…on the western front
Surprise! Surprise! The Venezuelans have rejected Guyana’s request to the departing UN Secretary General (SG) that their manufactured border controversy with us be moved from his “Good Offices” – where it has languished for decades – to the World Court. All the “Good Offices” required was the SG appoint a person that both sides agreed to who would then act as an intermediary between them. The last person to fill the position was Professor Norman Girvan, who passed away a couple of years ago.
And since the Venezuelans know they have no realistic chance of opening up an Arbitral Award that was “signed, sealed and delivered” by international players that involved the US, Russia and the UK, all they want is for their claim to be a Sword of Damocles to be hanging over our heads. And that we’ll so want to develop our resource-rich Essequibo, we’ll agree to “joint development” which they’d proposed to President Hoyte when he went visiting.
As your Eyewitness had pointed out, since the 1966 Geneva Agreement stipulated that BOTH sides have to agree to the method of resolving the controversy – enumerated in the UN “dispute resolution” mechanisms which include both “good offices” and a “judicial decision” – this means Venezuela has a veto on any suggested change. They will NEVER go the route of a judicial settlement – since in every border settlement before that body with similar facts, they’ve gone along with the old decision.
And let’s be clear about this – while Guyana has never agreed for there to be a replaying of the substantive facts of the case – even if that were to be opened up, the World Court will go our way. If for nothing else, any other decision would open up such a Pandora’s Box of border claims across the world, it would mean at the very minimum, the end of the UN!!! Not to mention the certain beginning of WWIII!
So what do we do? Well, our Foreign Ministry just came out with a booklet summarising our case with the label – “The New Conquistadors”. We should’ve elaborated as to who were the “Old Conquistadors”: how they revelled in killing and raping and looting and burning the peoples of the Americas. Conquistador Velasquez killed hundreds of thousands so that by the mid-sixteenth century, there were only a few thousand native people in Cuba.
We should do exactly what Burnham did – isolate Venezuela, especially in the “progressive” countries where it still has some social capital.
As your Eyewitness said, we should’ve been at the NSM meeting last month. With our booklet!
…at City Hall
All you have to do is slow down while you’re passing City Hall and you’ll hear the low murmurs of the plotters raiding the City Treasury as if THEY’RE the New Conquistadors!! Seems they learnt some tricks of the Conquistadors’ Trade of extracting booty when they visited Mexico (Cortez!) and Peru (Pizzaro) to “check out” those Parking Meters.
Shall we count the ways they’ve pillaged the Treasury? The vendors from Bourda Green whose plots were given to a chosen few – including blood relatives? The “forgiving” of the rates and taxes of some notorious “big ones”? The steady stream of first class trips of the Gang of Four as they join the jet setters? The doling out of contracts to their favoured few – that is those with deep pockets? And this is what we can see!!
The latest depredation is the revelation that Mayor Chase-Green has a son on the payroll of her favoured City Hall contractor. Her explanation? Her son has to work!!
And wasn’t it Columbus’ son who loosed Velasquez on Cuba?!! Look out for that contractors’ bills!!
…at UG
And to cap off yesterday’s Eye-opener on our new VC at UG, we just learnt he spent US$30,000 for fourteen staffers to do some fund raising in the Big Apple – and collected US$8000!!
Wow! New economics?
