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Maduro’s war

Mar 05, 2025 Editorial, News

Editorial…

 Kaieteur News- Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro is like an open wound on Guyana.  On each occasion that a scab forms, he scratches at the edges and ruptures it.  In a way, what President Maduro is waging is an irregular war against Guyana.  Like one of those old guerilla fighters, he lies low, waits for an opening to his liking, and then he pounces swiftly.  With the same swiftness that he makes his presence felt, and delivers a reminder, he just as quickly fades back into the background.  From his nest in Caracas, he studies and plots his next move against Guyana, emphasizing how much he is here to stay.  He’s in the face of the government, with Guyanese watching and wondering if there will come a day when he goes too far.

Maduro knows what he is up against when Guyana is on its own, and those odds that are so much in Venezuela’s favor is the kind of hand he likes.  When Guyana can muster a range of allies, then he is forced to work harder, play his sneaky undercover games.  The Venezuelan leader has had his decrees, and he has his gangs to do his bidding with Guyanese interests targeted, and this country continually on edge.  The gamechanger for Guyana is that America is firmly in its corner, and will continue to be so, as long as there are American interests established here.  In conjunction with that, once the current government, or any other one, does not get any ideas about ideology, then this country is relatively secure.  On a sobering note, Guyanese must be cautious in not getting too aggressive with that biggest American asset here, ExxonMobil and its multibillion offshore operations.  To date, the cream of Guyana’s political circle has gone out of their way to pay homage to ExxonMobil’s presence.  They know that has merits with the US government.

Maduro is infuriated by what effectively renders his superiority impotent and to some extent irrelevant.  That hasn’t put the brakes on him, for he is still putting forward ways on how to keep Guyana guessing and off balance.  With the recent wounding of six Guyanese soldiers, and now this clear violation of Guyana’s sovereignty by an arm of the Venezuelan Navy, he is testing the resolve of both Guyana, and the zeal of the new US government for Guyana’s cause.  He has his answer which, though delivered in the couched language of diplomacy, still possesses and conveys a significant degree of sharpness.  It is: don’t mess with ExxonMobil, for that is the equivalent of messing with America, Donald Trump’s America.  And also, don’t mess with Guyana, since that will not be well-received in the White House.

Maduro’s other strategy in this surreal war of his has been to drive a wedge in CARICOM.  Some of the regional body’s members are beholden to him for energy supplies, and that has diluted their taste for supporting Guyana, other than with hollow platitudes.  Any friend gained in the middle of the American storm is a welcome development, since they are not abundant.  Maduro and his designs, Maduro and his wars, proxy or hybrid, are not healthy for Guyanese in the border regions, nor for those in Georgetown.  Government priorities have to be rejiggered, with precious leadership energy wasted on generating support for Guyana in its time of weakness.  It is dissipation in slow motion, drop after painful drop.  There can be no question that the Venezuelan strongman is becoming more comfortable with the road he is forced to follow.  It has been a jab here, and a dash there, and much uncertainty following in places that count in Guyana.

There is every appearance that to keep Maduro in check, Guyana must align its interests with those of America.  If it means that Guyana’s interests must take second place, then that is the strategy seemingly embraced by the government. This said, there is something that all Guyanese should recognize immediately.  It is one bad bargain (oil contract) made and this second bad bargain (American dependence) now flourishing openly.  The two bargains set the standard of Guyana’s existence.  Meanwhile, Maduro seethes and works at new ways to keep the pot boiling in Guyana.

(Maduro’s war)

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