Hypocrisy of Caricom in Venezuela-Guyana conflict

REX CHOOKOLINGO

DESPITE HAVING the most oil in the world, Venezuela, which is geographically more than four times the size of Guyana and, according to the 2022 BP Statistical Review of World Energy, has more proven oil reserves than any other country in the world. Venezuela's 304 billion barrels of proven reserves edges out Saudi Arabia's 298 billion barrels. Both are far ahead of US proven reserves of 69 billion barrels, yet they threaten to unilaterally move in and seize Guyana's huge land mass of Essequibo and its adjoining offshore oil reserves.

In a classic David vs Goliath scenario, Guyana vows to fight to keep their land. Furthermore, if war ever erupts between the Venezuelan bullies and the peaceable Guyanese people, Caricom, which considers the Caribbean region a "zone of peace," is doing its best not to take sides, which stands in stark contrast to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Caricom and TT by their vow not to take sides are being feckless by remaining neutral – precisely what Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro wants.

Why would Maduro endanger the lives of millions of his people by going to war with Guyana? It's the same reason why Vladimir Putin went to war with Ukraine. Putin said the operation was to "protect the people" of the Russian-controlled breakaway republics. He falsely claimed that Russia had "been facing humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kyiv regime."

Similarly, why did Hitler go to war? "Obsessed with the idea of the superiority of the 'pure German race, which he called 'Aryan,' Hitler believed that war was the only way to gain the necessary 'Lebensraum,' or living space, for the German race to expand" – history.com

If Venezuela and Guyana went to war, the US, supported by nearby Brazil and the UN, would follow the ICJ's lead and stand with Guyana. But Caricom and TT, according to PM Rowley, will always be the zone of peace and will fight no one. Not even if bombs begin dropping, Prime Minister? To hell with what the Caricom cowards say about the zone of peace. I'm with Guyana. Moreover, I have more respect for President Irfaan Ali than all the Caricom heads combined.

Were there any warning signs from these three dictators of their intention of starting a war? Hitler tricked the gullible Germans into believing that "he and other patriotic Germans were outraged and humiliated by the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which the Allies compelled the new German government, the Weimar Republic, to accept along with an obligation to pay (US)$33 billion in war reparations" – Wikipedia.

Putin convinced the Russian people that they could regain the international respect they once enjoyed in the Soviet Union days.

Then there is Maduro. "According to estimations by the United Nations (UN) and Human Rights Watch, under Maduro's administration, more than 20,000 people have been subjected to extrajudicial killings, and seven million Venezuelans have been forced to flee the country."

If the heads of Caricom, the leaders of these Caribbean states, do not understand that they are dealing with a bona fide despot and his agenda does not benefit Caricom, they are in for a rude awakening. The same thing happened with Hitler, Putin and Hamas, which caused the deaths of millions and the displacement of tens of millions worldwide.

In this instance, with Caribbean states in jeopardy, where do we go? Who can we run to? Are Caricom leaders doing this all for Maduro's promise of virtually free Venezuelan gas and oil? Do not hide under the mistaken impression that God will prevail. Isn't that what the Jews thought as they were forced into gas chambers?

As the Caricom leaders smiled, shook hands obsequiously, and sat down with Maduro at the summit last week, the look of disdain on his face as he shook hands with Ali was so striking that he could barely make eye contact – a sign of things to come. I implore the Caribbean leaders to abandon further meetings with this oppressor.

Make no mistake, this fight for Essequibo is more than about oil. Venezuela has more than it could ever use; it is about the superpowers behind Maduro, namely Putin's Russia's and Xi Jinping's China. This Essequibo conflict gave them the ideal vehicle to unseat the US as the economic and psychological leader of the free world by getting them involved in World War III.

Is TT ready for a communist takeover? Is the fight for Guyana's Essequibo a harbinger of things to come?