By George Lichtveld

There are times when I am very deeply ashamed of the heavily polluted level that certain politicians here on Curacao show in the exercise of their profession as a representative of the people. This was also the case, among other things, when you recently made those shameless statements about the problem of President Maduro’s unilateral closure of borders between Venezuela and the ABC-Islands. Your statements are so repugnant, banal and improper that I wonder if you have thought about how absurd it is to try to defend the policy of this corrupt Venezuelan narco-government.

Your accusation that the Curacao government leans too far alongside the Americans and the EU would, in your opinion, be the reason why President Maduro has decided to close the borders with our islands. We should have listened to him when he had already threatened with economic measures against the ABC-Islands last year. Our government has not have done what they should do, too crazy for words.

Let us set things straight here. The Venezuelan government is led by a corrupt dictator (by the way: Hitler and Mussolini were also ‘democratically’ chosen) which is the main cause of a creeping Venezuelan population (I do not hear you talking about that). Maduro can only be led by the Venezuelan drug cartels to defend their interests, he doesn’t care about the people. The struggle of the Venezuelan people is not about political ideology, it is not about socialism against liberalism, but about a fight against organized crime, a struggle of the people against drug cartels.

That is one of the main reasons why the massive protests against corruption, mismanagement and serious human rights violations have so far failed. The rules of engagement are different, it is as far as I know the first time in history that a people have to fight against an official criminal power. It is right that the entire outside world (not only the EU countries and the USA) opposes this and seeks to protect the Venezuelan people through diplomatic pressure.

I have never heard you say anything about the poignant conditions that this Venezuelan government has caused, which causes people to die of hunger or lack of medicine and medical care on a daily basis. I did not hear you say anything about the corpses of boat refugees who washed ashore here, which situation indicates how distraught one is there and what large risks one is prepared to take because of inhumane living conditions. I am ashamed of you that you have never stood up for these poor citizens whom we very hypocritically call ‘hermanos’ while we (our government and/or our parliament) do not even dare to issue the slightest political statement to defend these victims. This is only because we fear economic reprisals because of criticism.

Well Mr. Rojer, let me be clear, let there be economic reprisals, I rather don’t receive blood oil if our economic well-being is based on the flogging of our neighboring people. I do not want to prosper on the suffering or exploitation of others. Rather less prosperity than dancing to the pipes of ruthless drug traffickers who have labeled our islands as scapegoats to cover up the real problems in fact, namely the mutual cartel fight over drug lines and money laundering routes.

Your short-sighted and opportunistic attitude shows that you are yielding to the blackmail of cartel leaders such as Diosdado Cabello and vice president Tareck El Aissami who are also rightly placed on the EU blacklist for their direct involvement in drug smuggling, arms trafficking and money laundering.

Should we also make a pact with and remain confident in these sorts of sinister figures who have received their unprecedented wealth at the expense of the Venezuelan population and at the expense of so many others who have become addicted to drugs elsewhere in the world? With your profound statements, you play into the hands of these kinds of figures and you contribute to their aim to make our islands a forward post for their criminal money laundering practices. Is that your intention? Shame on you!

Curacao does not deserve this! Just like the EU and the USA, it is the time that Curacao shows ‘balls’ and is not guided by weak, backbone-free hangers like you, unworthy of a parliamentarian. As far as I am concerned, the borders may remain closed for the time being until this Venezuelan narco government is overthrown.

Perhaps it is better not to drag our islands along in the appalling events that are going to take place, both during the already crumbling Maduro regime and during the extremely chaotic time that will undoubtedly arise after his fall. Instead of taking it up for these thieves, it would be better to help prepare our country against and shield it from the cartel wars Mexican style, which unfortunately will keep Venezuela in their grip for years to come.

By George Lichtveld

Photo credit: Persbureau

Bron: CuracaoChronicle