Marking… arrival

As your Eyewitness predicted, while yesterday’s “Arrival Day” holiday was supposed to acknowledge our peoples who arrived as “indentured labourers”, he saw only one set of folks out there carrying on – the “East Indians”!! At a most mundane level this shouldn’t surprise us, seeing that the date May 5 is when THEY first arrived!! Why should the Portuguese – who arrived on May 3 – and the Chinese – who arrived on January 12 – mark those occasions on May 8?? Isn’t that a tad infra dig? Ok… Ok…beneath their dignity!!
For the Portuguese it would be a double dig – firstly, they’d be conceding they arrived as indentured labourers – like the rest of us riff-raff!! And to add insult to injury, be shoehorned into someone else’s circumstances!! So, your Eyewitness think we should acknowledge the Portuguese – who, if the truth be told, have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of!! They arrived from Madeira – in the Atlantic Ocean – rather than mainland Portugal, showing they were emigrants two times over looking to better their conditions. First from Portugal to Maderia and then to British Guiana. Some came from the Cape Verde islands and were dubbed “Sanntone” – from the name of one of the islands – Santo Antão!! Interestingly, another of those islands is Boa Vista!!
They also were our FIRST indentured labourers – brought in during 1835, even before slavery had really ended in 1838!! The sugar planters were hedging their bets, seeing they didn’t believe the freed Africans would hang around doing the same thing – for the same Massas as when enslaved!! – when they were now FREE to do whatever they wanted!! Madeira was experiencing a severe famine, and the folks there – who were already exposed to sugarcane cultivation – were only too happy to be offered a new “opportunity”!!
However, under our tropical conditions and diseases, they died like flies – even as they worked like dogs!! They were even more industrious than the Indians – who were no slouches but were generally not as physically vigorous. In one East Coast plantation Portuguese earned an average of $28 compared to the $21 of Indians!! They saved their money, and using their contacts in Madeira, many gravitated into importing and shopkeeping!! But just as many were stuck at the same level as the rest of us folks – with whom they mixed in more ways than one!!
One aspect of Portuguese history in Guyana showed early on that tensions are going to develop between the peoples from different cultures – if any one group ends up doing better than another. There were several anti-Portuguese riots during the 19th century!!
Anyhow, now that our “Portuguese” population is swelling with a third wave – via Brazil – maybe they’ll start celebrating Arrival Day!?!

…increased pressure
Surely, it’s no coincidence that on the very day we began presenting our legal arguments as to why Venezuela is full of you-know-what on their border controversy, shots are fired at our soldiers going about their business at the said border!! This is out and out intimidation – just as it was last year when the same thing happened when Mad Maduro was conducting sham “elections” to expropriate our Essequibo!!
But your Eyewitness is more than a tad miffed at the GDF for not providing even basic information about what went down on the Cuyuni River border at this very critical juncture. We citizens had to learn from other sources that Venezuelans in two boats attempted to box in a GDF craft proving escort for some of our citizens.
To call the attackers “Sindicatos” doesn’t excuse the state-sanctioned violence against us – those worthies are under the control of the state military!!
This matter should be brought to the attention of the ICJ panel to demonstrate Venezuelan lawlessness!!

…continued war
From where your Eyewitness sits, the present calm in the Strait of Hormuz is rather ominous – suggesting that a bigger war is coming down the pike. The Yanks can’t afford to be seen as slinking away!!