MERRY CHRISTMAS

 There is a lovely Christmas song which says that this season of Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. I do agree. The season encompasses just about everything from the religious to the festive. And what is absolutely wonderful about our little country is that just about everybody joins in the festivities, the parties, the gift giving and even Santa Claus! You don't have to be a Christian to join in. Indeed, many people who aren't Christian join in enthusiastically.

Put another way, this season effectively achieves what we all mouth during the year: all inclusivity.  We are also reminded to have consideration for the poor, the weak, the infirm and everybody else who might not be happy (with good reason) at this happy time. That this is right and needed throughout the year is also true. But even this dark cloud doesn't take away from the genuine good cheer, especially in Trinidad & Tobago.

I want to use this opportunity to wish everybody (and I do mean everybody) a very merry Christmas and that all your Christmas wishes come true, and, of course, a very happy, prosperous and successful new year.

Robin Montano

I'll return in the new year with my usual commentaries.

MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS

 

It is impossible to get any sort of accurate reading about life in Trinidad & Tobago from reading the daily newspapers. The various articles are usually skewed in favour of one side or another of the political divide or don't present an accurate picture of how people really feel. So, here are a few questions that need to be asked and answered:

1)   Are people in general satisfied or dissatisfied with the way things are going in T&T?

2)   Do people in general feel that T&T is on the right track?

3)   How would most people describe how they feel about their lives in T&T? Good? Bad? Indifferent? Do they think that the country is going downhill or that life is getting better? Depending on who you ask, you would probably get a different answer to this question. Most UNC supporters  believe that the country is going downhill. Most PNM supporters have grown somewhat disenchanted since the last election, but are probably not disenchanted enough to switch their votes to the UNC.

4)   How have inflation and job losses impacted the picture concerning peoples' perception on the economy? 

5)   Is race still a factor in the collective minds of the electorate? If so, why has there been just about no discussion at all on this issue? The newspapers collectively seem to shy away from any discussions about this. Why?

6)    On the question of the murder/crime rate, how has this affected peoples' thinking? Is there  a discontent about this? Is that discontent shaped partially - and in many cases amplified - by peoples' fear of what the 'other' Party might or might not do?

7)   How many PNM people think that the economy might improve under PNM? How many UNC people believe that it will improve under the UNC?  In other words is "Its the economy, stupid" a major factor on most peoples' minds?

8)   What do people think of Dr. Rowley and how he has been leading the country? What do people think of Mrs. Persad Bissessar  and her aspirations to become Prime Minister?

9)   In 2020 PNM won the election by running "we are not the UNC". In 2025 the signs are already there that they will try  a reprise that theme (with possible modifications). Will that be enough?

With a little less than two years to the next election there is obviously a lot of time for opinions to change, but if you want to know what is going on the answers to these questions should help you.

ILLEGAL TRAFFICKING IN GUNS

 

It is now virtually impossible  to find anybody in Trinidad and Tobago who has not been affected either directly or indirectly by gun violence. There are several questions the answers to which might help our collective understanding of the problem that we are facing.

 Okay, so first question: we all believe that there is a massive amount of illegal trafficking in illegal guns. Is this really true? If so, what is the size of the problem? Certainly, it appears that there is a huge amount of illegal guns in the country with more coming in every day. Is this true?  If so, how are these guns coming in? Are they coming through the ports? Who is bringing them in? Whether this perception is so or not, what exactly are the authorities (police, customs etc.) doing about it? And when will we, the citizens, be able to see and feel some relief? 

If it isn't true, why does everyone and his mother believe that it is true? What exactly are the plans of the Government and the police to deal with the problem? And if they can't disclose these plans (confidentiality) then when exactly would it be fair to say that they have failed? Six weeks from today? Five weeks? When can we fairly say that the authorities (Government, police, etc.) have failed? And who has workable solutions? What exactly are they?

Next question: where exactly are the regulations controlling  the illegal trafficking of guns failing? Of course, I am assuming that I am correct in thinking that there is little or no real enforcement of the regulations.  But certainly, based on the evidence before us there seems to be massive evidence that the regulations dealing with illegal firearms are failing miserably. Why? Again, what are the authorities doing about this?

Third question: where exactly can one find easily all data relating to the illegal trafficking of guns? Where exactly is the data that can tell us whether or not our perception that we are in the middle of a crime epidemic is accurate? Who is responsible for keeping this data? The Government? The police? Customs? All of them? Who?

Fourth question: if the data shows clearly that there is indeed a lot of illegal trafficking in guns, then who is ultimately responsible for that and what exactly are they going to do about it? And when exactly can we expect some relief? Do the authorities know who is importing these illegal guns? If so, why have no arrests been made? And if they don't know, why don't they know? I do understand that justiciable evidence may be hard to come by, but if there is illegal trafficking in guns it should exist. Why are we, the citizenry, being kept in the dark about this?

I could go on, but hopefully you get the point. Without clear and concise answers to these and other questions we are "spinning top in mud". At the very least, the answers to these questions (and others) should help us to think more clearly rather than throw our hands in the air like the Pharisee who gets rid of his sins by doing just that (throwing his hands in the air) and crying "Korban".

There are many other questions and this list is not intended to be a complete one. Please note that I am not talking about LEGAL guns; that is a whole other discussion. And to be clear, I believe that there is a massive amount of trafficking in ILLEGAL guns. And therein is where I believe that the problem begins and ends and that without asking and getting answers to the hard questions on the questions we will never solve the problem. Maybe the question should be do we really want to solve this problem?

Esequibo - Part Two

 

The news out of South America is certainly not good. On the one hand, you have a dictator in the form of President Maburro (and yes, the mis-spelling is deliberate) and on the other hand you have an ally, a member of Caricom, under a serious threat of war and forcible annexation of its territory.

While it is clear that President Maburro is extremely unpopular in his country - more than 10 million Venezuelans (from a total of about 30 million) have fled his awful regime - what is not so clear (at least here in the Caribbean) is what exactly is the claim on the Esequibo that Venezuela has and why does this claim resonate with most Venezuelans

Very briefly, it is because most Venezuelans believe that their country was cheated in the arbitration that ended with a decision for Great Britain (then the ruler/owner of Guyana). Their argument is that they believe that the decision was fundamentally unfair because at the time Britain was one of the most powerful countries in the world - if not the most powerful. Therefore, they argue, there was at the very least, the perception of bias and undue influence on the arbitrators, none of whom were South American. And this perception of bias, they argue, voids the decision of the arbitrators. 

Then there is the recent decision by the International Court Of Justice (ICJ). The Venezuelan argument (in a nutshell) is that Venezuela never signed up to the treaty that established the ICJ and therefore they are not bound by any decision that it makes. Indeed, that is their major justification for not taking part in the proceedings in the first place.

I have put all this out because it hasn't been clear from the many news reports as to whether or not there is any other side to the claims of that awful dictator, Nicholas Maburro other than those of the Guyanese.. Unfortunately, even the Devil may sometimes have an argument that should at least be listened to.

So? What is the answer? Certainly on the surface, at least, both sides appear to  have good  arguments that need to be settled without recourse to violence (war).

I have deliberately not set out the Guyanese arguments, but, in one sentence, they can be summed up by saying that they have been in possession of the lands for more than 125 years and the revival of the Venezuelan claim is not just bogus, but is intended purely to help Maburro who faces an election soon. It is a good argument.

So? What to do? Perhaps there might be another arbitration composed of  members from both Caricom and allies of Maburro in Latin America (to avoid any perception of bias).  And there should be an agreement that the decision of this tribunal will be final and binding on both sides.

It is absolutely clear that war should be avoided, and that should be the motivation for all right thinking peoples to try to help. And Caricom needs to help now! Today!