Your Eyewitness returns again to the pain and suffering of Haiti – a member of Caricom, mind you!! – which that body has studiously ignored, if the truth be told. So, what exactly is Caricom’s abdication?? Have they returned to the hands-off, “see no evil, hear no evil” posture they’d adopted towards Guyana when Burnham’s PNC rigged elections between 1968 and 1985?? Hasn’t Caricom learnt from then that “fouls” eventually gonna come home to roost?? Your Eyewitness is quite disappointed with Bajan PM Mia Mottley – who played such a key role in our PNC elections’ attempted hijacking. Having the ear of the international community because of speaking truth to power, her voice would’ve magnified any Caricom call for action.
Ever since those Colombian mercenaries assassinated President Jovenal Moise three years ago, the already chaotic situation with massive gangs controlling the streets of Port au Prince has deteriorated further. Since a state is defined as the institution that has the sole legitimacy to use force in a country, the Haitian state’s inability to rein in these violent gangs can only mean that it’s a most profoundly failed state! Imagine these gangs – which conduct their own gang wars on the side – have most recently shot at a plane and forced it to land in DR!!
So, we’ve had a series of PMs succeeding Moise after the “international force” – with some 400 Kenyan policemen and a handful from the Bahamas and Jamaica – tried to bring some order. But things have actually deteriorated further, and the gangs are moving into new turf which was barred to them up to now!! It’s very likely that many Haitians might be wishing for the days of the dictators Papa Doc and his son Baby Doc – cause, even though his Tonton Macoute terrorised political opponents, there was at least peace in the streets!!
Neighbouring Dominican Republic has intensified its border patrols and expulsions, desperate citizens till attempt to sail to Florida, or make the trip to Panama, to then trek to the Mexican Border. They’ve stopped flying to Guyana on their way to the Brazilian favelas (slums), from where they hike up to Panama and upwards. But if Caricom has gone silent, what about all those here who were so vociferous about the Haitians’ plight in 2020?? Can’t they join your Eyewitness to lobby Caricom to do something?
The election of Trump in the US – who’s accused Haitian immigrants of eating Americans’ cats and dogs!! – would put more pressure on Haiti with returning refugees.
Plus, most likely, he ain’t gonna be contributing to funding the foreign police.
It’s a mess.
…about dead and migrated voters
Seems the Opposition has given up on its outlandish claim that the PPP’s constructing an “emerging apartheid state”, after rigging the last elections!! So, this became known to Mingo the day after the elections – after praising the conduct of the process! – by some clairvoyant process, forcing him to pull out those spreadsheets and bedsheets?!! Well, one prong of the “rigging charge” is that the PPP had dead and migrated folks voting. Now, this is some serious breach of the law – subject to equally serious sanctions!!
But, a basic doctrine in law is “who asserts must prove”!! So, now that GECOM’s passed on the list of names of those who committed the crime to the police, shouldn’t the PNC cooperate so as to nail the PPP’s “treachery” to the wall? And not so incidentally, remove them from office?? But after GECOM asked the PNC for some more details so that the Police can go to addresses etc, they REFUSED!!
Like with those mysterious SOPs!! But persist with their claims!!
…with cricket
A new major Twenty20 tournament – the Global Cricket League (GCL) – would be kicked off next week at our Providence Stadium from Nov. 26 to Dec. 7. Five T20 teams from five countries – including our homeboys, the Guyana Amazon Warriors – will be competing for US$1 million in prize money. Let the games begin!!
