It is now patently obvious that Granger is not worried about sanctions

Jul 05, 2020 Letters

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Dear Editor,

We must read the signs. Read them carefully. Out of the blue, after savage, APNU-linked, anti-West inflammatory rhetoric in the past few months and after APNU figures openly rebuked the US by endorsing Maduro, de facto David spoke. David Granger that is. He affirmed commitment to the US strategic values in the western hemisphere. What has clearly happened is Granger has been warned directly by the US. This explains Mike Pompeo’s subsequent statement that sanctions will unfold for those trying to steal the election, seemingly even if they concede. It explains why this saga is now with the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Once it is there, it is within the sphere of the White House and the Pentagon. APNU and Granger know that.

What is also clear is that Granger is not fazed by the warning and these grave developments. He subsequently endorsed Lowenfield’s fraudulent and criminal erasure of 115,000 votes to set the table for his swearing in, likely before the CCJ delivers its ruling. Granger also made moves with recent military appointments and failed to change the top two positions of the police force, knowing it is time for a change. These officers are very loyal to APNU.

It is now patently obvious that Granger is not worried about sanctions – this brings us to the key issue here. In order for APNU to recognize America’s strategic interests in the hemisphere yet continue this egregious defiance, insult and mocking of the US and don’t-give-a-damn-about-sanctions attitude strongly suggests APNU has secured or feels it will inevitably secure anti-US superpower support (likely from Russia and China with Venezuela, Iran and Cuba in tow) that emboldens it to continue this escapade. These are the countries that underpin Maduro’s resistance to the US. This kind of superpower support renders sanctions meaningless. Maduro is a prime example. Granger and APNU know it too, which is why the banditry continues even when the US warning is delivered.

The key issue is this is no longer about sanctions. It is about American military force. The US knows sanctions will not work if there is suspicion of superpower buttressing or the potential for such buttressing of the APNU regime. This is about billions of US dollars of American investments in Guyana’s oil industry suddenly open to seizure, nationalization and the expulsion of US oil players akin to what happened in Venezuela.

If APNU succeeds, Guyana becomes an extension of Venezuela because it cannot survive without foreign superpower support and China and Russia will not aid it unless it aligns itself with and surrenders sovereignty in some manner to Venezuela where Russia, China, Iran and Cuba have already built a formidable base to challenge the US in the region. We are talking nuclear bombers and long range missiles that now have the entire US in Venezuela’s reach. As the only Russian and Chinese superpower base in the western hemisphere, Maduro’s Venezuela will insist on that condition before any aid is granted to an APNU regime. So, the talk of sovereignty at the ICJ is useless and empty if APNU goes on to declare itself in power and wants to try to cling to power in confrontation with the US. APNU has already surrendered Guyana by its actions and will give certainty to that action if it swears Granger in.

There is no way the US will allow this catastrophic threat to its economic and geopolitical interests. It will not tolerate the geopolitical loss of such a strategic chunk of the northern Atlantic-facing part of South America to foreign superpowers. Nor will it entertain another despotic regime and another Venezuela in the hemisphere. And it knows 75% of the Guyanese populace will support use of force if it means salvation from eternal dictatorship.

There are no powerful Latin America voices telling the US to avoid war as is happening with Venezuela. This is inconsequential backwater Guyana that has no powerful voices speaking for it. Its only voice, CARICOM, has essentially abandoned it as a pariah. Unlike Venezuela, it has no medium range missiles capable of hitting the US and again, unlike Venezuela, it has no superpower with missiles that put the entire US in range. This might as well be a country of barefoot soldiers in canoes. The US is not going let APNU get there to hold power to bring in foreign superpower forces to install that kind of military technology that puts America in its crosshairs. The US has learned its lesson well from Venezuela.

The tragedy here is that US force will likely be the abrupt end to this farce. It will be short and quick. And it will be the most sickening tragedy the PNC has heaped upon this country and upon itself and its supporters. But how can you blame the US? It has everything in its favour right now and it has to protect its interests and defend its backyard from what is growing interference. Plus, Trump gets to wag the dog and likely gets a lift in the polls before November’s election for setting straight a bunch of third world despots who engaged in the most nefarious attempt in recent modern history to steal an election. So, the US is likely awaiting Granger’s swearing in to bring an end to APNU’s last supper of self-destruction. You cannot wrongfully defy, taunt, mock and lie to the most powerful nation on earth and not face dire consequences. APNU is about to face the direst of consequences. This outright, outlandish and unbridled criminality that is taking place with this election banditry is going to end badly as PM Rowley said, very badly.

Sincerely,

M. Maxwell

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