A dilemma’s when each of two choices before you leaves you in the lurch. It’s such a common situation that there are scads of expressions to illustrate it: “between the Devil and the deep blue sea”; “out of the frying pan into the fire”; “between a rock and a hard place”. Well, that madman on our Eastern border – the ex-bus driver Maduro, who’s been ruling Venezuela only because his mentor Chavez succumbed to cancer – has steered himself (pun intended!!) into a unique position. He’s facing an omni-lemma!!
In this rather rare occurrence, the individual is so idiotic he not only ignores multiple opportunities to extricate himself from trouble – but actually digs up “ants’ nests” to create new ones. You do that long enough – like Maduro has for a decade since 2013 – that finally you’ve got no way out!! Domestically, he’s destroyed the Venezuelan economy so completely, it’s gonna take decades to bring back some kinda normalcy – in the best of circumstances.
He thought he was clever to raise the claim over our Essequibo to rally the remaining Venezuelans around him – since he wrapped himself in an emotional issue to most Venezuelans. But when just a minority voted in his referendum, he realized he was too clever by half – he’d lost corn and husk! So, he then pi55ed off the UN Secretary General by insisting the choice the latter made to send the Border Controversy to the ICJ is misguided! And now says he ain’t following the Court’s directive. So, he’s made himself an international renegade.
But, more dangerously, he’s tearing up a treaty on settled borders – knowing that 90% of the world is scared sh*tless of opening THAT can of worms!! Does he wonder why NONE of the countries surrounding him in Latin America have rallied to his side – even Brazil, whose Lula tries to project a “progressive” image?? He may be counting on Russia and China – both of which have expansionist designs in Ukraine and Taiwan respectively!! But he’s got another think coming is he believes they will be taking on the US in its own private Caribbean lake!! With Americans apprehensive over China’s rise – and Russia’s aggression in Europe – Biden or his successor are in an even stickier spot that JFK was in the missile crisis of 1962!!
Then Maduro’s taking on Exxon/Hess/CNOOC – who just had the fattest plum of an oil contract for the sweetest oil find in the world drop into their laps!! If he thinks Governments protect their turfs, then he’s gonna learn a thing or two about corporations!! Does he realize in that tiny head of his that CNOOC is even larger than Exxon, and they’re pulling 25% of the moolah??
Poor, Mad Maduro!!
…folly
Now, Venezuela first raised their Border Controversy at the UN back in 1962 – and were successful in stymieing funding for the Mazaruni Hydro Project. So, without an original thought in that hard coconut head of his, Maduro directed the country’s state-owned companies to “immediately” begin exploring and exploiting the oil, gas and mines in our Essequibo!! This, of course, was after “decreeing” that all the waters off our Essequibo were Venezuela’s – leaving us without a passage to the sea!!
Now, after taking this fiat, has he thought about how he’s gonna enforce all those orders? For example, who is PVDSA, their oil company, gonna be issuing licences to, when, with 300 BILLION barrels of their own oil, they couldn’t ever save enough capital or generate experience to even run a cake shop?? He’s turning himself into a laughing stock – and your Eyewitness wouldn’t be surprised if some Seargent Jose in his army throws him out on his ears!
For besmirching whatever dignity Venezuelans can muster at this time!!
…and Dave
“We are a peaceful people/ Struggle as we struggle/ And we don’t look for trouble/ Just ask around
But when outside faces/ From foreign places/ Talk about taking over/ We ain’t backing down!”
Understand that, Mad Maduro!
