By Nathan’ Jolly’ Green. July 06, 2020.

So often, when leaders of small countries follow dirty and nasty politics of others and sometimes larger states, it is because they have something personal to gain from doing so. When leaders of little countries have something to offer in return, they are well rewarded for supporting other countries irrespective of how dirty the politics of the paymaster country are.

My worry is how Saint Vincent’s Prime Minister Dr Ralph E Gonsalves has aligned the country with Cuba and Venezuela. They are most obviously what I would conclude as dirty and wicked leadership countries. Can the comrade, as Gonsalves likes others to call him, really believe that these two countries are decent upright democratic countries that we should align with? There is an apparent dislike, even perhaps hatred of the USA, by the comrade. But is that reason enough to get into bed and support every nastiness emanating from Cuba and Venezuela? I think not.

So, what has Gonsalves got to offer to Venezuela and Cuba? Well, I suppose when such countries leadership inflict gross human rights on their citizens. They are incredibly open to being sanctioned by the UN, either in the General Assembly or the Security Council department. SVG diplomats sit in both chambers and therefore have some powerful influence with their voting powers. Nothing is easier than to vote against any sanctions on a chosen country, voting with a country, even abstaining when the situation calls for that. Most states, like Cuba and Venezuela, even Taiwan, have several little countries and perhaps their leaders in their pay. At least Taiwan is a democratic non-communist country and being aligned with them is a different situation to being aligned with dirties like Cuba and Venezuela. But still, they are paying, buying even, and they are getting SVG’s votes and support in the UN. The problem with that kind of corruption of the United Nations system is that the payor instructs the payee how to and when to vote, it is pure corruption, undiplomatic, undemocratic, indecent even. I am sure that SVG is not the only country to be using the UN voting system to obtain financial gain from other countries, but that does not make it right, it is still corruption, but of a grander kind of design than local corruption. This kind of corruption allows countries to get away with murder, and they do. Just take the time to check SVGs voting records at the UN, there is where the story unfolds.

Is it a matter of personal political belief, is it for personal gain, is it the glory of being recognised as a revolutionary? If it were only Cuba and Venezuela, I would say yes to all those reasons. But with Taiwan in the equation, it tells me that it may well be more for financial gain, or thinking about it, even a mixed bag situation. Supporting communist based countries for ideological reasons, with financial gain as the bonus, while supporting others strictly for financial gain. Every country that the ULP has aligned us with, and there are several, have a human rights disorder problem, some are rape and sexual assault countries, everyone of them are willing to pay any country, or anyone, who supports them at the UN.

I have been thinking about belief in certain kinds, types, of political systems, and why anyone would support those systems contrary to those of your own country. Firstly, what is the difference between belief and opinion? When I do this kind of exercise, I always go way back to the ancient philosophers and work my way forward to modern times. So, being a great follower of Plato, I decided to visit my past studies and came up with this. Plato’s analogy of the divided line is a well-known illustration of the distinction between knowledge and opinion, or knowledge and belief, in customary terminology of contemporary philosophy. Opinions can be persuasive, but only the assertions they are based on can be said to be true or false.

A given opinion may deal with subjective matters in which there is no conclusive finding, or it may deal with facts which are sought to be disputed by the logical fallacy that one is entitled to their opinions.

Distinguishing fact from opinion is that facts and events are verifiable, i.e. can be agreed to by the consensus of experts. An example is: “People are dying in Venezuela” versus “Maduro is right to have his people killed if they oppose him and the communist system”. An opinion may be supported by facts and principles, in which case it becomes an argument.

Different people may draw opposing conclusions (opinions) even if they agree on the same set of facts. Opinions rarely change without new arguments being presented. It can be reasoned that one opinion is better supported by the facts than another, by analysing the supporting arguments.

In casual use, the term opinion may be the result of a person’s perspective, understanding, feelings, beliefs, and desires.

Though not fact, collective opinions or professional opinions are defined as meeting a higher standard to substantiate the opinion.

I was thinking about opinions against belief because I have been studying what Gonsalves has been doing and saying regarding Cuba and Venezuela. Is Gonsalves acting from conviction or just voicing an opinion. Worse of all, perhaps both.

Is Gonsalves a collaborator, collaborating with Cuba and Venezuela? Perhaps he is, but does he personally gain from that collaboration? Perhaps not financially, but he most certainly enjoys the state of heroism that they pile on him. Gonsalves has said in the past he is here to finish the work of Maurice Bishop. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLPFeuQLwBs

Here is what Comrade Gonsalves said in December 2019 at the Cuban embassy and reported in the Cuban media. “Prime Minister Gonsalves recounted the Cuban collaboration with his country, thanked Commander in Chief Fidel Castro and the General of the Army for their permanent solidarity with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and with all the Caribbean countries. He also reiterated the indestructible bonds of friendship between both peoples and governments and wished all present a year 2020 full of collective, personal and family successes.”

May 2018, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines resoundingly congratulated Maduro on his second win, as the EU and OAS rejected the results as fraudulent.

The prime ministers of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines resoundingly congratulated Maduro on his second win. Gonsalves, said: “We applaud your government and your people for conducting these elections. We congratulate you (Maduro) wholeheartedly on this re-election.

“It is with joy that the government and the people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines welcome the good news that the government and the people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela held presidential elections on Sunday, May 20, 2018, which is consistent with the high standards required of the international community.

“We congratulate you whole-heartedly on your own re-election to the presidency of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”

Maurice Bishop was a Cuban collaborator; the Cubans were acting as nominees of the USSR, Russia, Bishop knew that, and he was happy to be regarded by the Russians as Hero of the USSR communist party cause. When Bishop died the Russians printed fifteen million postage stamps for Russian use, with Bishops image and the word Hero. Which is evidence that he was working for them.

An opinion is a judgment, viewpoint, or statement that is not conclusive, rather than facts which are true statements.

I is a fact that a communist party runs Cuba. It is a fact that they imprison people for political reasons. It is a fact that the people are living under a regime that enslaves them in wage slavery. Human rights are being breached daily. There are many more malfacts, so why would anyone outside of Cuba support that style of a repressive system? Is it the search to be regarded as a hero of their revolution? Have you been awarded honorary membership of their communist party? Or are you simply proud to be following a repressive system that you fully approve of?

It is a fact in Venezuela; people are starving; the opposition political party is being repressed; murdered, locked up, and disappeared, multi thousands have fled the country. Currently, the Caribbean and Americas including Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have thousands of Cuban doctors and nurses between them; all paid small wages while the Government keeps up to 80% of what they charge for them. It is slavery; it is human trafficking. Human rights are being breached daily. Ralph Gonsalves knows that the Cuban workers only get a small proportion of what SVG pays to the Cuban Government, so, therefore, is he compliant in the overall scheme of the trafficking of Cuban workers? You cannot blame us the people for that unless of course, you voted for him at the last elections. There are many more malfacts. So why would anyone outside of Venezuela support that style of a repressive system?

So why would the comrade support Venezuela and Cuba, and in doing so describe it as the people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines who support the regimes in those countries? The Vincentian people, in general, do not support such leaderships or their political and social systems. The Vincentian people love the people of those countries, which is quite different from what Gonsalves supports when he backs those leaders and those political systems.

The Vincentian people do not want dirty money, blood money, human rights abusive state generated cash. They want nothing to do with these nasty types of leadership.

I have seen it written many times before if Gonsalves loves and supports these leaders and their style of leadership, to go and live in one of those countries. Because we the Vincentian people do not want the same style of leadership in SVG. A style of leadership which is gradually being imposed on us year on year, since 2001. Eventually we will finally be rejected by our allies, the US, UK, and EU. The danger is that one day we will wake up and find ourselves living like Cubans, or worse still like Venezuelans.

It is time for you to retire comrade, time to let the people go.

“Let My People Go” Book of Exodus 5:1:

END

IMAGES: Supplied by author

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