sumane

The US Resolution: Does it Signify Cosmopolitanism? Sumanasiri Liyanage I did a small survey speaking to three women belonging to different social status. The first one was a middle-aged woman from Haloya in Kandy. A middle class and middle-aged woman from Colombo (although she was originally from Anuradhapura) who is active in various social movements and a regular participant at Lipton circle protests was the second person. The third one was a young final year student following a special degree course in political science and public policy at the University of Colombo. The second person has been known to me for some time, but not the other two. I told them that the US government has submitted a resolution on (I was careful not to say ‘against’) Sri Lanka to UN Human Rights Council. Then I briefly explained the main idea of it. I tried to be objective as far as I can, but do not claim 100% objectivity on my part, even if such thing exists. In fact, the second and the thir...

Hugo Chavez: A Leader Who Challenged Neo-Liberalism and Washington Sumanasiri Liyanage Although his death did not come as a surprise, it generated a feeling of innumerable loss, a loss not for only for the poor, marginalized and progressive people in Venezuela but also for the toiling masses all over the world. In the heyday of neo-liberalism, he attacked it and went against it. When people were scared of the US and its aggression against people in Iraq and Afghanistan, he singlehandedly challenged Washington. He was not afraid of defeat and when he felt the warning sign, he became offensive and fought back. He was determined that he would not allow the US imperialists to redo Chile in Venezuela in the 21 st Century. In spite of the allegations made by organizations like Human Rights Watch financed by corrupt financiers, he created a new kind of democracy and gave democracy a new meaning. His Bolivarian experiment has generated a glimmer of hope to the poor people in the w...