In the Guyana-Venezuela Essequibo border conflict, I want to make my positions 100% understood that all Guyanese should oppose Venezuela’s ridiculous claim to the Essequibo region. In addition, the English Anglo-Saxon Caribbean nations should unite with Guyana and rally around them on this particular Essequibo regional conflict against Venezuela as it could have dire consequences for the Anglo-Caribbean.
In the “Discovery Continents” as I have often referred to the Western Continents or the Americas, how does one group of people (other than Native Americas/ First Nation Peoples) have the right to ownership of any parcel of land that becomes their country. In “non-Discovery Countries” where Columbus and other explorers did not “discover” as in the Middle East, Africa and Asia there are historical, linguistic, literary and even claims of “Biblical” proportions to the ownership of countries, unlike “Discoveries Countries” where ownership or boundaries has been historically been defined by military power over the last five hundred years or more. Don’t get me wrong, these countries belong to a people, the native people of the Americas, but there is a big problem. Even if we are to give back these countries to their original rightful inhabitants, the Native Peoples, there is either not enough of them such as in Canada and the U.S.A or more likely they now do not have enough military technology, expertise, manpower or numbers to keep these lands for themselves and a new hostile enemy like Russia or China may even invade immediately and take it. Right now, they are better off making accommodations, reservations and putting legal structures in place to safeguard what they have left with the white man. Over the centuries they have come to have a mutual understanding and shared experience with white people who are no longer a threat to their existence. A newcomer may not be so kind.
Currently, Venezuela is testing Guyana’s girth and what we English-speaking nations do will foreshadow how other nations, especially Hispanic countries and the rest of the world sees the Caribbean and the English West, lest we start giving them the impression we are easy prey. Venezuela’s claim, should they win that claim and take Essequibo means a lot of other Spanish nations could come to claim the Caribbean islands as their own validated by Venezuela’s actions and how we respond to them. Remember, many of our countries once belonged to Spain before Britian took these islands from the Spanish. This is the reasoning behind Venezuela’s claim, that the Essequibo once belonged to them under the Spanish run Empire as Grand Columbia. Just food for thought, imagine we are now defending the British, Mother England and their claim to us since coming under Spanish threat. This is how volatile the world we live in is. Modernity will not save us from future wars. Conquering is not over and it could easily restart. Just pointing out how fluid politics can be.
In the case of Guyana, the Mighty British defeated Spain and the Dutch and took Guyana fair and square, and drew its borders in the same way Spain, Netherlands and Portugal divided the Americas amongst Catholic countries and left out the Protestant countries such as England in the treaty of Tordesillas signed and recognized by the Pope and Papal Authority in 1494. In the Americas and the Caribbean, the people who claim ownership of lands now called countries are NOT indigenous to the Americas or the ‘ NEW WORLD’. None of us are. We are ALL immigrants to the Americas. Every time you buy a home in the Americas and you are not indigenous you are buying stolen land. So be careful pointing fingers of superior morality at White People. Be careful calling Europeans colonizers when you are migrating to the Americas to buy stolen land which history, movies and media have made clear across the globe. Unless you were enslaved or indentured you cannot claim you didn’t know better.
Which begs the question then, aren’t Mexicans, Columbians and Venezuelans indigenous people? Well, that’s not even how they see themselves. While in Anglo-Saxon America when they cross the borders or migrate in other ways, we look at them as poor minorities coming for a better life, however, they see themselves as white. Many Hispanics see themselves as the descendants and inheritors of the legacy of the great and mighty Spanish Conquistadors. That is certainly how Argentinians see themselves. Argentina was a known Nazi sympathizer country. The irony was that during this the last World Cup everyone rooted for Argentina over France as Argentina was the “minority,” over colonizer France. Meanwhile, France had more immigrants from Africa playing in their team as European nation that takes in many diverse religions and ethnic groups from across the world. So, which of these teams was really the racist, the underdog, the white man? Argentinians see themselves as better than the darker Hispanic countries and most of them were genuinely more white-skinned on the field compared to France. Even in countries where they clearly appear to be mixed raced to us in the Anglo-world they see themselves as white Europeans such as in Costa Rica. In Peru, where most of the population appears to have a darker ethnic look than even Argentina, the city-folk see themselves as the conquistadors and they oppress the more native Quecha people in the mountains who are practicing their native ways. The President of Venezuela Maduro and the Venezuelan people and most of ‘ Latin America ‘ in most cases see themselves as an extension of Europe just as the same Afro-Caribbean see the Caribbean as an extension of Africa ignoring the East Indians populations. Therefore, the claim of territories in the Americas has to do with power. Venezuela is having problems with Guyana and Trinidad but not Brazil because Brazil is too militarily and economically mighty. As Trinidad is the New York City of the Caribbean, Brazil is the U.S.A. of South America.
Venezuela’s trickery to claim Essequibo includes offering the residents of Essequibo Venezuelan passports to legitimize their claim to Essequibo and as I recall during the Burnham PNC era before 1992 most Indo-Guyanese who were forced out of Guyana were supporting Venezuela’s claim to all of Guyana due to the heavy discrimination they were facing from Afro-Guyanese. Indo-Guyanese were being forced out of Guyana and had to turn to Venezuela for escape. This is why there are so many Guyanese in America and Canada. They left due to ethnic persecution which many of them do not talk about or educate their American-born children of what they faced so the story continues to be buried out of fear. Today a lot of those Guyanese refugees to Venezuela are now returning home as they might be targeted as outsiders and what “home” are they returning too? Black leaders in Guyana do not want them to return to Guyana because they simply do not want Indians there.
Again, Indo-Guyanese must stand with the government of Guyana against Venezuela’s hostile claim on the Essequibo region, but THE PERSEPCTIVE I AM POINTING OUT is that at the same time Indo–Guyanese Indo-Trinidadians and Indo-Surinamese (Hindoestaani) must question the social contract and the social trust by the Collective Black / African Race as to how they have historically treated Indians in these countries. Indians have seen rape, discrimination, execution (Desi Bouterse, Suriname), religious prejudice and massacre (like the Wissmar Massacre) at the hands of blacks in the Caribbean and Anglo-Black countries AFTER independence from Britian and colonial powers. Indians have always had to fight for their right to live in these countries, even after 200 years of migrations from outside India under indentureship, Indians were treated by the black political elites as outsiders, invaders who are not worthy of the equal treatment and resources in those countries. Indians always have to speak as though they must prove their worth to being in these countries.
In Trinidad / Guyana/ Surinam ever so often there is a collective systemic prejudice call of Indians to go back to India by important Black leaders in these countries. Tobago once said, “we don’t want any Calcutta ship here.” Hindus, seen as the ultimate version of Indian often experience damage and desecration of their mandirs (temples) and other hardships. They are denied job opportunities and usually migrate because of that. Yet, we hypocritically point fingers at American Whites if there’s 4 blacks out of 10 people in a boardroom in America. Again, ownership in the “Discoveries Countries” has to do with power in which Indians have an ethnic dysfunctional deficit. Blacks in Guyana and Trinidad in their many discourses which one can easily find on You-Tube, is afraid of a Hispanic take-over of their politically African-run countries. Blacks in Guyana support having 30 thousand illegal Haitians in Guyana that is compatible to their electoral votes and vote bank so they can constantly win elections over Indian political parties. The same is played out in Trinidad where Caribbean Blacks from across the islands were made residents/ citizens in Trinidad as an electoral asset to a Black government over Indians. These immigrant blacks from across the Caribbean fill up areas like Laventille under the PNM regime which have become high crime ridden areas and live off government dole. Which if I can point out is what Democrats are doing in America with our unchecked borders and uncontrolled lottery immigration schemes. They are making vote banks across America for electoral purposes.
Therefore, while I am in support of Guyana against Venezuela’s claim in the Essequibo all Indians in Guyana must be mindful of the SOCIAL TRUSTS with Afro-Guyanese. Indians must ask President Irfaan Ali (who won on Indian votes) where is their place in society, if it comes down to war between Venezuela and Guyana what would Indians be fighting for? To secure Guyana and when a black government comes to power, Indians have secured lands with blood to get their coolie buttocks kicked again?
A black Guyanese leader, Lincoln Lewis, has now recently written about a dilemma facing Guyana, that if Guyana should go to war with Venezuela that only blacks will die because only blacks are in the army. This brings up another point in this V-G conflict and opened the nation publicly to what political persecution Indians have been facing in the Caribbean. Blacks have had most of the political rule over the many decades of Independence and they made sure to take away gun rights and the ability of Indians to defend themselves. These were ethnic rights they had even under the British Empire. There has also been systemic discrimination of Indians such as not allowing equal number of Indians in the army to reflect the proportion of Indians in Guyana and Trinidad. Irfaan is President now, will he not fix this? Kamla is running for next year in Trinidad how does she intend to safeguard Indian ethnic rights? They all take coolie vote and coolie money and leave coolies out in the cold. This shows how our coolie leaders are colonized.
President Irfaan Ali was busy on TV asking for reparations for blacks while his own people who elected him to power, he did not ask for reparations for them or reparations from blacks for what they have done to Indians. Did he ask for reparations for the Wissmar Massacre. Lo and behold, if blacks do not want to die alone fighting Venezuela, then they should arm the Indians in the Essequibo with guns, let Indians fight for their place in Essequibo and arm the natives of that region. But Alas blacks will be facing another problem if we arm Indians how will we rob them of their valuables and places of business when the war is over? This conflict shows who has power and who has been taking political advantage of who in Guyana and the rest of the West Indies. It shows how an external major global threat has just shed light on the political persecution of Indians in Guyana of which I must point out Hindus are worse off since they are obviously seen as “idol worshippers.”
As for Trinidad: don’t worry Trinidad, your turn is coming next, again, because Venezuela has tried to claim Trinidad’s rich offshore oilfields once before. They are sending thousands and thousands of illegals into Trinidad and as the Americans say, “young fighting age men and women coming across our borders” is a cause for concern just as it is in the American South. These same persons (NOT ALL but strangely quite a lot) tell locals, “Why don’t you speak Spanish?” or “You know Trinidad once belonged to Venezuela?”
Indians need to make ethnic demands for themselves and security assurances with Imraan Ali before they go to fight for a Guyana that kicks them systematically. If Indians do not ask for assurances and measures put into place while he is President they will pay a heavy price for their political doltishness. Fill the army and police with Indians, give them guns to defend their lands and maintain it even after war for civilian and peace keeping purposes.
Gandhi did the same to Indians in India. Therefore, either Indians are a fool race or they have foolish Pied Piper leaders walking them over a cliff. Indians must question the logic of their leaders. Gandhi made Indians fight for Europe during World War II. Over 2 million soldiers were sent by Gandhi to aide the allies and their British overlords but told India not to fight the British for their Independence. He allowed the British to divide India and allowed way worse atrocities to happen to Indians which killed more Indians during the “non-violent” movement than jews died in Europe. More Indians died and got their behinds kicked to the leisure of the British during the so-called “Ahimsa” times. But, we are all taught how great he is. This a fallacy logic taught to Indians and have kept them like docile pets in India and other nations and they have NEVER LEARNED TO FIGHT or defend themselves. Indians won’t even speak up. Now war breaks out in the Anglo-West Indies and we are suddenly one people when blood has to be shed in war for land, and in spite of that they will never put guns in the hands of Indians. again, I am warning Indians beware of the
SOCIAL TRUSTS when aliening with the Rex Nettleford and Ms. Holder – Allen and the Caricom that believe Indians are a passing
cloud in the Caribbean .
Another Perspective
Vassan Ramracha.
