Well, it’s not in your humble Eyewitness’ nature to say “I told you so”. But when the matter is so humongous that it affects our nation’s survival in this dog-eat-dog world, he’s gotta make an exception! And this matter has to do with the Yanks’ decision by Pres Biden to break their sanctions on Venezuelan oil and award a license to its Oil Biggie Chevron to start shipping crude from its partnerships with PVDSA to State-side!! When our most important friend starts snuggling up with our greatest threat – it doesn’t get bigger than that!!
Way back in MARCH, your Eyewitness had noted in “Ripple effect …“Another effect ( of the US sanctions on Russian oil) that was pointed out by yours truly was the US making nice with that tyrant next door, Maduro. Now, some may ask why does the US need Venezuelan oil when we’re already cranking up production with FPSOs dropping anchor and sucking out oil as fast as you can say “Aloo Ball”! Well, the reason is that oil isn’t oil sometimes!! The US need Venezuelan heavy oils for heating oils this winter!!
“So, the Americans rushed their negotiators down to Caracas, made gooey eyes at Maduro – who they’d denounced as the greatest threat to American interests in the hemisphere since Castro – and immediately, two American hostages were freed! And now the quid pro quo proceeds as in a carefully choreographed tango!! We just learnt that us big oil Chevron’s mustering staff and equipment to re-enter Venezuela to expand Venezuelan PDVSA’s emaciated production.
In October he continued in “Spitting in the wind…in Venezuela?? Here we go again!! The US Government has OK’d Chevron possibly kicking off production in the projects it was involved with in conjunction with Venezuela’s PDVSA – if Maduro will resume discussions in Mexico on holding “free and fair” elections next year!! The release by the Americans of six criminal prisoners – including some of Maduro’s relatives – was an opening gambit. Now, don’t assume this is all because of the energy crunch precipitated by the sanctions on Russian oil. Remember these negotiations were well advanced two years ago? But broke off when Maduro demanded his money launderer be released??
“So where does this leave us?? There are now 7 million Venezuelans who’ve fled their homeland since 2015 – many of them are here. This is a ticking time bomb that must be addressed. More than ever, the US now sees the strategic importance of controlling Venezuelan oil – the largest reserves in the world. The coming (freezing) winter of discontent in Europe emphasises this. Guyana could get lost in the shuffle without Exxon!!”
Nothing has changed. In international affairs, there are no permanent enemies of permanent friends – just permanent interests!!
…conundrum on Venezuelan migrants
The official numbers from the NGOs say that at least 30,000 of the 7 million Venezuelans who’ve had to flee their country after the Chavistas took over are in Guyana. And we know that it actually means there are at least two times that number because of the porosity of our western borders. Your Eyewitness has written extensively that we need to take care of the poor human beings – not least because after Burnham had destroyed our economy, more than that number found refuge in Venezuela.
So your Eyewitness is pleased that the government is dealing frontally with the challenge – even as it struggles to deal with our own poverty-stricken masses. Let’s not forget that a report from 2019 found that 48% of our country lived below our poverty line. But we have to reeducate the Venezuelans about the border controversy – since they’ve been brainwashed to believe that Essequibo is theirs!!
We don’t want to wake up one morning to find we’ve developed a Venezuelan Fifth Column!!
…Public Employees?
The Public Works Ministry assured that the $1Billion damage caused by the MV Tradewind Passion careening into the DHB was gonna be paid by the ship’s owners.
But the ship was allowed to sail through the Bridge’s opening last week. Payoff?
