To live in Guyana is to believe that everything is honky dory, that we have no worries. Had the opposition not kept focusing on the happenings and the utterings out of Venezuela, people would have believed that the situation was calm.
There was the news that President Nicolas Maduro had announced a committee to manage Essequibo. There was his comment that Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn was out of order to announce treason charges for Guyanese participating in this charade.
But that wasn’t the worst thing to come out of Venezuela. Maduro called President Irfaan Ali a puppet of Exxon and the United States Southern Command. He went as far as to say that Irfaan Ali was not in control of the country and the territorial issue.
In the face of all this Ali said nothing. He seemed to say that sticks and stones may break his bones but that words would never hurt him. He simply did not retaliate either by word or by action. The message is that a big boy is calling him names so he has to let him talk.
And Maduro is doing more than talking. For examples when the six Guyana Defence Force soldiers were shot and injured on the Cuyuni River, Guyana contended that the men were attacked by a Venezuelan criminal gang.
Maduro said, “Not so.” He claimed that the attackers were Venezuelans attacked by the Guyanese soldiers. Guyana said nothing to refute this claim.
Retired Chief of the Guyana Defence Force, Rear Admiral Gary Best, publicly stated that the Venezuelan attackers were nothing but Venezuelan soldiers masquerading as civilians.
Indeed, one does not expect Guyana to confront Venezuela’s military might but one does not expect Guyana to cower. That is what it is doing. It is not even keeping the nation up to date with what is going on.
There is no education programme, no effort to offer even a token defence of the people who live on the frontline and certainly, no move to populate the borders. Instead, the government is allowing hordes of Venezuelans to come into the country and even settle in the border communities. That is like giving the borders to Venezuela.
However, while Maduro can call Irfaan Ali a puppet with impunity, Guyanese are not allowed to utter a word of criticism of Irfaan and his government. The government responds with a vehemence that would have been better applied had it been directed at Venezuela.
Rickford Burke, a voluble critic called the government racist among other things. He ordered pickets and boycotts in New York. Immediately the government sought to have him prosecuted. It sent a member of the Guyana Police Force to New York to serve a writ of summons on Burke.
It moved to have the charges read in the local courts. Had it been able to it would have sought to have Burke arrested.
Melissa Atwell, known as Melly Mel, was another vociferous critic of the government. It came as no surprise when news filtered to Guyana that she had been detained at an American facility reportedly following a complaint by the government.
In the aftermath the government denied knowledge of Atwell’s detention. In fact, it denied knowing anything. Atwell is scheduled to make a court appearance on June 25, next according to a talk show host. Some say that when she is to go to court it is to have her lawyers seek to have her released on bond.
There is the suggestion that she has been charged but most Guyanese are not aware of the charge. Meanwhile speculation abounds. Some claim that she was detained because of her association with the Mohameds. Nothing like that has been established.
Paul Slowe is another critic. He has already been charged with a sexual offence that is limping along in the court. He has been coming home. Efforts have been made to prevent him from leaving the country but these have been futile.
What is surprising is that the government is placing a lot of emphasis on the American visa. No one in the government wants to lose his visa. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley says that she does not care if she loses hers. Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent says that he too doesn’t care.
At issue is the pressure to have the Caribbean islands reject the services of the Cuban doctors and nurses. Gonsalves said that to do without the Cubans would be to condemn his people to death. Guyana has a large number of Cuban doctors and nurses.
In the face of the call for these doctors to be discarded, Guyana has said nothing. The impression is that the government will sacrifice the health of the nation to satisfy the American call. Maduro may be right. Guyana may very well be a puppet.
What it is now good at is deception. One area of deception was the cash grant. Give the money to the people and they would forget the Venezuelan threat. Give them even more money and they would forget everything.
The people should not be forced to think about Venezuela. After all, there are outside forces who would rush to our defence. What is not considered is that if Venezuela makes a move it could be days before help arrives. By then the damage would be done and the people would be left to hold their heads and bawl.
