(Curaçao Chronicle)

The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela informs the Venezuelan citizenry and our brothers and sisters of the world about the armed attacks perpetrated on Tuesday, June 27, against the premises of the Ministry of People’s Power for Internal Relations, Justice and Peace, and the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, both in Caracas, as part of a coup-mongering escalation against the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and its institutions.

Both attacks were perpetrated from an Airbus Bolkow Model 105 helicopter, with tail number CICPC 02, stolen from the Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base in La Carlota, Caracas, by a man with the name of Oscar Alberto Pérez, who in order to commit the attacks made use of his condition as an inspector assigned to the Air Transportation Division of the CICPC.

The conspirator flew the aircraft up to the adjacencies of the Ministry of People’s Power for International Relations, Justice and Peace at Urdaneta Avenue, and fired around 15 gunshots towards the building while a reception was taking place on its terrace with a group of communicators in celebration of National Journalist Day. At the moment of the attack there were some 80 people at the place.

Afterwards, the helicopter was taken to the site of the Supreme Court of Justice, precisely while the justices of the maximum tribunal’s Constitutional Chamber were in session, and while a group of workers were still in their offices. Shots were fired against these individuals and at least four grenades, of Colombian procedence and Israeli manufacture, were thrown.

Of these, one did not explode and another was retrieved. The other two, were thrown against the Bolivarian National Guards that keep the building safe. Thanks to the swift reaction of the guards, a tragedy was avoided.

The material author of this act is being investigated for his ties to the Central Intelligence Agency and the United States (US) Embassy in Caracas, as well as his ties to a former Interior Minister who recently confirmed publicly his contacts with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

For the Bolivarian Government, these are attacks of a terrorist nature, within the framework of an insurrectional offensive put forward by extremist factors in the Venezuelan right, supported by foreign Governments and powers. The Bolivarian National Armed Force and the State security forces, have been deployed with the purpose of capturing the author of these acts and recuperating the aircraft. We urge anyone that can supply elements that help locate him, to contact authorities by dialling 911.

The Bolivarian Government calls upon the political parties allied under the so-called Democratic Unity Roundtable, upon the ecclesiastical hierarchy, and other actors in Venezuelan society to condemn these acts with resolve and to distance themselves, once and for all, from violence.

The Bolivarian Government calls upon the Venezuelan people to be alert in face of a coup-mongering escalation with the intention of altering the constitutional order in Venezuela and that has proved it lacks any scruple for achieving its political and economic goals. None of these attacks will stop the popular constituent process nor will it impede the people’s exercise of the vote on July 30, in order to elect the members of the National Constituent Assembly.

The constitutional President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro Moros, who on Tuesday, June 27 led the awards ceremony of the National Journalism Awards, is heading his Government team in directing actions to defend the security and peace of the Venezuelan people.

More than ever, the words of Commander Hugo Chávez are valid: Unity, Struggle, Battle and Victory.

Dear Editor,

If an elected official cannot represent the people’s interest, then it’s time for him to step down and quit blocking the growth of this country! For far too long, we are being forced to endure the nonchalant behaviour of this minister, who feels like he has no obligation to the community in which he was mandated to serve. Every issue that warranties his support is either pushed aside or shrouded with excessive speech, only to highlight his inept and selfish attitude.

There are no more questions to determine if his real personality is the one that emerged during the election campaign, or what is being displayed at present. The pretence has been shattered by his inability to handle the social and labour issues that are plaguing the country. Then it calls to mind: Why do Parliamentarians and the population continue to tolerate the incompetence of Minister Emil Lee? Can’t they see that this Minister has no interest in tackling the labour and social situations on St. Maarten? Then why keep him in his current position? This is a total waste of tax payers’ money and a consistent black eye to the economy.

Speaking of labour, some time ago Minister Emil Lee had a discussion with the personnel of that department. The main purpose was to have a name change. When the staff came up with an alternative, even though reluctant to do so, the Minister chose to disregard their efforts by erasing the name from his phone and offered, “Office of Opportunity” instead. How ridiculous! Then the nagging question is, opportunity for whom? All over the world the office is named exactly what it is. But as usual, everything the Minister does is about boosting his ego.

To add insult to injury, all of a sudden Minister Lee realized that the signing of work permits must be halted to accommodate locals. It would be interesting to know who he refers to as being locals. The ineffectiveness of the Labour and Justice Ministries is what has caused the island to plunge into total bankruptcy.

Besides the hot pursuit of a new hospital, this Minister tends to focus on petty things that his subordinates at the Health Department can handle. First it was the bats, now the mosquitoes. What’s next? Is he going to teach the kindergarteners how to tie their shoes? Minister Lee needs to man up to the Justice Minister and demand immediate collaboration to bring back stability to the labour industry.

It was so intriguing to hear Minister Lee confirm that the new hospital is just a

building. He had to go to St. Lucia to learn this fact - a reality that was conveyed to him repeatedly by journalists and conscious minds within the community. Why is this minister so hell bent on building a new hospital, when there is no money available for such an elaborate project? Would his construction company be involved in the building process? A Health Minister, who cares about this community, would make it a priority to invest time and money to research what is causing this health situation to deteriorate so badly.

Something is not kosher. To view the new hospital as a means of alleviating the hefty cost to fly patients abroad, or even to accommodate the surrounding islands is just a fallacy. The reality is: the others Caribbean islands lay wait to capitalize on ideas that will propel them as the leading destination. So by the time the hospital is finished, the broader vision would have become obsolete. My biggest contention is: What is the real trade off of this mission? Is it to set up another empire like the Harbour or to invest in prevention, which will lead to a robust SZV reserve?

Nothing is surprising anymore. Imagine Minister Emil Lee recently announced that he was unable to fix the roof of a senior citizen because the gentleman did not have the title for the land. What lack of empathy and cruelty to the highest degree! Then Minister Lee proceeded by saying that someone from another political party repaired the house. The Minister lamented further that shortly after the man’s roof was fixed, he sported a T-shirt in support of the party that aided him, and that the gentleman compromised his integrity by selling his vote.

This is very strange! How does the Minister know that the senior sold his vote, and if he is so certain, why didn’t he come forward when the prosecutor was asking for assistance in the vote-buying case that involved members of that same party?

Besides, why does the Minister think that he is so squeaky clean in the eyes of the public, when it was rumoured throughout the campaign that he too was engaged in the same thing. And, when it became known that his votes were tripled from that of 2014, the rumour was intensified. Why didn’t he refute this?

The performance of any politician is an accurate reflection of his or her philosophy. It is very clear that Minister Emil Lee is a reactive politician. This further demonstrates that he is not the appropriate person for the position of Social and Labour Affairs. Therefore, he needs to do the honourable thing and make his position available!

Joslyn Morton

Dear Editor,

On upcoming Saturday, July 1, 2017 we will be celebrating Emancipation Day. When I hear the word emancipation I reflect on the words of the late reggae artist Bob Marley who said that we should “emancipate ourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.” Those are powerful words. Now how do we do this?

Presently, many of us are under the spell of the slave master thinking that he is superior to us. We think that everything in existence came from him. We could never be so wrong. I will be attending the celebrations on July 1, 2017. I think it is a very important day and a tribute to those who made it possible such as one Tete Loke, but in order to emancipate ourselves we must know who we are and where we came from. Let me remind many who call the Netherlands our motherland, she is not and can never be our motherland. Our motherland is Africa whose name I learnt is really Alke-bulan mother of mankind or garden of Eden.

There are those who don’t want to accept the fact that our lineage came from there, but it is a reality. We have been indoctrinated and brained washed for thousands of years into thinking that we are less than while we are more than. The pyramids, the Sphinx are prime example of our intelligence. Only a brilliant mind could have created such structures which up until today, according to information, cannot be duplicated. I think it is high time we focus on who we are and what we are capable of, but in order to do so we must know our history which shows we were kings and queens in our country.

A family-oriented people. We all know where the phrase came from “it takes a village to raise a child.” We have to go back to the practices of old where the man took care of his family and society took care of its people. Africans were the real socialist.

This brings me to another song by the late South African artist Lucky Dube who sang the song with the words “am going back to my roots.” Because of our love that was shown towards all who came to Africa not knowing that it would have been to our own demise.

There is talk of making changes to our curriculum to talk about our local history, but please don’t forget our African history. Even though they destroyed millions of books, literature, paintings, destroyed and plundered. We are a resilient people and will bounce back. There lies within us the ability to create anything we set our minds on. Let us start by emancipating ourselves from mental slavery. Have a great emancipation celebration. Your servant.

George Pantophlet

Member of Parliament

Dear Editor,

We are at a point and time, where we have to seize the momentum and exercise our right to demand of our government that they do the right thing and if they chose not to, and if they choose not to, then it’s also our right to remove them from office. Maybe it’s time for a Henry the second moment here in which he says of Becket, “Will no one remove this meddlesome priest?” And I say to you my fellow Anguillians, will no one remove this incompetent government?

In the coming months we are faced with several possibilities, many of which will determine where we go from here. It is obvious that we are mired in a downward spiral from which we can’t seem to emerge. Those tasked with looking out for our well-being have been standing on the sidelines while the ship continues to flounder on the rocks. We are contemplating a new constitution and electoral reform, and from the looks of things probably won’t get anything accomplished. We have a government that continues to function in a way that’s not conducive to our well-being.

We have a press whose coverage is at best very spotty, with the advantage going to the government. It is the job of the press to keep the government honest, and when you see major events happening as was the case during the Anguilla Day week, with hardly any mention, then one has to ask the question, were these events not newsworthy? Is it not the job of the news media to shape public opinion and not follow it? It is the job of the newspaper editor to not suppress the news because it might upset some people or the government in power, but that it might force the government to reconsider its policies. That there were several notable events occurring without any mention by the local press, speaks volumes. Shame on you!!

There are many things going on right now which ought to raise all kinds of red flags. Our country is being sold out to the highest bidder. We have lost our moral compass, and as one citizen said on the radio that: “we are selling out our right to existence.” There are those who are fronting for foreign entities, a practice that former Chief Minister Sir Emile Gumbs admonished us about exactly ten years ago in the Anguilla 40th Anniversary Commemorative Magazine. He said: “The wholesale importation of foreign labour, the “fronting” by our people for foreign business, coupled with the impression that all of Anguilla is for sale, does not bode well for our future. If these trends are not arrested, we may soon become an endangered species in our own home.”

We surely didn’t listen then and for all intents and purposes we are not listening now, and as the old saying goes that he or she who doesn’t listen surely will feel.

So the question to all stakeholders is this, do you really care what happens to Anguilla?

Will the efforts of people like my father, Walter Hodge, Atlin Harrigan, Jeremiah Gumbs, Ronald Webster, Ruby Gumbs, Bevan and Cardigan Hodge, John Webster, Etienne Gumbs, Peter Adams, Bob Rogers and a host of others be for naught. Can we tell them if they ‘don’t like it they can lump it?’

Folks the whole world is in turmoil right now and it can’t be business as usual. A change has got to come sooner rather than later. Mr. Banks keeps talking about his mandate and the margin of his victory and he’s right this is about his victory, a victory that he was able to achieve under false pretenses.

We the people are not sore losers, we are angry as hell sore losers, because sir you won under false pretenses, and not only did you win under false pretenses, you proceeded to destroy our homeland and we will not forget or forgive you for that. You have probably won your last campaign and you probably won’t have to face an electorate again, so you could care less, but let me remind you sir, this is still supposed to be a democracy and as such we the people still have the ultimate last say in what happens to your government, and as we said in our letter to the Governor General of the West Indies back in 1958 and I quote that: “a people cannot live without hope for long without erupting socially.”

So here it is, that in the fiftieth year of our existence, despite the rosy pictures that have been painted by some, we seem to be headed in the opposite direction. Our people are starving; many households can’t afford to pay for the modern conveniences of simple everyday existence while our government spends money like drunken sailors at liberty on shore leave. We have work to do and the sooner we get down to it, the better off we’ll be, so again, if we don’t step up to the plate, no one else will and Anguilla as we once knew it will cease to exist and our homeland will be nothing more than a mirage. It’s up to each and every one of us. Don’t follow the party line. God gave each of us a brain to think, let us do that and make our own choices.

The bible tells us that we are our brother’s keepers and as such we ought to care for each other. We used to be that way at one time or another, but we are badly misguided right now. When I think of the effort that was put forth back in ’67, the hard times that we had to endure as young people growing up with no future on the horizon, that a lot of us, under the age of twenty were fortunate enough to find a host country that willingly opened its arms to take us in, it pains me to see that our leaders have brought our pigs to fine market, and yet we continue to allow this unfettered abuse of power to continue.

Folks in the words of the calypso by The Mighty Gossip, “the revolution ain’t done.”

Tyrone Hodge