A lot more people than would admit — or even realise — they have a price. They may not even be aware of it. I am certain I have mine, but I don’t know my number — yet. I am sure it wouldn’t take an Elon Musk bank account to meet mine, but it would take more than what Mr. Gonsalves’ government could muster. Not that I have been tested. Dinero is not the only consideration for me. The misfortune of shame, yes, some of us are still burdened by it, that it brings would make me up the ante beyond what this government would care to meet.
Speaking of the lack of shame this comes to mind, again. It was shameful — as well as a crime –when our government let those Venezuelan smugglers involved in the deadly criminal enterprise in Union Island walk free. It was an abdication of morals and of duty; a flagrant sell-out, prostrating itself at the feet of the Venezuelan government in exchange for favours like help with our airport. Government, too, has its price. Let’s be real: our government has been in Venezuela’s pocket since Hugo Chavez days, and nothing has changed under his autocratic successor, Nicolas Maduro.
Anything that paints Maduro in a bad light, this government dismisses it as American propaganda. And they do it without evidence. Keep it in mind.
Last year, the democratic opposition parties in Venezuela held primaries to choose someone to challenge Maduro. Hundreds of thousands voted, including many in exile, and Maria Corina Machado won hands down. Maduro’s government responded by banning her from running. Maybe our PM would like to explain that. Or not.
But they did not stop there. They also blocked the first back up candidate, Henrique Capriles. Same with the second reserve, Leopoldo Lopez, too. Eventually, after a third try, they graciously allowed the opposition to nominate a retired diplomat, Edmundo Gonzalez. That is the type of government this type of government kowtows to. Despite the political roadblocks, the civic movement has picked up speed.
You can feel for someone in pain, but you cannot feel the pain. Since 2014, an estimated 7.7 million Venezuelans have fled their country, creating one of the largest migration and refugee crises in the world. Ironically — and sadly — it is those same refugees’ money that has helped finance projects here that makes us Vincy lives more comfortable. But now they are running from the widespread violence, economic collapse, political chaos that besieges their country. Venezuela, once the richest country in South America, is now the poorest. And that is not anybody’s propaganda; it is for real. It is going to take powerful empathy to get a feel for the plight of the millions fleeing because, for one, these people are not leaving on jet planes with flight attendants tending to their needs. And most are not leaving with whole families. Nor are they loading up their SUVs to leave either.
On July 28, Venezuelans voted in the presidential election. By 6 p.m. the polls had closed. Approximately 9 million people cast their ballots in 16,025 polling stations across the country. But in less than 24 hours, wait, I know I speak too fast and don’t enunciate too nice, so let me slow down and say that again, in less than 24 hours, Ralph Gonsalves, sitting in St. Vincent, declared the Venezuelan presidential election “free and fair”. I don’t have to ask how he reach to that so fast because I know, good. And I also know this strong too: Speedy Gonzales ain’t got nothing on our own quick draw. Five months have passed, yet the National Electoral Council (CNE), packed with Maduroites, has failed to produce voting tallies to back up its claim of a Maduro win.
With immense effort, the opposition has provided 80% of the tally sheets, which they say proves its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, was the overwhelming winner. Independent observers agree, saying that the tallies suggest Gonzalez won with 67% of the vote, compared to Maduro’s 30%.
Maduro calls the opposition tallies “fraudulent”. This has put him at odds with countries such as the United States, Italy, Argentina, Peru, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and Uruguay, all of which have recognised Gonzalez as Venezuela’s president-elect.
An international law firm, IHR Legal, has filed a complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC), which could lead to the Committee “confirming that Nicholas Maduro is not the president-elect of Venezuela”. Recently, the UNHRC has ordered Venezuela to “refrain from destroying” the voting tallies from July’s vote.
Jan. 10 is shaping up to be a reckoning. That is when the next president is supposed to be inaugurated. Gonzalez, who is currently in exile, says he will return home to take the oath of office. Meanwhile, the interior minister said he will be there waiting in the wings with handcuffs,
I smell a bacchanal brewing.
Patrick Ferrari
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Bravo to Patrick Ferrari for speaking truth to power about Venezuela’s illegitimate government and its greedy regional sycophants selling their souls in exchange for cheap oil.
We have to remember also all those millions of dollars held in SVG for Petrocaribe, it all disappeared millions and millions of dollars. No accounts laid out for auditing, and no audit. The whole thing stinks of pigs poo. Remember Maduros stepson was locked up for smuggling huge amounts of cocaine to the US in one of Maduros presidential airplanes, he was doing time in the US for that. Since we became embroiled with the stinking Venezuelan leadership SVG became the Carribean hub for cocaine distribution for Venezuela. Remember the old saying “if you lay down with dogs you get up with fleas” I just remembered also how Peter Binose hit it on the nose in an article https://www.ieyenews.com/peter-binose-mount-coke-or-a-mountain-of-cocaine-ask-ralph/