By GHK Lall- Burlesque is defined by the poor man as comedy coated in castor oil. Opera bouffe can be thought of as a street party with some ruff chaps thrown in to spice up the show. Application to what is going in Guyana?
I point to the PPP Govt’s frantic, comedic efforts to extradite Mohamed I and Mohamed II to the waiting arms of Uncle Sam. In examining the judiciary relative to the extradition of the two Guyanese, it is obvious that both the burlesque and an opera bouffe are in full flow. In normal circumstances, one of those descriptions is enough; since Guyana has ceased to be a normal place, two are required.
Guyana and the world have been told by one PPP leader or the other, through their imported legal eagles that Mohamed is a bad, bad, badman. Father or son, it doesn’t matter. They are not only alleged to be Guyanese badmen but, worse of all, Venezuelan badmen which compounds the national and hemispheric dangers that they represent. Fancy that, how the world turns in Guyana. Or, more accurately, how it is turned upside down by the U.S.
Guyana taxmen have to be told by US taxmen how to do their jobs the right way. Guyanese laws suffer the same fate. About the same time, the Mohameds went from VIPs with unfettered and unlimited access to presidents and vice presidents (government officials), and now they are in the worst doghouse of all, one allegedly made by Maduro for them. Some of this filtered into Guyana’s hallowed courtrooms.
Since Anil wasn’t up to the job, despite claiming world class skills, regionals were recruited to carry the load. Have they made a mess of matters, or what? Or, they have been given a bad hand to play. At the first extradition hearing on October 31st, the PPP Govt’s hired guns talked up a storm, and that was the sum of their battling. Neither ammo nor arrow in their holsters. More about bravado, with much bluff as companion. All this can be neatly packaged in one word that drives one sentence.
The word is EVIDENCE. The sentence is: where is the evidence, gents? Ten days later, it was November 10th, and evidence gathering was said to be continuing. Magistrate Judy Latchman has displayed the patience of Job, and the nerves of a fighter pilot with one wing smoking. I can imagine the shrapnel (overtures, warnings) that fill her ear, and the periphery of her vision. Get this matter right, and all will be alright. Anybody objecting? Protesting about judicial independence? When I see it, I will know it, will laud it.
Along came November 25, close to Thanksgiving Day, of all times, and a smattering of evidence is finally unearthed and produce. The PPP Govt points a finger at the American Govt, i.e., diplomatic channels at work, which is best translated as the diplomatic pouch is still being stuffed. That turkey will be ready on Thanksgiving Day plus one. I thought that the Yanks were the people who were in a hurry to get their paws on the Mohameds. Of course, there is the priority of Thanksgiving, but there are these primitives and heathens in the Guyana Govt (PPP) that have to be dealt with, pacified, and help them to remove two human spurs in their pants.
This is where the Mohameds find themselves: from bosom friends to PPP trouser fiends. Members of the PPP Govt’s top brass are the ones that want to see the backs of the Mohameds since they fell out, but are allowed to serve up Uncle Sam (diplomatic channels) for gullible Guyanese to digest. Now the latest date is Friday, November 28 for the prosecution to produce the rest of its evidence. Have these guys never heard of blowout Black Friday sale, and how everyone rushes to get to the front of the line!
Thanksgiving or no Thanksgiving, everything has to be dropped, and the Mohameds have to go. Remember what I said: there are some real barbarians in this backward town. Despite all the new infrastructure, this is still a backwater place. Take a look at local politicians, mostly ruling ones, and there is my long stream of evidence.
I have never seen a group of frightened men (PPP Govt) so desperate to get rid of two former partners and collaborators, and make such a laff fest out of it. The Jamaicans own the best seat in this burlesque cum opera bouffe: win, lose, or draw, they get to collect in US dollars, and fly back to Kingston.
