…Venezuela and Maduro
All Guyanese know Maduro’s been ratcheting up the stakes against us in his nation’s six-decade campaign to steal two-thirds of our territory – all of Essequibo. He refused to accept the decision by the UN Secretary General (UNSG) that the Geneva Agreement Venezuela signed with Britain and Guyana mandates the UNSG to choose the means to resolve the Venezuelan border controversy – including the ICJ.
As that judicial process unfolded, and the ICJ itself ruled it had jurisdiction over the matter, Maduro decided to play hardball – as several predecessors had done in the past. From their seizing our half of Ankoko Island and blocking the Mazaruni Hydro Project, he issued a January decree claiming our internationally sanctioned 300-mile Exclusive Economic Zone off our Essequibo Coast. This, of course, was to stymie our oil extraction. Imagine Venezuela sitting with the largest petroleum deposits in the world (300 billion barrels!) begrudging our comparatively paltry 15 billion barrels! But that’s what greed does to you.
Emboldened, he seized two Guyanese fishing boats AND DETAINED THEIR CREWS. This is nothing short of a declaration of war. Our President rightly cut communication with Venezuela until our Guyanese citizens are freed. This had not happened…and the line in the sand remains clearly drawn. As the PPP in Opposition had done when the PNC was in office and the Venezuelans were threatening, the now PNC Opposition supported the position of the Government on the border issue.
But there was a dangerous caveat. A month before his Jan 8th decree, Maduro had pulled off another fraudulent election to claim control of the National Assembly – kicking his opponent Guiado out! Guyana supported the OAS’ resolution, “Rejection of the Parliamentary Elections held on December 6 in Venezuela.” And why not? The OAS had been joined by the Lima Group, the European Union, the International Contact Group, and over 50 countries worldwide! But the PNC Opposition criticised the Guyana Government for its move!
It was clear the PNC was petulantly reacting to the OAS’ condemnation of its own rigging attempt back in March. But that matter will be dealt with in the local court that will hear its election petition. Shouldn’t country come before political ambition? Why would it now take a position that emboldens Maduro, who immediately used the false “legitimacy” to launch his attacks on us? How could the PNC now be sleeping with the enemy?
This danger was exposed when PNC acolyte Lincoln Lewis wrote over the weekend, “This (PPP) regime is creating both internal and external tensions. Externally, they are provoking confrontations by meddling into the internal affairs of another sovereign nation and putting the lives of Guyanese at risk.”
So, Guyana provoked Maduro’s decree and seizure?
…the small man
The tale of what recently happened in the arcane world of the stock market with the stocks of GameStop – a retailer of video games – is a “man bites dog” story that deserves a telling. Your Eyewitness believes that most folks understand one buys shares hoping their value would increase – and they make a profit after a while. This strategy is called “having a long position”.
But Wall Street (brokers) invented something called “taking a short position. They “borrow” stocks from their customers’ portfolio and sell in massive quantities, thus driving down the price. They then quickly buy back those shares at the low price and return them to their owners’ books, after making massive killings!! Schemes like these earned them the title “Masters of the Universe”
But with the coordination of a chat group on Reddit, hundreds of thousands of small buyers pushed up the price of GameStop stock – which had been “shorted” – forcing the Big Brokers to buy back at that price.
Suffering a loss of US$11 billion!! There is a (financial) God!
…safe driving
There’s light at the end of our road-carnage tunnel. Your Eyewitness read of this fella who was banned permanently from driving after being caught drunk three times.
Three strikes and you’re out!!
