Dancing… between the raindrops

Your Eyewitness welcomes the enhanced defence partnership with the US that Pressie just signed with US Secretary of War Hegseth in Washington. In a region where territorial ambitions, trafficking networks and vulnerable maritime frontiers overlap – read Dicey Delcy!! – stronger security cooperation’s a practical investment in stability for us!! But let’s face it – we’re gonna have to dance between the raindrops of Yankee and Chinee ambitions!! And neither of them’re known for bringing a small umbrella!!
The agreement nails down American defence expertise, joint exercises, training, and improved awareness of Guyana’s airspace – which has already started!! For a small country with extensive territory and valuable offshore installations to protect, those advantages are nothing to sneeze at! They can boost our GDF while making potential aggressors – (Delcy??) – think more carefully about Mad Maduro-type intimidation!!
Delcy and Co., in particular, should understand that the strength of our partnerships ain’t all about size!! The prospect of a more capable GDF, working closely with the US, raises the potential cost of adventurism – especially if, as your Eyewitness has suggested, we establish a military base in Essequibo!! That would give diplomacy more breathing space – since peaceful settlement becomes more attractive when bullyism looks less promising!!
The regional benefits could extend further – with better surveillance, coordination, and operational capacity confronting narco-trafficking and other threats that travel comfortably across borders – like Venezuelan blood gold!! We’d be more effectively helping Caribbean security by protecting the stability on which regional trade and investment depend!!
But we know Washington’s ambitions extend beyond protecting us from Hegseth’s references to outside military influence and Trump’s corollary to the Monroe Doctrine!! These signal a wider contest over who exercises strategic influence in the hemisphere, and we’ve gotta understand the larger project – even while welcoming the immediate benefits!!
This is where the Chinks enter the equation since they’re an important economic partner, with CNOOC owning a quarter of the Stabroek Block alongside ExxonMobil and Chevron!! There’s a useful irony here since American security cooperation’s gonna help protect offshore production, in which a Chinese company’s a major investor!!  Going forward, we gotta preserve that practical flexibility with Chinese investments judged on their economic merits, transparency and security implications, so friendship with Washington needn’t demand hostility towards Beijing!!
As such, as early in the day as we can, we should establish clear terms for military access, intelligence cooperation and future operational commitments!! We should also continue cultivating Brazil, CARICOM and other partners whose involvement broadens our diplomatic options!!
The agreement deserves our support ‘cause it can make us safer and the region more stable. The diplomatic task is to turn that greater security into greater independence!!
We should welcome the umbrella – but keep a firm hand on the handle!!

…with the Devil
Your Eyewitness is quite flummoxed at Sanction Man’s success in gaslighting the Government for all his own misdemeanours and indiscretions – and having some folks lapping it up!! Now we know the fella collected over 100,000 votes at the last election – but much of that was a rejection of the PNC for its uninspiring leadership – if we can call it that!! Mostly it was big bucks pumped into vote-buying as if Sanction Man had a money-printing press – which he had if the US extradition charges are anything to go by!!
Anyhow, back to the gullible falling for something as preposterous as Sanction Man claiming he was a victim of an “assassination plot” – when he drove to the alleged “assassination” site of his own free will in the dead of night!! Even if someone had called him about some broken gate to entice him, who’d ever think a sane person would drive by at midnight!!
Hold it… maybe folks are just fascinated that Sanction Man “head nah good”??

…lights
Lighthouses have a long history of warning off ships from dangers lurking ashore, and there are few who aren’t captivated by their distinctive shape and stripes!!
So imagine learning our local lighthouse’s been replaced by a room atop the Marriott!!