Dragon gas zombie

SIX MONTHS. That’s how long the state has to renegotiate the Dragon gas deal with Venezuela. The brief timescale of the October 8 OFAC licence granted by the Donald Trump administration – which contrasts with the two-year waiver granted under Joe Biden in 2023 and the two-and-a-half years sought by Dr Keith Rowley – is telling. Dragon has been described by some as “resurrected;” Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal on Thursday said it will be “resuscitated;” Attorney General John Jeremie said, on the same day, it's "alive." Perhaps a more accurate word is undead; it’s a zombie.

This matter is the ultimate political football. For the US, it is about suppressing the Nicolás Maduro regime. The six-month timeframe also heaps pressure on this country to keep its foreign policy aligned with American interests.

But for the ruling UNC, it gets to claim vindication for some of its recent diplomatic manoeuvres while simultaneously undercutting the PNM’s boasts about its track record on energy. Dr Rowley’s resignation and his anointing of Stuart Young earlier this year were premised on his wish to see Dragon safeguarded. However, what might have once been a potential cornerstone of his legacy appears to have evaporated overnight, because the UNC has proven more than adept at shifting the US temperature on the issue.

On Friday, Dr Rowley claimed the OFAC situation had always been, notwithstanding a change in the US government, which plainly bore repercussions, “fluid.” He said he had been alarmed by the Prime Minister’s “announcement” that the deal was dead. The former PNM leader forgets it was Mr Young who, on April 8, hastily called a press conference at Whitehall to announce the revocation of the Biden licence, notwithstanding a meeting he had had with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and after a damning “tweet” from Mr Trump. Ms Persad-Bissessar had in May spoken off-the-cuff only minutes after being sworn in.

Revising history is popular these days. Mr Young this week referred to a “30-year-licence.” But disingenuous was any reference to such a timescale, which only refers to authorisation on the Venezuelan side. And while opposition officials today call for transparency, the PNM, having laid its bed during its time in government, must now lie in it. Mr Young wrongly feels that publication in Venezuela in a gazette somehow fulfilled his own duty of candour to local MPs while in power. Ultimately, the UNC and the PNM agree when it comes to the lack of full disclosure on this issue.

And both parties may also overestimate the political pull of the Dragon deal, as important as it is. There is only so much traction to be gained from asking citizens, over and over, to give credit for abstract economic benefits down the road, which may or may not ever be monetised.