Latest update April 24th, 2026 12:40 AM
Normalcy, reality and strategy
The shape of the battlefield can change overnight. A general can be seen marshalling his troops late into the evening, then by the morning the tide has turned against him. It is too early to tell how the Linden crisis will end, but if we listen to Gail Teixeira, she speaks like the person who has defeated the general alluded to above.
Ms. Teixeira has publicly said that the Government will not resume negotiations with the Linden group unless normalcy returns to Linden. Either this is a sign of confusion in Teixeira’s mind or that she is advancing a strategy based on the changing shape of the battlefield.
Here are the facts. There was no normalcy in Linden, yet there have been four sessions of negotiations with the Linden team that had two APNU officials in it plus Mr. Sharma Solomon, Ms. Vanessa Kissoon and Mr. Aubrey Norton.
Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine told the media that a negotiated settlement was imminent. That statement was given front page coverage. During the four sessions, the main arteries in Linden were still blocked. In other words, there was no normalcy. The President, facing this abnormal situation, refused to go to Linden. Yet all this time, the dialogue was in full swing. What has happened to the mind of Teixeira for her to say that there will not be further talks unless there is normalcy?
The answer to that question is absolutely nothing has happened to either the head or mind of Teixeira. What has changed, according to Teixeira, is the battlefield. In the uncivilized hours of Sunday morning, the security forces moved the occupiers of the Wismar/Mackenzie Bridge and began dismantling barricades. During that operation, tear smoke was used, pellets struck the protestors and there were several arrests. Since the July 18 gunning down of three protestors there were no mass arrests of demonstrators. Now police have hauled in eleven protestors, charged all and remanded one
The position of the Government is no negotiation unless there is normalcy. The obvious question is that there has to be a reason for the changing attitude. This is beyond dispute, because the blockades were fully installed since July 18, and the two sides were fully engaged in talks.
The analyst has to offer an opinion. There has to be a reason for the shift? Could it be then that the Government feels that a strategic advantage has been realized, the reality has changed, and there is now more latitude for the Government to play catch me if you can?
Any trade unionist would tell you, normalcy is a word that brings nightmares. So far we haven’t defined what normalcy denotes. One suspects that what Teixeira means is that all obstacles from the roadways be removed and Lindeners return to a routine of life as if there was no July 18. Simply put; life returns to normal.
In the history of trade unionism, the perennial fear is that once you call off a strike, the employer has fewer headaches, there is no tension on the ground and a more recalcitrant attitude is embraced by the employer. The new watchword in trade unionism is to negotiate from a position of strength, meaning, let’s talk while the strike is on.
Operation Rescue UG is now bitterly complaining that in calling off the industrial action at UG in March, they made a strategic mistake. The leaders in that movement complained that the roof of one of the classrooms was fixed in a patchy way and no other demands were met.
It was almost impossible to get the UG employees and students after June to be riled up again. There is another risk that trade unionists will talk to you about when normalcy returns. The employer does not rush to get the talks going. There is no urgency because calm has returned. Things get dragged out and the passage of time tends to wipe out any potential benefits for the employees.
Where we go from here is anyone’s guess, but the laws of battlefield operations are as old as time itself – fortunes can change very quickly. At the time of writing (Wednesday afternoon), photos have been posted online of the badly damaged (by a gunshot) face of a young man who the police said pelted them, but whose mother said he ran away when the police stopped him and they shot at him. There is also talk of protestors’ defiance in Wismar. In the middle of all of this, the Parliament’s Speaker has suggested a resumption of talks under the auspices of a third, neutral force. Not a bad idea.
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