Mad Maduro can’t fool your Eyewitness one bit. His socialist cant may seduce Ralph Gonzalves and even Mia Mottley – but actions speak louder than words any day!! And Mad Maduro’s actions demonstrate that the only ideology he follows is the ideology of holding on to power for his own aggrandizement – by any means necessary!! And your Eyewitness suspects no Guyanese who lived through the Burnham years would be fooled. Didn’t we hear all day about the “small man being the real man” – but if a small man dared be caught with a (banned) can of sardines, he was thrown in the clinker!! Yet Burnham sent for – and received – a can of (banned) condensed milk on his deathbed!!
And that’s why your Eyewitness never believed that Mad Maduro held “peace” as any kinda ideal he followed. How come he’s never impressed long-time Brazilian socialist Lula – who’s more experienced with Venezuelan politics? The moment Lula heard that Mad Maduro had “annexed” Essequibo, he moved troops to Brazil’s Venezuelan border!! He knew that Mad Maduro was capable of being foolish enough to cross Brazilian territory to get to our Rupununi region of Essequibo!! And where did Mad Maduro get all those spunks to back up his bluster?? Well, for one, he’s been armed to the teeth by Russia with some of the most advanced military hardware!! So what if thousands of young Venezuelans in the military would die?? That’s just collateral damage to satisfy Mad Maduro’s ambitions!!
Take his bluster about the “American Imperialists”. So how come he’s jumping through all sorts of hoops to convince American oil majors to drill for oil – which would be exported to the US!! Isn’t he then supporting that which he condemns?? Bloody hypocrite – yet some fall for it!! Or not?? Maybe Ralph and Mia were persuaded more by oil from Venezuela than the socialist buzz words?? Not all who shout “Comrade! Comrade!” care about the poor and powerless!! And Mad Maduro certainly doesn’t give a fig (banana?) about the Venezuelan poor – much less foreign ones. His Petrocaribe debt write-off to Ralph was just to silence him. The mouth is muzzled by the hand that feeds it!!
So, we come to Mad Maduro’s latest flare-up: his ridiculous reaction to the visit of the British patrol ship HMS Trent to Guyana. He deployed 5682 soldiers; 3 ocean patrol vessels; 7 missile boats; 12 Sukhoi planes AND amphibious vehicles!! Now, the Trent had already been scheduled to visit Barbados – so how come Mad Maduro didn’t send one of his patrol vessels into the “Caribbean Zone of Peace”??
The bully just wants to intimidate us before the Mixed Commission meets!! Notice he deployed just enough troops to pip our GDF??
…the innocent
It’s said that the “way to hell is paved with good intentions”. And with Mad Maduro spewing fire and brimstone out west, some good-intentioned Guyanese seem determined to have us stoke Purgatory’s fires!! Take the suggestion by a Guyanese businessman that the last oil block auction wasn’t well-thought-out strategically. And we oughta invite the Government-owned Venezuelan oil company – PDVSA – to partner with us on one block!!
Now, momentarily ignoring the elephant in that room – letting the cat into the henhouse! – can we talk about PDVSA?? Wasn’t it created after the Venezies nationalized oil production? But allocated the majority of profits to the foreign majors who had the money and technology to deploy?? Then along came Chavez, who decided that contract was too lopsided; and unilaterally altered it – sending Exxon and Conoco Phillips to the door. And since then, PDVSA has been unable to produce 1Mbd much less the old 3Mbd!! And we want to partner with THEM??
But really, we need Venezuela to actually own a piece of Guyana??
…the Brits
After more than a century under British rule, we know they just love their protocols. So, what’s this about former HC Greg Quin replacing present HC Jane Miller “temporarily”?? The Foreign Office is rewriting the rules??
