When Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa finally disappears from the island it should be a major victory for the Sri Lankan people who continue to protest.

For months, GotaGoGama’s slogan echoed in the cities: Gotabajo, go home. Ideally somewhere far away, maybe to the United States, or just somewhere where you won’t harm Sri Lanka.

In the end, Gotabaja diverted his escape not to the US, but to the Maldives, from where he continued on to Singapore. He sent his expected resignation letter to the Speaker of Parliament too late, and it’s not even clear if it was formally legal. He sent it by email.

However, the Sri Lankan protesters cheered as if they had no idea how difficult it was to wake up from reality.

At first glance, it seems that the whole of Sri Lanka is standing. But many of those who are dissatisfied with the current situation need not take to the streets and destroy not only the state but also the private property of state leaders. And in some cases, they even doubt that the protesters represent the “bright side” of the power in this story.

“Have you ever thought about who was behind the demonstrations? Who organized them? Who paid them?” Hetti Sri Lanka asked me. He’s one of the people I’ve been in contact with since the protests broke out. And one of the few who has so far been able to accurately predict any subsequent turn in the Sri Lankan crisis. He flew to the Czech Republic to visit his family moments before the weekend’s windiest protests broke out.

“There are political parties that are comfortable with demonstrations. For example, the National People’s Power (NLM) and its leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Socialists are inspired by Che Guevara,” explains Hetti.

The party he spoke of was based on Marxist-Leninist ideas and had slightly changed the ideology over time with each successive leader. He became known as the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) or People’s Liberation Front. But it went to the last election again under the new name NLM.

“Right now, the government can’t agree to anything. But even if he agrees, those hooligans will continue to protest, they won’t accept anyone who is. So these socialists are trying to gain power. The leadership of the country will be the same people, just under a different name. This is a Soviet era moment. If you look at the history of the Cheguevar party, you will know how it used to extort people,” he explained.

The traces of Che Guevara’s legacy are clearly visible on the island. “If you actually look at the tuktuks on the island, a lot of them put on a Che Guevara face. Che Guevara or Bob Marley, that’s mainstream here,” he added, and he was almost certain who was behind the protesters. After all, this socialist party with their support they don’t hide.

This theory made a lot of sense to him. This is a party that does not have many seats or voters. “So he can increase his popularity by supporting the protesters. It can be seen that this protest was organized. They also have the support of the Islamic community. They did not like Gotabaja with his view as their leader. What we see in the Western media is superficial,” he added.

“Think about the ideologies of those who are fighting on the streets. Those who sit in the president’s seat and take pictures are often brainwashed,” he said. “What’s interesting is that most of the protesters speak English. Perfect. Ordinary people in Sri Lanka who are really struggling to survive will not speak to you in English.”

Moments before it actually happened, he predicted that the army would try to restore order on the island.

“If you talk to ordinary people here, they will tell you that order and discipline in this country is necessary. If you want to ensure order and eradicate corruption, you need peace in this country. But the protesters are destroying one place after another and they think it’s fun,” he said. He attributed the fact that soldiers in social media videos were silent because general procedures had not been established.

“Every time they have intervened before, human rights groups have spoken up. The western world will not allow it. But if those people are not controlled, what kind of laws will work here? There will be military intervention without a doubt,” he predicted, unaware that within an hour of our conversation, Prime Minister Ranil Vikremesinghe ordered the military to do whatever was “necessary to restore order in the country.”

Hetti himself was a little worried about returning to Sri Lanka. “Some people are already fighting against Sri Lankans who are just having fun. It wouldn’t be safe for people like me who have that money to go back to the country. The mentality of people nowadays is set in such a way that anyone with money can rob it “And the looting has already happened. And you will soon see, maybe starting tomorrow, he will be dying. The same will happen as before, there will be murders. And I’m just sorry they all devoured the good news about the people in the presidential pool.”

He believed that one day it would be fine in Sri Lanka. But not before five years. “Now it will be like in Pakistan or Lebanon. This has no easy solution. That is, unless you have an additional $50 billion. Not a few more tourists will save us now,” concluded Hetti.