If only to say, “I told you so.”

Jun 27, 2013 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Some things are worth doing a second time, if only for vindication. Some columns are worth repeating, if only to say, ‘I told you do.” So here goes:
Do not underestimate the reach of the powerful economic oligarchy that has emerged in Guyana.  This grouping has already wrapped its tentacles around elements of the ruling party and persons in the government.
It can do the same with the opposition in this country. The opposition in this country has its weaknesses. If there is any economic grouping that knows to exploit those weaknesses it is the powerful economic oligarchy.
This grouping is so astute that it already has forced sections of the former bourgeoisie class in Guyana into supporting the businesses of the new oligarchy. The old oligarchs know that the new kids on the block are out to gobble their businesses up. Yet these old oligarchs are putting money into the businesses of the very persons who are out to close them down. They are supporting the very monster that is waiting to eat them up.  Life is indeed strange… and sickening in Guyana.
The opposition political parties had better take warning. They are next. The new economic oligarchy has the old bourgeoisie class in their sights. The new oligarchs know that this old class is now a spent force. As the economy has grown, so too have the fortunes of the new oligarchs. The new kids have gotten strong relative to the old oligarchs, and this has placed the new kids in a position to retire those who formerly dominated the economy of Guyana.
True enough the new oligarchy stumbled during the last elections. Their favoured party did not do as well as they had hoped. The favoured party became too dependent on the largesse of the new kids.  They thought this largesse was going to be enough to get them home safely, and so they neglected traditional sources of raising funds, including a powerful base in the Diaspora. They paid the penalty for thinking that the support of the new kids on the block was sufficient.
That setback has, however, not prevented the new oligarchy from spreading its wings. When this column warned many months ago that the vicious and nasty attack by the government against the Guyana Cricket Board had nothing to do with sports but was for economic reasons, there were not many who were convinced.
The new oligarchy however has its eyes firmly set on regional cricket. Like Allen Stanford, they understand the tremendous commercial value of T20 cricket. They intend not just to capitalize on this opportunity, but to control and dominate the administration of regional cricket. Their first stop was supposed to be the control of local cricket, while they were attempting to get a foothold within the WICB.
Like the elections, however, those failures will not stop the new oligarchy. Those are mere bends in the road that will only delay the inevitable, which is control of an emerging market in the Caribbean.
The largest financial market in the Caribbean is now in its infancy, but it will grow like when Popeye eats his spinach. T20 cricket will emerge as the biggest financial industry in the Caribbean.
The way Caribbean people play cricket will make this region home to one of the best T20 leagues in the world. On top of this, we have superstars in demand by the other leagues, and whoever controls these stars controls a potentially powerful financial market.
The new oligarchy is preparing the groundwork to gain exclusive rights over many of our regional superstars in the same way as major football clubs have such rights over the players they sign. There will come a time when there will be massive transfer fees for cricketers just as there are in football. The oligarchy is attuned to this reality.
The oligarchy is always thinking two to three steps ahead of its competitors. Very few persons wanted to accept what was stated in these pages many months ago about the intentions of the powerful economic oligarchy as regards cricket.
They have the government on a shoestring. This is the very government which had lured the opposition into believing that it was in the interest of the administration of cricket that laws be passed to regulate the sport in Guyana. The opposition has fallen into a trap, and it is hoped that they can get out of it before the noose closes around them.
There is temptation in political partnerships and parties these days to have business arms, and to corporatize their operations, since it is felt that the work of political campaigning requires a predictable revenue stream which can be had from their own businesses. It is also felt that running a campaign is now more a business–type function than is a political activity, and therefore having a business arrangement is the best way to go.
If the opposition in this country goes down that road, it will walk straight into the Boardroom of the new oligarchy, because the old oligarchs are about to be absorbed by the new kids on the block and the new oligarchy is capable of taking over even the opposition parties in this country.

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