…as dictators do
What just went down in Venezuela had all the inevitability of a Greek Tragedy…but some were hoping against hope that Mad Maduro would listen to Spike Lee’s admonition and “Do the Right Thing”. The peaceful conduct of the elections on Sunday boosted their optimism, but it wasn’t to be. It only flattered to deceive ‘cause Mad Maduro – in control of the electoral institutions in Venezuela for over a decade – already had the fix in. And so the tragedy continues unfolding – with massive protests in the streets of Caracas and other cities, with at least a dozen persons killed up to now.
Your Eyewitness had said he was waiting for the pronouncement of the Carter Center – which had fielded an observation team. Back in September 2012, former US President Jimmy Carter had said – after his team observed the elections that returned Hugo Chávez to power: “The election process in Venezuela is the best in the world”. That’s right – “best in the world”!! So, folks can’t very well say the Carter Center’s biased in favour of the US Government!! He’d praised Hugo Chávez – an implacable enemy of the US Govt.
But this is what the Carter Center just said: “Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election did not meet international standards of electoral integrity and cannot be considered democratic. The Carter Center cannot verify or corroborate the results of the election declared by the National Electoral Council (CNE), and the electoral authority’s failure to announce disaggregated results by polling station constitutes a serious breach of electoral principles.
“Venezuela’s electoral process did not meet international standards of electoral integrity at any of its stages and violated numerous provisions of its own national laws. The election took place in an environment of restricted freedoms for political actors, civil society organisations, and the media. Throughout the electoral process, the CNE demonstrated a clear bias in favour of the incumbent.” So there you have it…Mad Maduro meddled with the elections!!
US President Biden and Brazilian President Lula also spoke by phone and agreed that Venezuela gotta release the disaggregated data, saying the election’s outcome “represents a critical moment for democracy in the hemisphere”. They “agreed on the need for immediate release of full, transparent, and detailed voting data at the polling station level by the Venezuelan electoral authorities.”
In the meantime, the Opposition said they’ve obtained more than 84% of the tally sheets from the 30,000 voting machines – which show González garnered more than twice as many votes as Maduro. The Opposition protests show no sign of letting up since most Venezuelans realise this opportunity to remove Mad Machado’s dictatorship – which has driven out one-quarter of the population – must be seized.
La luta continua!!
…for exclusionary Emancipation Day
Imagine that a historic occasion like Emancipation Day is being used by a bunch of bigots as a political football. Seems that last year, a Buxton group – which had been observing the occasion for decades and had been given the cold shoulder by Burnham because the organisers hadn’t seen eye to eye with him –received a subvention from the PPP Government. But they rejected the latter’s request that the AFRICAN GUYANESE Prime Minister speak!! Can you believe this??
Is this what Emancipation’s all about?? That one group of African Guyanese can now treat the others like chattel and tell them they have no right to listen to other opinions than their own!! Isn’t this the imposition of a new form of slavery?? Mental Slavery? Well, this year, the Government spread their subventions far and wide and the new slave masters aren’t happy at all!!
At last, African Guyanese can sample Emancipation Day offerings at their discretion. Your Eyewitness says, “Let a thousand tulips blossom”!!
…on chicken
A US Court just ruled that “Boneless chicken can have bones” – after a suit was filed by someone who had a bone stick in his throat from a “boneless chicken” purchase!! Seems we should “reasonably expect bones in chicken!!
