Features
THE FIFTH AMENDMENT, THE PAPER CHASE AND THE ULTIMATE THREAT TO U.S. DEMOCRACY
by Vijaya Chandrasoma
The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America is divided into five clauses, protecting the legal rights of the individual in civil and criminal cases. These are: the right to a grand jury; double jeopardy; self-incrimination; due process; and compensation when private property is used for public use.
The self-incrimination clause protects persons accused of committing a crime from being forced to testify against themselves. According to the US judicial system, a person is presumed innocent, and it is the responsibility of the state to prove guilt. Evidence gained from coerced confessions or from the testimony of the accused in a court of law, when their actual words may be used against them, are protected when they “take the Fifth”.
While taking the Fifth is not considered to be an admission of guilt in the legal sense, Donald Trump, former president of the United States, has often derided the Fifth Amendment in the past as the “refuge of mobsters”. At a rally in Iowa in 2016, he said: “The Mob takes the Fifth. If you are innocent, why should you take the Fifth? Only the guilty takes the Fifth.” He has, on numerous rallies during his presidency, railed about the implied guilt of those who take the Fifth.
Last week, Donald Trump, during his testimony in a case of tax fraud brought against him by Letitia James, the State Attorney of New York, invoked his Fifth Amendments rights on a world record count of 440 questions! Maybe Trump was right, after all, when he said that the Fifth Amendment is a “refuge of mobsters” and crooks.
Trump currently has so many charges against him in Georgia (Election Fraud), Washington D. C. (Seditious Conspiracy, Insurrection, Interfering with an Official Procedure and Defrauding the United States), the aforementioned New York trial (Tax and Insurance Fraud, Money Laundering). Add to these the Select Committee investigating into his role on inciting the events leading to the January 6 Insurrection, one’s head starts spinning.
Last week, the spinning increased violently with the news that a search warrant for his resort home at Mar a Lago, Southern Florida, had been issued by Attorney General Merrick Garland, on information that 11 more boxes containing classified documents had been stolen when Trump vacated the White House in January 2021. These documents were being held in an unsecured basement at the resort.
Six months after Trump was forced out of the White House, rumours were rife that Trump had stolen many boxes containing documents, and taken them to Mar a Lago. These documents belonged to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Washington D.C. When the FBI questioned Trump about the removal of these documents six month later, his lawyers gave up 15 boxes containing White House documents. The Department of Justice gave Trump a free pass on the federal crime of illegal possession of government property, as it was thought that he had surrendered all the stolen documents on request.
Last week, acting on information that there were more documents unlawfully retained at the resort, the FBI, armed with a legally approved search warrant signed by a federal judge, raided the former president’s home. They served the search warrant to the former president three days before. Trump was at his club in Bedminster, New Jersey at the time, but his lawyers were present at all times during the search.
In a statement after the raid, Trump sobbed that his beloved home at Mar a Lago was “under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents. They even broke into my safe.” Reminds me of my European History teacher at Royal. Describing the violence during the French Revolution, he famously said, “Even the windows were broken.”
Trump, ever the victim, never the criminal, wailed that this unlawful raid was yet another witch hunt by the Democrats. He maintained that all the documents confiscated by the FBI were deemed declassified by him with his invisible presidential wand; that even if they were not so declassified, they were surreptitiously planted by the FBI. And, in any event, the documents belonged to him. They did not, they belonged to the National Archives.
His supporters immediately sprang to his defence, echoing his contradictory screams of victimization, that Trump is the target of a shadowy conspiracy, painting the FBI as jackbooted thugs – like the German Gestapo – operating on the orders of a tyrannical federal government.
Florida governor Ron de Santis, the leading non-Trump favourite for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 called it “another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the regime’s political opponents”. Florida Senator Rick Scott, whose telephone was seized by the FBI the day after the Mar a Lago search, indicating that he was suspected of complicity in the storage of stolen documents, described the FBI action as “third world country stuff.” The maniacs of the QAnon (a radical right wing cult), led by Congresswomen Tailor Green and Boebert are demanding the defunding of the FBI, while declaring a call to arms, with threats of an “armed rebellion” and “a civil war.”
Fears of violence have grown after the Mar a Lago search. A man armed with an AR 15 style rifle and a nail gun attacked the FBI office in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was killed by the police after shooting a nail gun at people. No one else was wounded. Another man drove his car into a barricade near the Capitol in Washington DC and killed himself.
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have warned the public of an increase in violent threats posted in social media against federal officials and facilities, including a plan to place a so called “dirty bomb” in front of the FBI headquarters in Washington DC.
Attorney General Garland has received death threats after the search, as has Judge Bruce Reinhart, who is also facing a political firestorm for authorizing the search warrant. In despicable and vengeful desperation, Trump is threatening to release Closed Circuit TV footage at Mar a Lago during the search, which will identify, target and endanger the safety of FBI agents who were just doing their jobs.
After the attack on the FBI office in Ohio, Trump had a message conveyed to Attorney General Garland to the effect that “The country is on fire. What can I do to reduce the heat?” A veiled threat by the arsonist offering to help the firefighters!
Even if these seized documents were mainly collections of Aesop’s Fables and Grimms Fairy Tales, the removal of any documents, classified or not, from the White House by the outgoing president is in itself a federal crime. Not even Aesop or Grimm would have had the imagination to describe the criminality of the haul of documents seized by the FBI from Mar a Lago.
These documents show potential violations of three federal statutes, including the Espionage Act. They included five sets of documents marked “Top Secret SCI” (Sensitive Compartmented Information), granted access only to a handful of senior government executives on a “need-to-know” Top Secret Clearance by the Intelligence Community. These documents are considered germane to the nation’s nuclear arsenal and ongoing CIA investigations, which are deemed to have the potential to threaten the security of the nation.
Beyond belief is that these boxes of Top Secret documents had been lying, unsecured, in a basement of a golf club/resort, accessible to anyone visiting the resort, for over a year.
This will be an added case against Trump, which will be prosecuted along with the multitude of the other cases listed above. Trump is running low on his choice of defence lawyers, not only because of the volume of cases against him, but because few in the legal community wish to represent him as he famously stiffs his lawyers, refusing to pay their bills. Also, his regular lawyers like Rudy Guiliani, Lindsay Graham and Sydney Powers are too busy fighting their own indictments of election fraud and sedition.
The question that immediately arises is not that Trump is guilty of stealing Top Secret documents, but why he did it. And why they were being stored in an insecure basement of his home/resort? There is only one answer which is in perfect sync with the criminality of the former president. These documents are worth billions to our adversaries. Trump, who is beholden to no one but himself, certainly not to his country, who has never forsaken the opportunity to make a quick buck, would have sold them to the highest bidder. North Korean President Kim Jong Un, with whom Trump once claimed to be in love, his erstwhile puppet master Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabian Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), come to mind as likely customers.
After the Mar a Lago raid, Fox News, as is their wont, rushed to the defence of Mein Fuhrer. Yet again, they try to defend the indefensible, to cover up and Foxsplain away the many instances of Trump’s crimes of extortion, obstruction of justice and sedition. In their eyes, Trump can do no wrong. And they persuade their many old, mainly white audience that Trumpism is the future of the country, against the evidence of their own ears and eyes. They lie, they obfuscate, they misinterpret the news to anger their already racist audience.
It was not always so. During the couple of decades I lived in the USA at the turn of the century, members of the Republican Party, including Fox News, espoused the classical conservative viewpoint. The Republican Party of yore was the Party of Lincoln, of law and order, small government, low taxation on the super wealthy and corporations, minimum anti-pollution ecological regulations, in short, espousing the Ayn Rand philosophy of “Full speed ahead and the devil take the hindmost”. Christianity was never poured down our throats. Live and let live was the order of the day. These opinions were right wing, but not virulently or violently racist and completely devoid of fact.
Although I am of a more progressive bent, I could live with these traditionally conservative policies. America had kind of lost its way and its thriving middle class of the 1970s with Reagan’s “trickle down” supply side economics in the ‘80s. But I was confident that, especially after the progress made by the Obama administration, the nation would finally auto-correct and catch up with the social democratic policies of the rest of the developed world.
I was spectacularly wrong.
Trump came along, and brought to the surface all the fascist prejudices of white supremacy seething during the administration of a black man. And Trump gave them the licence, even great pride to make public and violently act out these radical racist feelings without fear of government retaliation.
Unfortunately, after the Trump base of the radical right and Evangelicals crawled out of the woodwork, traditional conservatives continued to get their daily dose of misinformation from Fox News. They have been radicalized and corrupted by the fact-free propaganda machine of Trumpism. They consume as gospel the daily tariff of lies and criminal propaganda catered by Trump, through Fox News.
Fox News is the modern American counterpart of Goebbels’ German propaganda machine of the 1930s. They still pretend to believe and trumpet the big lie about 2020 election fraud. They continue to make ridiculous excuses for Trump’s criminal acts, bordering on treason. With this latest crime of stealing Top Secret documents, which amounts to espionage and treason, Trump faces his greatest test yet of his ability to survive scandal and escape imprisonment.
Should he succeed, and either he or one of his acolytes take control of Congress in the midterms in November and the White House in 2024, the United States of America would have abandoned the Great Experiment of Democracy born in 1789. Trump’s White Supremacist America would transform the world’s oldest democracy to the largest, most violently corrupt, nuclear-armed Banana Republic the world has even seen.
Hitler is long dead, but his dreams of an ethnically pure, white nation are being kept alive in the United States of America by Trump and his white supremacist Republican cult.
by Dr Gotabhya Ranasinghe
Senior Consultant Cardiologist
National Hospital Sri Lanka
When we sought a meeting with Hon Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, Minister of Health, he graciously cleared his busy schedule to accommodate us. Renowned for his attentive listening and deep understanding, Minister Pathirana is dedicated to advancing the health sector. His openness and transparency exemplify the qualities of an exemplary politician and minister.
Dr. Palitha Mahipala, the current Health Secretary, demonstrates both commendable enthusiasm and unwavering support. This combination of attributes makes him a highly compatible colleague for the esteemed Minister of Health.
Our discussion centered on a project that has been in the works for the past 30 years, one that no other minister had managed to advance.
Minister Pathirana, however, recognized the project’s significance and its potential to revolutionize care for heart patients.
The project involves the construction of a state-of-the-art facility at the premises of the National Hospital Colombo. The project’s location within the premises of the National Hospital underscores its importance and relevance to the healthcare infrastructure of the nation.
This facility will include a cardiology building and a tertiary care center, equipped with the latest technology to handle and treat all types of heart-related conditions and surgeries.
Securing funding was a major milestone for this initiative. Minister Pathirana successfully obtained approval for a $40 billion loan from the Asian Development Bank. With the funding in place, the foundation stone is scheduled to be laid in September this year, and construction will begin in January 2025.
This project guarantees a consistent and uninterrupted supply of stents and related medications for heart patients. As a result, patients will have timely access to essential medical supplies during their treatment and recovery. By securing these critical resources, the project aims to enhance patient outcomes, minimize treatment delays, and maintain the highest standards of cardiac care.
Upon its fruition, this monumental building will serve as a beacon of hope and healing, symbolizing the unwavering dedication to improving patient outcomes and fostering a healthier society.We anticipate a future marked by significant progress and positive outcomes in Sri Lanka’s cardiovascular treatment landscape within the foreseeable timeframe.
by Fr. Emmanuel Fernando, OMI
Jesuit Fr. Aloysius Pieris (affectionately called Fr. Aloy) celebrated his 90th birthday on April 9, 2024 and I, as the editor of our Oblate Journal, THE MISSIONARY OBLATE had gone to press by that time. Immediately I decided to publish an article, appreciating the untiring selfless services he continues to offer for inter-Faith dialogue, the renewal of the Catholic Church, his concern for the poor and the suffering Sri Lankan masses and to me, the present writer.
It was in 1988, when I was appointed Director of the Oblate Scholastics at Ampitiya by the then Oblate Provincial Fr. Anselm Silva, that I came to know Fr. Aloy more closely. Knowing well his expertise in matters spiritual, theological, Indological and pastoral, and with the collaborative spirit of my companion-formators, our Oblate Scholastics were sent to Tulana, the Research and Encounter Centre, Kelaniya, of which he is the Founder-Director, for ‘exposure-programmes’ on matters spiritual, biblical, theological and pastoral. Some of these dimensions according to my view and that of my companion-formators, were not available at the National Seminary, Ampitiya.
Ever since that time, our Oblate formators/ accompaniers at the Oblate Scholasticate, Ampitiya , have continued to send our Oblate Scholastics to Tulana Centre for deepening their insights and convictions regarding matters needed to serve the people in today’s context. Fr. Aloy also had tried very enthusiastically with the Oblate team headed by Frs. Oswald Firth and Clement Waidyasekara to begin a Theologate, directed by the Religious Congregations in Sri Lanka, for the contextual formation/ accompaniment of their members. It should very well be a desired goal of the Leaders / Provincials of the Religious Congregations.
Besides being a formator/accompanier at the Oblate Scholasticate, I was entrusted also with the task of editing and publishing our Oblate journal, ‘The Missionary Oblate’. To maintain the quality of the journal I continue to depend on Fr. Aloy for his thought-provoking and stimulating articles on Biblical Spirituality, Biblical Theology and Ecclesiology. I am very grateful to him for his generous assistance. Of late, his writings on renewal of the Church, initiated by Pope St. John XX111 and continued by Pope Francis through the Synodal path, published in our Oblate journal, enable our readers to focus their attention also on the needed renewal in the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka. Fr. Aloy appreciated very much the Synodal path adopted by the Jesuit Pope Francis for the renewal of the Church, rooted very much on prayerful discernment. In my Religious and presbyteral life, Fr.Aloy continues to be my spiritual animator / guide and ongoing formator / acccompanier.
Fr. Aloysius Pieris, BA Hons (Lond), LPh (SHC, India), STL (PFT, Naples), PhD (SLU/VC), ThD (Tilburg), D.Ltt (KU), has been one of the eminent Asian theologians well recognized internationally and one who has lectured and held visiting chairs in many universities both in the West and in the East. Many members of Religious Congregations from Asian countries have benefited from his lectures and guidance in the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in Manila, Philippines. He had been a Theologian consulted by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences for many years. During his professorship at the Gregorian University in Rome, he was called to be a member of a special group of advisers on other religions consulted by Pope Paul VI.
Fr. Aloy is the author of more than 30 books and well over 500 Research Papers. Some of his books and articles have been translated and published in several countries. Among those books, one can find the following: 1) The Genesis of an Asian Theology of Liberation (An Autobiographical Excursus on the Art of Theologising in Asia, 2) An Asian Theology of Liberation, 3) Providential Timeliness of Vatican 11 (a long-overdue halt to a scandalous millennium, 4) Give Vatican 11 a chance, 5) Leadership in the Church, 6) Relishing our faith in working for justice (Themes for study and discussion), 7) A Message meant mainly, not exclusively for Jesuits (Background information necessary for helping Francis renew the Church), 8) Lent in Lanka (Reflections and Resolutions, 9) Love meets wisdom (A Christian Experience of Buddhism, 10) Fire and Water 11) God’s Reign for God’s poor, 12) Our Unhiddden Agenda (How we Jesuits work, pray and form our men). He is also the Editor of two journals, Vagdevi, Journal of Religious Reflection and Dialogue, New Series.
Fr. Aloy has a BA in Pali and Sanskrit from the University of London and a Ph.D in Buddhist Philosophy from the University of Sri Lankan, Vidyodaya Campus. On Nov. 23, 2019, he was awarded the prestigious honorary Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt) by the Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, the Most Venerable Welamitiyawe Dharmakirthi Sri Kusala Dhamma Thera.
Fr. Aloy continues to be a promoter of Gospel values and virtues. Justice as a constitutive dimension of love and social concern for the downtrodden masses are very much noted in his life and work. He had very much appreciated the commitment of the late Fr. Joseph (Joe) Fernando, the National Director of the Social and Economic Centre (SEDEC) for the poor.
In Sri Lanka, a few religious Congregations – the Good Shepherd Sisters, the Christian Brothers, the Marist Brothers and the Oblates – have invited him to animate their members especially during their Provincial Congresses, Chapters and International Conferences. The mainline Christian Churches also have sought his advice and followed his seminars. I, for one, regret very much, that the Sri Lankan authorities of the Catholic Church –today’s Hierarchy—- have not sought Fr.
Aloy’s expertise for the renewal of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka and thus have not benefited from the immense store of wisdom and insight that he can offer to our local Church while the Sri Lankan bishops who governed the Catholic church in the immediate aftermath of the Second Vatican Council (Edmund Fernando OMI, Anthony de Saram, Leo Nanayakkara OSB, Frank Marcus Fernando, Paul Perera,) visited him and consulted him on many matters. Among the Tamil Bishops, Bishop Rayappu Joseph was keeping close contact with him and Bishop J. Deogupillai hosted him and his team visiting him after the horrible Black July massacre of Tamils.
Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement
By Gomi Senadhira
senadhiragomi@gmail.com
“You might tell fairy tales, but the progress of a country cannot be achieved through such narratives. A country cannot be developed by making false promises. The country moved backward because of the electoral promises made by political parties throughout time. We have witnessed that the ultimate result of this is the country becoming bankrupt. Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet.” – President Ranil Wickremesinghe, 2024 Budget speech
Any Sri Lankan would agree with the above words of President Wickremesinghe on the false promises our politicians and officials make and the fairy tales they narrate which bankrupted this country. So, to understand this, let’s look at one such fairy tale with lots of false promises; Ranil Wickremesinghe’s greatest achievement in the area of international trade and investment promotion during the Yahapalana period, Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA).
It is appropriate and timely to do it now as Finance Minister Wickremesinghe has just presented to parliament a bill on the National Policy on Economic Transformation which includes the establishment of an Office for International Trade and the Sri Lanka Institute of Economics and International Trade.
Was SLSFTA a “Cleverly negotiated Free Trade Agreement” as stated by the (former) Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate on the SLSFTA in July 2018, or a colossal blunder covered up with lies, false promises, and fairy tales? After SLSFTA was signed there were a number of fairy tales published on this agreement by the Ministry of Development Strategies and International, Institute of Policy Studies, and others.
However, for this article, I would like to limit my comments to the speech by Minister Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate, and the two most important areas in the agreement which were covered up with lies, fairy tales, and false promises, namely: revenue loss for Sri Lanka and Investment from Singapore. On the other important area, “Waste products dumping” I do not want to comment here as I have written extensively on the issue.
1. The revenue loss
During the Parliamentary Debate in July 2018, Minister Samarawickrama stated “…. let me reiterate that this FTA with Singapore has been very cleverly negotiated by us…. The liberalisation programme under this FTA has been carefully designed to have the least impact on domestic industry and revenue collection. We have included all revenue sensitive items in the negative list of items which will not be subject to removal of tariff. Therefore, 97.8% revenue from Customs duty is protected. Our tariff liberalisation will take place over a period of 12-15 years! In fact, the revenue earned through tariffs on goods imported from Singapore last year was Rs. 35 billion.
The revenue loss for over the next 15 years due to the FTA is only Rs. 733 million– which when annualised, on average, is just Rs. 51 million. That is just 0.14% per year! So anyone who claims the Singapore FTA causes revenue loss to the Government cannot do basic arithmetic! Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I call on my fellow members of this House – don’t mislead the public with baseless criticism that is not grounded in facts. Don’t look at petty politics and use these issues for your own political survival.”
I was surprised to read the minister’s speech because an article published in January 2018 in “The Straits Times“, based on information released by the Singaporean Negotiators stated, “…. With the FTA, tariff savings for Singapore exports are estimated to hit $10 million annually“.
As the annual tariff savings (that is the revenue loss for Sri Lanka) calculated by the Singaporean Negotiators, Singaporean $ 10 million (Sri Lankan rupees 1,200 million in 2018) was way above the rupees’ 733 million revenue loss for 15 years estimated by the Sri Lankan negotiators, it was clear to any observer that one of the parties to the agreement had not done the basic arithmetic!
Six years later, according to a report published by “The Morning” newspaper, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) on 7th May 2024, Mr Samarawickrama’s chief trade negotiator K.J. Weerasinghehad had admitted “…. that forecasted revenue loss for the Government of Sri Lanka through the Singapore FTA is Rs. 450 million in 2023 and Rs. 1.3 billion in 2024.”
If these numbers are correct, as tariff liberalisation under the SLSFTA has just started, we will pass Rs 2 billion very soon. Then, the question is how Sri Lanka’s trade negotiators made such a colossal blunder. Didn’t they do their basic arithmetic? If they didn’t know how to do basic arithmetic they should have at least done their basic readings. For example, the headline of the article published in The Straits Times in January 2018 was “Singapore, Sri Lanka sign FTA, annual savings of $10m expected”.
Anyway, as Sri Lanka’s chief negotiator reiterated at the COPF meeting that “…. since 99% of the tariffs in Singapore have zero rates of duty, Sri Lanka has agreed on 80% tariff liberalisation over a period of 15 years while expecting Singapore investments to address the imbalance in trade,” let’s turn towards investment.
Investment from Singapore
In July 2018, speaking during the Parliamentary Debate on the FTA this is what Minister Malik Samarawickrama stated on investment from Singapore, “Already, thanks to this FTA, in just the past two-and-a-half months since the agreement came into effect we have received a proposal from Singapore for investment amounting to $ 14.8 billion in an oil refinery for export of petroleum products. In addition, we have proposals for a steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million), sugar refinery ($ 200 million). This adds up to more than $ 16.05 billion in the pipeline on these projects alone.
And all of these projects will create thousands of more jobs for our people. In principle approval has already been granted by the BOI and the investors are awaiting the release of land the environmental approvals to commence the project.
I request the Opposition and those with vested interests to change their narrow-minded thinking and join us to develop our country. We must always look at what is best for the whole community, not just the few who may oppose. We owe it to our people to courageously take decisions that will change their lives for the better.”
According to the media report I quoted earlier, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) Chief Negotiator Weerasinghe has admitted that Sri Lanka was not happy with overall Singapore investments that have come in the past few years in return for the trade liberalisation under the Singapore-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement. He has added that between 2021 and 2023 the total investment from Singapore had been around $162 million!
What happened to those projects worth $16 billion negotiated, thanks to the SLSFTA, in just the two-and-a-half months after the agreement came into effect and approved by the BOI? I do not know about the steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million) and sugar refinery ($ 200 million).
However, story of the multibillion-dollar investment in the Petroleum Refinery unfolded in a manner that would qualify it as the best fairy tale with false promises presented by our politicians and the officials, prior to 2019 elections.
Though many Sri Lankans got to know, through the media which repeatedly highlighted a plethora of issues surrounding the project and the questionable credentials of the Singaporean investor, the construction work on the Mirrijiwela Oil Refinery along with the cement factory began on the24th of March 2019 with a bang and Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his ministers along with the foreign and local dignitaries laid the foundation stones.
That was few months before the 2019 Presidential elections. Inaugurating the construction work Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the projects will create thousands of job opportunities in the area and surrounding districts.
The oil refinery, which was to be built over 200 acres of land, with the capacity to refine 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day, was to generate US$7 billion of exports and create 1,500 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs. The construction of the refinery was to be completed in 44 months. Four years later, in August 2023 the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to cancel the agreement with the investors of the refinery as the project has not been implemented! Can they explain to the country how much money was wasted to produce that fairy tale?
It is obvious that the President, ministers, and officials had made huge blunders and had deliberately misled the public and the parliament on the revenue loss and potential investment from SLSFTA with fairy tales and false promises.
As the president himself said, a country cannot be developed by making false promises or with fairy tales and these false promises and fairy tales had bankrupted the country. “Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet”.
(The writer, a specialist and an activist on trade and development issues . )
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