Dealing with…

… Cubans

Cubans have been hitting our local news this past week, fast and furious from several directions – not even counting the intensification of US sanctions against their nation to ostensibly initiate democratic reforms there! Not that there isn’t a nexus between the two circumstances, since the latter is the source of the others!!
Your Eyewitness can do worse than start with the US deporting four Cubans (along with two Afghans) here as part of President Trump’s “third-world country” outlet for those nationalities whose home countries pose challenges to shipping back deportees directly!! With Cubans, the Yanks ain’t got no diplomatic relations with Cuba – which has refused to accept flights with deportees!! These are considered traitors for fleeing their homeland!! With the Afghans, all agree that the Taliban’s welcome for deportees who’d chosen to flee to the US enemy might literally “go to (for?!) their heads”!!
But what got your Eyewitness’ goat was PNC parliamentary leader Fried Chicken Man smarmily rejecting the Government’s acceptance of the five refugees on the grounds that “If you’re not good for the United States, you’re not good for Guyana”!! What a piece of crock!! The Govt official in charge of the programme had stated pellucidly that Guyana had vetted these individuals – and they didn’t have any criminal background or such-like!! Their deportations here were directly linked to their illegal status in the US and the latter’s relationship with their home Governments!!
And mind you, the Yanks are paying us for the trouble of hosting these six deportees to the tune of US$7M – and they can choose to fly off to whatever destination they wish!! As far as remaining here – which is what Fried Chicken Man was assuming – has he forgotten that we’ve been desperately seeking immigrants with skills? Or even no skills for our booming construction sector??!! Why exactly does Fried Chicken Man mean by running around the place shrieking like Chicken Little??!!
Then we had other Opposition MPs screaming about the Government ensuring Cuban health specialists in our country acquire proper e-IDs at the Health Ministry!! Have these Opposition attack-dogs forgotten we’ve had to cancel the arrangement for the Cuban Medical Brigade – where the payments were going to the Cuban Govt?? And that those who chose to remain here – plus others who came directly out of Cuba – gotta be processed into our bureaucratic system to help keep our medical system going??
Then there’s the news of some members of our Police Force being complicit in helping to facilitate some Cubans getting across our southern border into Brazil. There’d been Opposition complaints that Cubans were being treated better than Haitians trying to get into Brazil.
Are they now satisfied with the equal treatment??

…PNC survival
After weeks of denials and misinformation about reports that the PNC was selling portions of the Sophia lands they’d appropriated for their HQ Congress Place, a PNC official sheepishly admitted they ARE leasing land for the construction of a hotel!! “Leasing” rather than “selling” – as far as usage of land expropriated for a supposedly non-profit organisation – their party! – isn’t this a distinction looking for a difference??
Poor PNC… They’re looking at extinction, staring at them in the face, and Norton must’ve decided (ain’t no other than him making decisions!!) that when it comes to money to keep the party afloat, any port in a storm!! However, their opponent ain’t the PPP, but Sanction Man, who hived off 16 seats with billions from his oil-gotten gains!! Can Norton match this with a hotel land lease?? This has gotta be on the scale of the British Land-lease programme with the Yanks during WWII to make a difference!!
Has he considered committing political hara-kiri for the good of the PNC??

…defeat
Well… There it was – our Warriors are out of the finals – having once again played the role of the bridesmaid and not the bride!! Even though it’s a cliché, how they played the last game gave their fans something to cheer.