The shindigs in the PNC have been distracting most folks from following what’s been going on out west, where Mad Maduro continues his “war by other means” to take over our Essequibo. Your Eyewitness pointed out the bolstering of his alliances with his mentor Putin of Russia and his moneybags backer Xi of China. What with the former demonstrating that the annexation of parts of a neighbouring territory – Ukraine – has been normalised – notwithstanding the West pumping arms into the country – Mad Maduro has been emboldened.
How can we depend on the United Nations to ‘manners’ Mad Maduro after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rules in our favour on the border controversy – when they sat still at the Russian invasion under Putin and their grinding war of attrition against the Ukrainians?? Xi and China have been propping up the Venezuelan economy with their purchases of Venezuelan oil and supplying other inputs for oil production.
Our other ace in the hole was the Yanks looking to get Mad Maduro thrown out of office so they could control those 300 billion barrels of oil sloshing around below Venezuela’s soil. The methodology, of course, has been free and fair elections which Mad Maduro fears more than Dracula fears garlic!! Not so easy to win elections in which folks are allowed to vote freely after SEVEN MILLION of your friends and relatives had to flee because of what Mad Maduro did to the economy!! Every Venezuelan – even those who might’ve profiteered as Mad Maduro’s cronies – knows that every day Mad Maduro remains in charge, millions more will have to flee and try to make it to the US that he cusses out!!
Well, the Venezuela elections are due in five weeks or so and – as was to be expected – Mad Maduro has done everything he could to cut the real opposition off at the knees. He arranged for the most popular Opposition Leader – Machado who’s always been described as “far right” – to be stricken off the ballot!! He thought he was clever to have inserted in the Barbados Agreement he signed for free and fair elections that all candidates must’ve complied with “the laws of Venezuela”. The courts justified Machado’s exclusion by noting she’d called for the US to remove Mad Maduro!! Never mind that the same Mad Maduro has violated the Venezuelan Constitution by smuggling drugs!!
His latest ploy is to have his Elections Commission demand all 10 political groupings contesting the elections sign a pledge that they’ll accept the results of the elections. The two major Opposition groups – including Machado’s – have refused to buy this “pig in a poke” – for which they were denounced by the Elections Commission: “This indicates that they want to disregard, destabilise and sabotage the electoral process”!!
…earthquakes
Well, by now most of us in Guyana know about the tremors on midnight Saturday!! From your Eyewitness’ anecdotal survey, seems that most folks slept through it so they won’t be boasting to their grandchildren about how they were stoic and brave during the “great earthquake of 2024”!! But then over time, events do change in the minds of people, don’t they??
Anyhow, we’re told it wasn’t Mad Maduro playing around with ballistic missiles that caused the tremors, but an earthquake off Venezuela’s north coast. It was felt much more substantially in TT and some of the southern Caribbean islands – who are much more experienced with this sort of thing. But there was another seismic event around the same time – Afghanistan beating Australia in their T20 match-up!! This, of course, is poetic justice after the Aussies’ dramatic come-from-behind win against the Afghanis in the last World Cup.
An injured Maxwell came in at 91/7 and went on to score a DOUBLE CENTURY to win the match!!
…the (PNC) mudslinging
Some are suggesting the PNC postpone Congress until the Kissoon allegations against Norton are investigated. But will ANY investigation satisfy those whose minds are already made up? Which is everybody on both sides. Thought not!!
