It’s war…against extradition!

Well, well, well!! How the times are a changin’!! Sanction Man and his WIN vehicle to prevent his extradition to face their justice system for criminally breaking their laws – along with his Daady – had trenchantly criticised the PPP Government for hiring lobbyists in the US to further this country’s interest!! Now, hiring lobbyists to petition lawmakers and other movers and shakers in the US Government is as American as apple pie – not to mention motherhood!! They evoke warmth, comfort and nostalgia for the “American Way”!!
But the way Sanction Man told the tale, it was a devious trick to subvert the legal system – and as such, they condemned the PPP!! Of course, going by what he claimed publicly, the way to win friends and influence folks in Government is to pass them oodles of moolah under the table!! But here it is Sanction Man just announced that he’d hired a lobbyist with an initial down payment of US$250,000!! Now we’re talking real money here!! Epstein kinda money!! For US$250,000 you can tickle many an official’s fancy!!
But apart from raising questions about Sanction Man’s political expediency, cynicism and opportunism – which have been exposed time and again! – there’s the question as to how the lobbyist was paid!! US$250,000 ain’t just pocket change which some WIN flunkey could jet up with stateside!! There is, after all that travelling, a US$10,000 or more declaration hurdle that gotta be cleared!! But even without that hurdle there’s the one as to where the US$250,000 came from – since all of Sanction Man’s bank accounts have been closed due to the OFAC sanctions!! It was said that WIN made the payment – but that just moves the questions one step backwards – where did WIN get the money from??!!
But what all this reveals is that Sanction Man realises time is longer than twine – and the twine of objections and appeals in court was never gonna be very long to begin with!! Not to mention not showing up in court because of “illness” or tyres getting slashed!! They clearly thought they could pull a Jack Warner – who delayed a FIFA-originated extradition request for ten years, by which time the matter became moot!! They didn’t realise that the AG Office had anticipated his not-so-artful dodging and that this was originated by the US Govt!!
So what can the lobbyist actually do since this ain’t a matter before some Congressional Committee or suchlike? This is a matter for the courts – and the Yanks are awfully proud of “judicial independence”!! They not only frown upon bagmen trying to bribe Judges but even “lobbying”!!
More critically, the Judge who’s gonna deal with Sanction Man’s gold smuggling charges ain’t even been appointed yet!!

…with a smile
After all the sturm and drang, it was announced that the US – along with Caricom – is gonna send “humanitarian aid” to Cuba!! It just goes to show that folks don’t have to take a no holier-than-thou attitude to power politics. Like Kenny Rogers advised in his song “The Gambler” – you gotta know when to hold it – and you gotta know when to fold it!! It all has to do with being honest when you look at the cards you’re holding in your hands!!
We in Caricom never had a strong hand to begin with! We were always too small and not possessing some strategic resource, facility or production, like, say, Singapore!! With OUR reserves of sweet, light crude – which stack up nicely against Venezuela’s vaunted 300B barrels of crude, since these are mostly not commercially exploitable – we have a good card!!
But we have gotta know not to overplay it. So Pressie was very wise to let T&T’s Kamla do all the screaming while he was the peacemaker!!

…at LGE
WIN just announced they’ll be aggressively contesting the upcoming LGE!! They’re counting on their local outreaches to bring in the votes.
However, Sanction Man’s gonna be in the docks by then – and another (harsher) tune will be playing!!