Stabroek News has a twisted sense of history, especially in the area of foreign policy
(Part 1)

OLD Kai is not surprised at the juvenile attempt by a Stabroek News editorial on April 30, 2014 to present a utopian world of foreign policy for Guyana ONLY IF we are in the bosom of the United States of America and England (there is enough reason why I chose to single England out from the rest of the United Kingdom).To make their case, they seek to use their traditional bogey (the Venezuela border controversy) as the editorial indicates that “One might have thought too, that our government would have recognized that whatever position President Maduro might wish to adopt in relation to our common border, he is constrained by the traditional Venezuelan position and far too weak politically to take measures that depart from it. Furthermore, one might have thought that our government would have looked a little further down the road than it appears disposed to do, and seen that whoever comes after Mr Maduro – whether from his own party or the opposition – will cleave to the traditional position. In fact, the (Venezuela) opposition shows all the signs of being very bad news for Guyana.”

The ‘bad news’ from Venezuela is then juxtaposed with Guyana supporting the territorial integrity of Argentina against the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands, “the ruling party is hell bent set on alienating those whose support it will need in the future – more particularly the US and the UK. It has taken an inexplicable stand over the Falkland Islands, especially considering that that particular case has direct bearing on ours, and Argentina is going to give Venezuela unequivocal backing.”

So for the Stabroek News, Guyana’s territorial integrity will only be secured if we become lackeys of the US and UK.

Their state of denial becomes more evident when they try to downplay the role of the very US in creating and stirring up the Venezuelan border controversy in the first instance as the newspaper indicates that “the position of the PPP/C has always been that the border controversy with Venezuela was a Cold War problem; that is to say it was part of the whole US scheme in association with the British – the colonial power ? to remove Dr Cheddi Jagan from office. While there is some truth in this, it is unlikely that it originated in Washington; almost certainly, it had its provenance in Caracas.”

So here Stabroek News is on one hand indicating that there is some truth in the Venezuelan border controversy being part of a US scheme in association with the British to remove Dr. Jagan from office but on the other hand, it contends that such a plan was ‘unlikely’ to have originated in Washington and almost certainly had its origin in Venezuela.

What Stabroek news is in essence trying to convince its readership is that Venezuela was in charge of the US foreign policy during the Cold War and apparently the US was just a helpless follower.

This is the garbage a newspaper that is supposedly run by intellectuals would seek to publish in this day and age.

Let us also remember that no less than late President Hugo Chavez, during a visit to Guyana, in February 2004, he had publicly revealed that it was the US which was responsible for fomenting strife between Guyana and Venezuela so as to divide us and push our nations into an armed conflict. He had recalled that the possibility of Guyana becoming another Cuba was used to whip up antagonism in the Venezuelan military which was given maps by the US that showed Venezuela surrounded by Cuba, Grenada and Guyana poised to attack it in the 60’s.

But don’t believe the late hero of the Venezuelan people whose statement was never contradicted by the US; let us believe Stabroek News which is contending that such a ‘scheme was unlikely to have originated in Washington.’

To be continued….