By Peter Binose

Maduro the ex bus driver the man without the proper credentials to be a president of a Credit Union least of all a country.

He could never have been elected of his own accord and ability; it took the death wish of Hugo Chavez to launch him into the position of president. Even that appears to be some kind of sham because he is living in the vice presidents house whilst the daughter of Hugo Chavez and her husband are living like royalty in the presidential palace. So it would appear that Chavez still rules from beyond the grave and Maduro is in some way still driving the bus whilst holding the office for the Chavez family dynasty which amounts to dozens of them.

With all the internal turmoil in Venezuela and the collapse of the economy and the bankrupting of the country under this rather nasty Marxist Leninist regime. People are starving, often no toilet paper or ladies sanitary requirements. Food outlets with little or no food and farmers no longer breeding beef cattle because the state imposed a price which beef cannot be produced for. Food rationing and the issuance of ration books. They have an education policy and a housing policy for which they can tell the people this is what we are doing for you, whilst the electricity supply in many areas is off more than it is on. Under all of these kinds of regimes there are people who will always support them however evil the regime and whatever hardships they endure.

It’s absolute hell for the ordinary citizen, of course there are the exceptions where the few close to the regime can get anything they want, that’s the way it has always worked under communist rule. It is even happening right here in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines with an 84 year old man being employed by the prime minister at a rate of pay that is obscene, and there several of them.

So to take the peoples eyes off the hardships the Venezuelan regime has chosen to create a foreign policy that will make their citizens think that someone else is the rogue and the cause of all their hardships. The government chose Guyana and has tried to grab more than half of the Guyanese land and the sea belonging to them. This does two things it keeps the military busy and less likely for them to attempt a coup d’état. It gives the people someone to blame for their hardships and they are encouraged to believe that when they have hold of the Guyanese territory all will be well and everything will be plentiful. A typical Hitler policy if there ever was one.

So to continue with this very nasty policy the regime must get support at the UN from its ALBA membership and others like Iran, Russia and North Korea. We all know that the Caribbean island states that are ALBA members are already bought by Venezuela. Kept in line with the carrot of free or cheap funds that can be supplied to the greedy like minded leaders of these islands, themselves nasty little upstarts who look to fool their own people as they also bankrupt their countries.

To ensure the loyalty of the Caribbean leaders the Chavez family dynasty regime sent Maduro the bus driver on a tour of all the ALBA and PetroCaribe aligned island states. But he didn’t arrive in a bus he arrived in a private jet belonging to the Chavez’s. He visited each Caribbean island and made promises to them that would tie them even further into the Venezuelan trap.

Throughout his tours the legally but not morally Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro highlighted the related bonds of cooperation and insisted on the necessity about creating a productive economic zone in the Caribbean. A further commitment required of the states that demonstrated stupidity when they snatched the bait.
These nations, along with Venezuela, are all members of the PetroCaribe bloc that is a mechanism which was created in order to supply fuels to ALBA member nations that were on favorable conditions for payment through soft credits and low-interest rates. An organization that has eventually entrapped most of the Caribbean states, with the exception of the wise, like Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago and a few others.

September, Thursday September 23rd, Saint Kitts and Nevis: During Maduro’s visit he offered messages of solidarity and offers of support. Maduro signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for bilateral relations in a number of areas, including PetroCasa housing, infrastructure, law and order, education and training with the usual promise of 8,000 computer tablets for children, agriculture, energy, technical assistance and health. In the area of health, it is expected that locals with various eye diseases will be able to access specialist medical treatment from Venezuela through the Miracle Mission program.
Maduro said the support for St. Kitts and Nevis, which is primarily facilitated through the Petrocaribe agreement, is in keeping with the vision to “create a new world based on equality, solidarity and peace for all”.
Maduro provided EC$16 million (US$5.9 million) to pay former Saint Kitts sugar workers who did not receive compensation or the full amount owed to them when the industry closed in 2005. During his visit, Maduro participated in a ceremonial handing of cheques to some former sugar workers.
The same day after leaving St. Kitts, Maduro travelled to Dominica

September 2015 Dominica, Maduro promises to build a further 300 houses through the PetroCasa project. During his visit he symbolically hands over a house built before his arrival. A commitment to supply 10,000 computer tablets for children, help with agriculture, energy, technical assistance and health.

Surinam: Maduro agreed with the Prime Minister to increase and consolidate successful joint social projects and advancing economic cooperation.
President Maduro said that as part of cooperation with the government of Suriname Venezuela agreed to make an agreement to buy rice from Surinam. The most important matter for Moduro was to secure the Surinamese rice production to replace that which they will no longer acquire from Guyana. Sort of a nasty deal really because out of spite the contract with Guyana which was a barter deal rice for PetroCaribe products has been cancelled.
Suriname and Venezuela’s relations are based on a framework within PetroCaribe and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
Maduro promised computer Tablets for school children to be supplied by Venezuela, and a health care program similar to that which Cuba offers. [In February of this year Venezuela and Surinam jointly set up a joint venture, to strengthen relations in health care, food, technology and housing through PetroCasa’s]
Maduro said “President Bouterse and I have given orders to our teams to create immediate agreements relating to trade and Venezuela buying rice from Surinam”. Maduro also announced that a commission from the Surinamese Ministry of Agriculture will visit Caracas to finalize buying regarding importation of the rice and other cereals.
Maduro said Venezuela will give away 130,000 CFL light bulbs to Surinam in response to the request of Suriname to raise awareness on energy saving. [CFL bulbs are now becoming obsolete LED is the real energy saver, this sounds very much like the same ‘people mind bender’ with light bulbs given to SVG by Cuba before the last election] Bouterse, said his government would guarantee “fair distribution of the bulbs.”
Bouterse also stressed that he sought help from Venezuela to promote projects in housing and the country’s housing finance to alleviate the housing shortage in Suriname.
Bouterse said “It takes housing and Venezuela has experience in that. The cost of houses will be cheaper. People will pay money in banks for the purchase of houses. That is a goal of our government that until now has not succeeded, but now with joint efforts we will continue on that path.” [It’s not a free housing scheme people have got to pay for them through the bank] He went on to say “In the area of transport and air communications, we are committed and we have to establish communication and air transportation with Venezuela cheaply because air transport will establish better conditions for communications between our people for these economic projects.”
[I suppose from all of that we can assume that President Butisere helped President Maduro shaft the Guyanese for the sake of its PetroCaribe involvment]

Grenada: President Nicolás Maduro led the inauguration of the Hugo Chávez gas distribution depot in Grenada, as well as the delivery of 10,000 tablet computers for school children as part of the Canaima Educativo project which was the country where he finished his tour through Caribbean nations.
Maduro brought with him the energy minister and they promised Grenada that they would supply drilling rigs to explore for oil in Grenadian waters. But first Grenada must agree the sea boundaries with Venezuela. We know the boundaries have been internationally agreed a hundred years ago. But since some of the islands on the help and advice of Ralph Gonsalves recognized Bird Rock as an island ‘Bird Island’. That meant that the islands must give up multi thousands of square miles of sea to Venezuela. So new boundaries must be drawn with all the Caribbean islands with a preference to Venezuela who gain all the sea bed rights to oil.

October 17, 2015. Saturday Afternoon; Saint Lucia: Maduro visited Saint Lucia and held a private meeting with Prime Minister Kenny Anthony. Maduro said he would bolster economic, social, and education projects [10,000 computer tablets for school children pledged] for Saint Lucia. Maduro promised the creation of a high level commission between Saint Lucia and Venezuela. Also pledged $250,000 to build an eye care centre. Maduro agreed with Prime Minister Kenny Anthony to increase and consolidate successful joint social projects and advancing economic cooperation.

October 17, Saturday Morning; Antigua and Barbuda: President Maduro landed on Saturday morning in Antigua and Barbuda, where he met with Prime Minister Gastón Browne in Saint John’s Palace. Six cooperation agreements were signed during the meeting.
Maduro promised that the Venezuelan state-owned oil company will buy a 25 percent stake in West Indies Oil Co. and that it will also establish a regional bank with the Antigua and Barbuda government to fund a new resort. The prime minister of Antigua and Barbudas, Gaton Browne, talked about themes on energy and he signed some agreements to strengthen the relation between both nations. 8000 computer tablets pledged for school children.
Venezuelan officials said the regional bank would finance the new Simon Bolivar Resort Hotel and other development projects using resources generated by the Antigua and Barbudas PetroCaribe program.
Executives at Venezuela’s state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, said the purchase of a stake in Antigua and Barbuda’s West Indies Oil Co. was just the beginning of “joint investments” between the countries.
During his arrival address, the Venezuelan president remarked that his government sought to lay the foundations for the Caribbean to become “a great zone of peace, prosperity, and real unity.”

October, Saturday, 4 November 2015, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Maduro had arrived on the previous day on the Friday, giving him and Gonsalves plenty of time to rehearse their stage act together. During Maduro’s speech at the airport he said that 50 houses were to be constructed from the SVG PetroCaribe account he described them as “petro houses” [not for nothing we can be sure it will once again be a repayable loan]. In addition, the services provided through PetroCaribe, and the Alba movement will be intensified, and there will be more opportunities for Vincentian students to study in Caracas. Maduro also said that he would make SVG a hub for the regional ALBA project PetroCasa’s through PetroCaribe. That is to be presented as part of the ULP election presentation later. But we all know that Venezuela word cannot be trusted, remember how they failed to give Grenada the US$20 million, with Grenada claiming that Gonsalves had purposely soured the deal for them. Now like SVG Maduro has visited Grenada making once again all sorts of promises.

Maduro pledged his support towards improving links between his country and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, in the areas of commerce, trade and travel. ‘Pie in the sky’ there has and still is the opportunity to travel between Venezuela and SVG. They even started a weekly service between Caracas and Joshua and gave it up because the aircraft was 90% empty. What is going to be different between then and now?

Maduro praised the workers at the airport, the Cubans and as an afterthought the Vincentians, for what he described as the outstanding work done on the airport project. Gonsalves lamely claimed the Caracas administration has provided over 271 million US dollars in assistance to the Argyle Airport Project. That is somewhat but not totally untrue. He said this is through concessionary [$20 million] and soft loans [$251 million] from the Alba bank and Petro Caribe, which regardless of the glossy spin that Gonsalves tried to put on it, even if there was no interest paid it is a loan and has to be repaid. The Venezuelans are little more than buying SVG for very little and need our support in their onslaught against Guyana. Regarding Guyana they have recently spitefully cancelled the deal they had with Guyana PetroCaribe fuel for rice on a barter basis.
Gonsalves went on to say” let us not forget that it was Venezuela who provided the initial equipment for the start of the construction work at Argyle” [Used equipment valued at $20 million we paid over a hundred million ourselves]. He further told us “let us also not forget that it was Venezuela that provided the equipment for the critical wind studies” [we have no evidence of that only currently the comrades word], to determine the cross wind factor at Argyle [if they conducted the wind studies they may be suspect].

Gonsalves went on “it is clear to see that Venezuela has been a major contributor to the construction of the airport project at Argyle”. But he never mentioned that he sold off Bequia Crown lands and any amount of State jewels to put into the Argyle leaking bucket, or money borrowed from CDB. He also failed to mention the ‘coalition of the willing’ which in my books was his biggest lie ever, there was no coalition of the willing, just a story of such to fool the people whilst bigging up himself and the ULP to get elected three times. He also failed to tell us about how the Venezuelans word cannot be relied on, they told the comrade [according to Gonsalves] that they would pay the Cubans wages, if Gonsalves can be believed about that they reneged on their promise and lumbered us with paying the Cubans ourselves to the tune in excess of $300,000 dollars a month. He also never mentioned that it has taken the Cubans 8 year to do a 3 year project, such an overrun would have bankrupted a bona fide contractor, and instead it has bankrupted SVG. He said “It is also important to note that when the project began, our traditional friends, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, did not provide any tangible support”. What he again failed to tell us there was no current studies, no feasibility study and no master plan available at that time. So who but an idiot would lend money to a tiny island with an extreme left wing leader, no International Banks would, no overseas government would. Except of course crap countries like Venezuela and Cuba who the Comrade has a political link with through his personal ideology. “This is critical because it speaks to the fact that in the development of the new foreign relations strategy, the ULP is committed to seeking new friends, while maintaining the old traditional diplomatic relationships”. What he has forgot is that he has spent the last 14 years badmouthing our old friends, having Chavez send a letter to the Queen asking her to let Saint Vincent and the Grenadines go. Gonsalves calling the US derogatory names like the ‘Empire’ whilst the audience applauded him in Havana. Allowing a dirt bag to come to SVG and describe the American president as ‘Satan’ whilst Gonsalves and a Vincentian audience clapped and cheered. Is that preserving our old traditional relationships? Well is it? Our old friends over the last 14 years have subscribed hundreds of millions to our education system and our main windward highway. But unlike PetroCaribe it is real free money, but it does not come easy, they want to know where every cent goes with little chance of filching the bag. With PetroCaribe money they control it themselves giving contracts at the airport to family members of ministers and those Vincentians who in the eyes of the ULP need rewarding.

Gonsalves repeated what he has said several time before “in terms of the airport, and the new foreign relations thrust, our new friends, including Austria, Turkey, Libya, and Iran, have all provided assistance to that project”. They have provided peanuts in the scheme of things, cents on the dollar of what we required to build an airport.

Gonsalves in his conclusion said “there can be no doubt that the visit of President Nicolas Maduro has heightened the diplomatic relations between the countries of Venezuela and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Both leaders have developed a new relationship, a clearer bond of friendship, and a deeper understanding of the factors which are important for the development of their citizens”. That was straight from his political science training, straight forward electioneering with the aid of Moduro who is only too happy to interfere in Vincentian politics.

“St. Vincent and the Grenadines has developed a new stature, a new standing, among international countries. The country is being heard, and the opinions of the relevant leaders in the country are being sought on important issues such as climate change and reparations for native genocide and slavery”. “This has never happened in our beloved country, and the ULP administration must take credit for this development”.
Quite simply straight forward unadulterated electioneering.

“The mantra that “no one is better than us, and we are not better than anyone” is a key concept in this regard”. “This is not like the NDP who will contemplate on “what will America say” before they engage in a foreign policy strategy”. Of course all right thinking people now know that it’s Gonsalves that has to sit up and obey the commands of the Venezuelans and the Cubans, and only say what is ALBA policy, only vote at the UN to support Venezuela whilst it commits war like crimes against the Guyana people, using antiquated arguments and attempting to call into question a long ago internationally agreed settlement between Venezuela and Guyana thus presenting ‘casus belli’.
“They are not fit for leadership in this country, and that is why the people will return the ULP for a fourth term in office. Four in a row!!!!”

The airport project at the hands of Gonsalves instead of being a project funded by others turned out to be funded at great expense by the Vincentian people, hence the project is best described as a boondoggle project. A wasteful government financed infrastructure developed at a cost much greater than its value, undertaken for local or political gain and the enrichment of a few.

Throughout his tour of the Caribbean states Maduro highlighted to each Caribbean country that the Venezuelan state is striving to create a peace zone, prosperity and unity in the Caribbean. But we already have that except for the bullying and armed forces invading Guyana and the Cubans for numerous years training terrorists to try and overthrow sovereign South American countries. Infiltrating Caribbean island governments such as the Grenada revolution and which is still a danger of happening in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Venezuela needs to bring peace to their own country where they shoot opposition in the streets and lock up opposition leaders on trumped up charges with the help of Cuban Special Forces to bring about a one party state of which Cuba is the model. They should be spending all the money that they are purporting to spend in the Caribbean on their own people who are starving and nothing in the shops. Venezuelas human rights record is many times worse than abysmal.

Why would people like Ralph Gonsalves want to get into bed with such scum, well that’s easily answered, because he is like minded and thinks like them and wants to be one of them, has always wanted to be one of them, dreams of a one party state with the opposition safely locked up by his Police who we have seen dancing and prancing at ULP rallies wearing silly red suits with white stars on them. All the police commanders in all major sections of the police are his ex body guards or and men from his own constituency. Or like the three police officers who owe getting their jobs back to him after they became convicted felons.

Whilst I was writing this today I took some time off to see a very old man and a friend of numerous years. I ended up talking with him for two hours, he said to me “Kelly if we don’t get rid of this man and his family this time around we can expect him and his family to be here forever”. He further went on to say “I expect him to refuse to go if he wins the election saying it was rigged and will stay in power with the backing of the police, the Cubans who will be rapidly armed, along with the Venezuelans who will send in a substantial military force” landing at Argyle Airport. In the finish he said “look at the man’s record he was involved as the student leader as a young Marxist in the Rodney affair riots in Jamaica which ended with buses and cars being burnt and $20 million dollars worth of damage being done in Kingston”. “As a more mature Marxist in 1979 Gonsalves was involved with Maurice Bishop during the Grenada Revolution, riding in his car and writing his speech’s”. Then to cap it all Gonsalves may have given the game plan away when he lately stated “I Ralph Gonsalves am here to finish the work of Maurice Bishop”

Beep!Beep!, it’s no good standing at the bus stop Maduros long gone.

DISCLAIMER: The opinion, belief and viewpoint expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinion, belief and viewpoint of iNews Cayman/ieyenews.com or official policies of iNews Cayman/ieyenews.com.

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