dozens of people called by a congressional committee to testify about the 2021 storming of Congress by Trump supporters.

The 68-year-old refused the summons and was indicted on two charges of contempt of Congress.

A 22-person jury was selected on Monday to hear the case. The panel will be cut down to 12 jurors and two alternates on Tuesday, and opening arguments will begin in what is expected to be a speedy trial.

Bannon’s lawyers sought to delay the start of the trial so it would not take place at the same time as the House committee’s public hearings into the Capitol attack, but the judge refused the request last week.

Thousands of Trump supporters, many associated with ultra-nationalist and white supremacist groups, stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in an effort to block the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory. 

They had been egged on by Trump in a fiery speech near the White House, during which he repeated his false claims of election fraud.

According to the House committee probing the riot, Bannon spoke to Trump the previous day.

Investigators believe Bannon and other Trump advisors could have information on links between the White House and the rioters.

After refusing to testify for months, Bannon finally agreed this month to cooperate with the House investigation, a move prosecutors said was a “last-ditch attempt to avoid accountability” by stalling his trial for contempt.

Judge Carl Nichols ruled the trial should go ahead anyway, saying, “I see no reason for extending this case any longer.”

If convicted of contempt, Bannon faces a minimum sentence of 30 days and a maximum of one year in prison on each count.

He was Trump’s strategy chief at the White House before being sacked in 2017.

Bannon was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering after allegedly defrauding thousands of donors to a campaign to fund Trump’s anti-migrant wall along the southern border.

In Trump’s final hours in office, he pardoned Bannon.

More than 850 people have been arrested in connection with the attack on Congress. The assault left at least five people dead and 140 police officers injured.

Trump was impeached for a historic second time by the House after the riot — he was charged with inciting an insurrection — but was acquitted by the Senate.

President Jair Bolsonaro once again questioned the Brazilian electoral system on Monday, less than three months before the presidential election that all polls predict he will lose.

“We want to correct the flaws, we want transparency, a real democracy,” said the far-right leader, who has repeatedly sought to cast doubt over the country’s electronic voting system.

He continued to blast the voting system in a speech that lasted nearly an hour at the presidential palace in Brasilia, in front of several dozen ambassadors invited specifically to listen to him discuss the topic.

Notable invitees included ambassadors from France and Spain, among others.

Voters in Brazil cast their ballots electronically at voting stations.

But Bolsonaro has long argued for a paper printout to be made of each vote cast, suggesting the absence of a paper trail makes cheating easier.

He has not provided evidence of fraud, and the Superior Electoral Court insists the system is fair and transparent.

“We are three months away from the election,” Bolsonaro said. “We cannot hold elections amid mistrust.”

His repeated questioning of the system has prompted the Supreme Court to open an investigation into Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro is broadly projected to lose in October to leftist former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. 

Da Silva dismissed Bolsonaro’s speech as lies aimed at deflecting attention from real problems facing the country.

“It’s a shame that Brazil doesn’t have a president who calls 50 ambassadors to talk about something in the interest of the country,” Da Silva tweeted later Monday. “Employment, development, or the fight against hunger, for example. Instead, he tells lies against our democracy.”

Bolsonaro’s comments have led analysts to fear that he may refuse to accept defeat in a scenario similar to the January 2021 invasion of the US Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump, a hero of Bolsonaro’s. 

At a Senate hearing last week, defense minister Paulo Sergio Nogueira proposed holding a “parallel vote” with a special ballot box for paper ballots.

There were fresh demonstrations and roadblocks in Panama on Monday as protest groups turned their backs on a deal signed with the government to end their protest in exchange for a fuel price cut. 

After union leaders consulted grassroots supporters on the deal announced Sunday, it was decided to continue the protest, said Luis Sanchez, a leader of the Anadepo civic grouping.

“We had warned the executive that we still have to consult the rank and file,” he told the TVN-2 channel.

The agreement, he added, “was signed under pressure” and members have opted to continue the mobilization that had seen trucks and banner-waving demonstrators paralyze the strategic Pan-American Highway.

“In the meantime, there is no agreement,” said Sanchez as he tore up a sheet of paper.

On Sunday, the government and some protest leaders announced a deal to end more than two weeks of demonstrations over high fuel prices and rising living costs in the country of 4.4 million people.

The outpouring has cost the economy millions of dollars in losses and has led to shortages of fuel and food in some parts of the country, according to the private sector.

“We are in a bad way; no food, no buses. I wanted to buy rice and… what little can be found is very expensive. The vegetables are damaged,” said Angelica Ruiz, a resident of Pacora east of Panama City who also had trouble getting to her place of work.

– ‘We will not weaken’ –

The government agreed Sunday to cut the price of petrol to $3.25 per gallon and pursue talks on lowering food and medicine costs that were key among protesters’ concerns.

Last week, it had already reduced the petrol price to $3.95 from $5.20 per gallon in June, but this was not enough to appease the demonstrators.

After Sunday’s announcement, several unions said the agreement was inadequate and had left out many groups.

“We will stay on in the street,” said protester Juan Morales, a farmer from Capira, west of Panama City.

“We will not weaken. We need strong and positive answers,” he told AFP.

The biggest protest Monday was in the capital, with members of the Suntracs construction union closing access roads with burning tire barricades, causing massive traffic backups.

There were also new blockades of the Pan-American Highway that connects Panama with the rest of Central America and is the main transport route for goods through the country.

Suntracs general secretary Saul Mendez called for negotiations that included all groups to discuss “the most pressing issues” in Panama.

Those issues include reducing the costs of fuel, food, medicine and electricity, he said, as well as a general increase in salaries and greater public investment in education.

The protests come amid difficult economic times for a country with inflation of 4.2 percent recorded in May, along with an unemployment rate of about 10 percent and fuel price hikes of nearly 50 percent since January. 

Despite its dollarized economy and high growth figures, the country has a high rate of social inequality.