Dear Editor,
St. Vincent and Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, is getting a little too intimate with what is good for Guyana. According to PM Gonsalves, Nicolas Maduro Moros at the helm in Venezuela is the best that could be for Guyana (“Vincentian PM Gonsalves says Guyana better off with Maduro leading Venezuela – Stabroek News, September 16, 2024). Thanks for nothing, Dr. Gonsalves. Why does the Government of Guyana, the PPP of President Ali consider this man as a friend? Why would any Guyanese politician (or Guyanese) look on the St. Vincentian Prime Minister as a friend, an ally, eludes me? Though talk comes easily to Dr. Gonsalves, it is not cheap. Cheap oil demands cheap propagandizing on behalf of Maduro and his version of free and fair elections. It is St Vincent’s bargain. Was this not the same man who was so solemnly eloquent during Guyana’s elections in 2020? Using his standard of “free and fair” in Venezuela, then the PNC won Guyana’s last national elections.
The Venezuelan rightwing is bad for Guyana, with the Yankees, they will control Guyana’s oil wealth from Caracas. Therefore, the lesser of two evils is Mr. Maduro, the best of a bad lot is Maduro. Oil made the Americans do many nefarious things in the Middle East. Oil made the PNC Government do some stupid things here in Guyana before. Oil makes the PPP Government of Drs. Ali and Jagdeo do some unbelievably malignant things nowadays. Now comes PM Gonsalves flowing in grandiose exuberance about the virtues of Venezuela’s Maduro relative to Guyana’s interest. This is what cheap oil makes men do to themselves.
If I were to say half of what the Prime Minister said, the PPP Government will be out in force: traitor! A Venezuelan pretending to be a Guyanese. A dangerous wolf dressed in Guyanese patriotic wool. It perplexes me, so I ask this question: why is the PPP Government still dealing with this man Gonsalves? It is the same illustrious and glorious Nicolas Maduro Moros, who refined his decree, and just like that two-thirds to three-quarters of Guyana has been converted to Venezuelan ownership, complete with citizenship for any Guyanese. A man, a leader, a so-called “free and fair” election winner, already claimed the greater part of my country and, by some wand waved in the heaven where PM Gonsalves reside, that individual is the genuine article, the better deal for Guyana. No wonder this entire region has been stuck where it has been since its countries received independence.
I have made myself clear repeatedly. There is zero interest in replacing British colonialism with American imperialism. It has placed me in the path of the PPP juggernaut, which lies prostrate before American dictates. It is why I have serious difficulty with PM Gonsalves: he has clearly substituted a Venezuelan ring (or a knee) around his neck for the British one his country lived with before. He loves his role, always selling a noble and fraternal Nicolas Maduro to Guyana.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall
