Round And Round We Go

I had to do“Macbeth” at school, and in trying to work out what is happening in the Caribbean among several different players, places, politicians, and protectors, I had to change Shakespeare to“Who There and Where.” And while the third Witch said that they would meet Macbeth“ere the set of sun,” the First wanted to know,“Where the place?” The Second Witch responded,“Upon the heath.” and the third then made it clear to all,“There to meet with Macbeth.”

Unfortunately, with the Caribbean, plus and must the United States (US), and increasingly, more organisations are coming in to join the party or parties. Because of the many different folks, blokes, jokes and pokes who invoke, provoke and want to cut off trokes, it is best to start at any point, go round and round in a spin, and eventually reach where you started. However, one thing you need to understand from the start is that you can either get“a jump up and kiss” or a“bump down and kick.”

So, let us start with Alexander, not Alexander the Great, who was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, or even a former policeman Roger Alexander, who is now the minister of Homeland Security. This one is Philip Alexander, the leader of the Progressive Empowerment Party (PEP), an appointed senator and minister in the ministry of housing and urban development. Early in the game of Venezuela vs Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) with the US as the Trump card, Philip (to make sure he is not Roger) on September 8th said that India would“nuke” Venezuela on behalf of T&T. First a representative of the other side of the parliament pointed out,“When a deranged minister publicly boasts that because T&T has an Indo majority population, 'Modi will nuke Venezuela.' And of course, to even begin to understand the concept of nuclear fallout, one would have to possess a working and functional brain.”

Subsequently, on September 20, the Venezuelan vice-president responded with,“The only nuclear bomb dropped into the brain of this official's newly taken government.” But now, Philip has changed his tune. New Delhi folks are saying they will help Venezuela in areas like agriculture, pharmaceuticals etc. When asked about the 'bomb' from India, he said it was old news. Except that his boss, the prime minister of T&T, Kamla Persad-Bissessar“reprimanded” Philip, saying that she, the boss, did not share Philip's views and he was“certainly out of line.” Maybe he should start looking for a job or, better yet, join Trump and follow suit. Or better yet, use his intelligence as an analyst.

That way he would know before everybody else that a vessel believed to be a US Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer was spotted near the northern coasts of Trinidad and Venezuela on the 21st of this month, September 25. A real analyst, MT Anderson, stated that the Arleigh Burke was seen by a European Space Agency (ESA) satellite that provides high-resolution, multispectral satellite imagery for Earth observation. What was scary was that it was ninety-one miles from Venezuela and 121 miles from Trinidad. Interestingly, the Venezuelan minister of defence, Vladimir Padrino Lopez, who once said that T&T has a lot of smuggling and human trafficking, was putting together 60 units to clear out any terrorist groups or trafficking organisations that are close to, or from, Trinidad.

Despite this, or maybe because they are afraid of what could happen to them, Trinidad fishermen from Cedros, Bonasse, Fyzabad, Otaheite, Carlie Bay and Icacos refused to participate in a meeting organised by the Venezuelans. It seemed that Bonasse was what they linked with most and kept them far. Interestingly, the agriculture and fisheries division were not invited. The Venezuela minister of fisheries and aquaculture, Juan Carlos Loyo, condemned the US military for killing hard-working Venezuelans who were simply contributing to the economy.

Trump, however, took the other side of the coin when they met at the United Nations General Assembly. The US president unleashed a shocking threat directed at Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, warning him that the US is prepared to blow him out of existence if he and his people continue to threaten American security. This fierce warning came almost immediately after Trump's US military operations targeted alleged drug trafficking vessels near Venezuelan waters and destroyed three boats and all those in them. Trump also condemned Maduro for harbouring criminals. He emphasised that the US would take all necessary actions to protect its borders and interests.

The dramatic remarks, threats really, occurred against a backdrop of growing US naval presence in the Caribbean, including warships and stealth fighter jets, signalling a heightened state of alert. Trump also dismissed Maduro's recent attempts at dialogue as filled with lies, reinforcing his stance that the Venezuelan government is illegitimate.

The issue now is what's next? Where does it go from here? Who will bell the cat or, worse, end up in a cat-oh-nine tails. President Trump is weighing a multitude of options for carrying out military strikes against drug cartels operating in Venezuela, including potentially hitting targets inside the country as part of a broader strategy aimed at weakening leader Nicolas Maduro, according to multiple sources briefed on the administration's plans.

The US has moved a considerable amount of military Firepower into the Caribbean in recent weeks, a move meant in part to be a signal to Maduro, according to multiple White House officials. Ships armed with Tomahawk missiles, an attack submarine, a range of aircraft and more than 4,000 US sailors and Marines are now all positioned near Venezuela. Two White House officials told CNN 10 advanced F-35 fighter jets are also being sent to Puerto Rico, where a Marine unit is currently conducting amphibious landing training exercises. The administration has taken steps to connect Maduro to its broader anti-drug mission – labelling him as a narco-terrorist with ties to some of those recently-designated cartels – and doubling the bounty for his arrest to $50 million.

And the Caribbean? While T&T is with Trump and even closer now that the Venezuela ships are deliberately heading closer, and closer to Trinidad, the other regional countries are still trying to hang on to cheap or free Oil. In other words, oil or no oil, the place right now is in a boil.

* Tony sees it as sink, swim or stick with the T&T PM and Trump.

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