IS THERE A FOREIGN EXCHANGE PROBLEM?

 I was so glad to read that Conrad Ennil, a former finance minister in Patrick Manning's cabinet and now holding a big time chairmanship in one of the country's most important financial institutions,  has stated quite publicly that there is no shortage of foreign currency in the country. And because neither Mr. Ennil (nor indeed any PNM finance minister) ever lies then it must be true: there is no foreign currency shortage or crisis in T&T!  Full stop!

My only problem is that nobody seems to have told any of the banks who continue to limit the amount of foreign currency available to citizens. For example, Republic Bank just put out a notice to its credit card holders that the available amount in US dollars available to their card holders in any one billing cycle has been reduced from $10,000 to $5,000. But there is no foreign exchange shortage so clearly the bank has to be syphoning off all the available foreign currency for it's own nefarious needs. And when my bank (not Republic) says that I have to get special approval (which normally takes about three days) to send money for my son's education and living expenses, it is lying to me. Of course, this statement would be highly defamatory if there was really a shortage of foreign currency, but because Mr. Ennil et al never lie, we know that this could not be true.

But there could be another explanation: Mr. Ennil et al simply don't know what they are talking about when they say that the foreign currency situation is only in people's minds. In other words, the alleged shortage is simply a fiction of those persons who are just looking for something to criticize the Government and the Prime Minister for. Yep! That's probably it! Somebody somewhere is just completely incompetent! 

What do you think? Because something is dreadfully wrong here and we are not being told the truth by somebody! Who do you think is lying?

THE VERY DEFINITION OF HYPOCRISY

 

It was with great surprise that I saw in the news this morning that Cuba, a 64 year old dictatorship, has . announced its candidacy to join the UN Human Rights Council for the period 2024 to 2026.  The election will take place in October. Really? And what countries exactly will vote for Cuba? Will Trinidad & Tobago vote for this brutal, dictatorial regime which currently has more than 1,000 political prisoners and routinely murders (literally) anybody stupid enough to oppose it? If T&T supports this what will that say about  the current T&T regime?

Cuba is, along with Nicaragua, the two places in the region where religious freedoms are brutally curtailed. And don't forget that at the beginning of this awful regime it promised a workers paradise! The only paradise in Cuba is enjoyed by those at the top. Everybody else can literally go to hell as far as the regime is concerned. Certainly, this "workers' paradise" is anything but, and is a place where nobody in their right mind would want to live.  PRISONERS DEFENDERS, a human rights organization based in Spain has catalogued practices by this terrible regime of prison torture, deprivation of medical attention, forced labour, solitary confinement, intentional disorientation as well as many other actions that any right thinking person would consider to be crimes. 

But then, this is Cuba, so I guess that makes it all right! Cuba gets rid of anyone who is an independent activist either by locking them up and throwing away the key or by murdering them. Ask Oswaldo Paya or Harold Cepero. Oh! You can't ask them because they are dead - murdered by the Cuban regime. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is my authority for saying this. Those two guys were killed in a car crash which the IACHR says was caused by Cuban State agents because they were highly critical of the brutal dictatorship.

I could go on. I could talk about the issue of modern day slavery in Cuba which sends its doctors overseas only to seize 80% of their salaries and prevent them from leaving wherever they are sent to by threatening to kill the families of the doctors. 

And the United Nations is seriously going to allow Cuba to put forward its candidacy to join the Human Rights Council? What is the definition of hypocrisy again?

And why is this not news in T&T? What is our Government's position on this? When are we going to stand up and be counted against brutal dictatorships?

PNM v UNC

 

The PNM has been able to put itself in the minds of the electorate as the "go to" or "default" political party in Trinidad & Tobago. This fact gives it a big advantage over every other political party and gives the PNM in the minds even of truly independent voters that the old mantra of "better to live with the devil you know than the devil you don't" is probably correct. The UNC in the meantime has failed signally to capitalize on the thousand and one screw-ups that the Rowley regime has burdened the population with, so much so, that what should be a runaway victory at the polls is now a dead heat between the two dominant parties with the PNM having the advantage of incumbency.

For the UNC to have a chance at the polls in any meaningful way it needs to present itself, not only as a credible alternative to the PNM, but also as a political party that has the solutions to the million and one problems plaguing the nation. And it needs to do this now -over and over again. It doesn't matter that the PNM might listen to the proposed solutions, like them and then implement them. What would happen is that the country would see that the UNC really cares about the ordinary man and is prepared to put country first whether or not it means depriving themselves of power. Because, for example, do you really care who fixes the crime situation, or do you basically care about getting it fixed?

On this particular issue (crime) I note with considerable alarm the fact that nobody on either side of the political divide is putting forward any real and workable solutions - except to say that the Minister of National Security and the Commissioner of Police are both grossly incompetent. While this is probably true it doesn't really give any solace to a beleaguered population that is desperately looking for relief to this multi-faceted problem.

There are two new political parties on the scene - one led by Phillip Alexander who has managed to use social media to his great advantage by highlighting the problems that plague us, and the other led by Gary Griffith whose basic claim to fame is that he was a very good Commissioner of Police which is evidence of his ability to lead.

For better or worse neither of these two parties have got any traction with the electorate and the race at the moment is a straight dog fight between the two major parties - the PNM and the UNC. Of course, there is a legitimate fear on both sides that either or both of these minor parties could cause a loss or a victory in highly marginal areas but at the end of the day this particular possibility, while being a legitimate cause for concern for both sides, really is not motivating either of the two main protagonists to change their modus operandi in any meaningful way.

A demonstrably new way of thinking is now more than ever necessary. Unfortunately, the country's past experience with third parties (e.g., the NAR) has been such that the electorate is understandably reluctant to take a chance with an unproven entity. So we are back with "the devil you know ..." syndrome.

What can break this static state of affairs? Probably we could start with a change of leadership on both sides. This is more likely to happen with the party not in power (UNC) but there are some rumours floating around that Dr. Rowley plans to retire before the next elections due in 2025. Depending on who the PNM chooses to lead it then (assuming that this happens) PNM will probably win. There is a rumour that Stuart Young, Dr. Rowley's "Mr. fix-it", will be the replacement. If this were to be true then the situation will be back to square one. Mr. Young does not enjoy widespread popularity and is too closely associated with Dr, Rowley.  If there is an acceptable (to the electorate) change of leadership on either side and that change happens soon, then the party that enacts the leadership change will stand a better chance than the one that doesn't. But I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. Politicians rarely act in what is the best interests of the country unless those interests happen to coincide. Put another way, meaningful change on either side remains most unlikely.