Iran, Israel, Caracas -Georgetown, there’s a problem

THE 592 GUARDIAN| OPINIONS| GTOWN ,GUYANA |June 2026

TRUTH♦ ACCOUNTABILITY♦ INTEGRITY♦

BY: GHK LALL

Iran, Israel, Caracas -Georgetown, there’s a problem

I hope that Pres Ali is absorbing.  I trust that Vice President Jagdeo is digesting the development.  The same goes for every Guyana opposition party leader.  America has made its call.  The chips fall wherever they do.  Israel is raging.  PM Netanyahu is reeling.  His competitors are positioning.  America is moving.  Proving once again that its own interests take precedence, are due the highest priority.

Which country could boast like Israel of a special friendship with the U.S?  A friendship so special that it is sacred; that it makes White House occupants cower (after they curse); that it pushes the vaunted U.S. Congress to tie itself into knots; that it rattles the outspoken American media, so that sections of it walk on tiptoe, as though weaving through a dangerous, treacherous, minefield.  It is and they are.  All of that faded every so slightly, lost some footing, and surrendered to the supremacy and permanency of American interests.  Iran has become a major irritation to Israel.  The deal-good or bad, well-received or well-trashed-showed in the clearest light where U.S. priorities are.  Even when a best friend, the best of the best, has to be pulled away from, given a wakeup call.

It couldn’t have been an easy call for President Trump.  Reports are that in the heated discussion, a choice word or two (not the kindergarten classroom kind) came from the American side of the red line.  Say what has to be said about Donald John Trump, but the New Yorker in him is still alive and just as brawling and inflaming.  It takes a leader like President Trump to deal (not the business kind) with a leader like PM Netanyahu.  Trump may be ready to move onto the next chapter.  Israel may have other ideas; was sure to have seen some sort of agreement in the making between Washington and Teheran, and have its contingencies in hand.

Provocation that could unravel a shaky bargain.  I dare not say sabotage, but little else is left.  Blood enemies, when forced to bury their hatchets, usually respond one way.  They bury them in each other’s head.  Too much bad blood.  Too many bad vibes: Gaza, Lebanon.  And, if there is one attribute that is prized in the sunny Middle East, it is the death-dealing heat of revenge.  Politics, geopolitics, geography, holy territory all get lost in the call of, cry for, gore.  All it takes is one slight, intended or misread, and the table is cleared.  Time to throw down.  It’s time to get back to Guyana.

I warned (humbly) Pres Ali, VP Jagdeo.  Ally with America.  But don’t lock eggs in one safe.  Keep a spare key.  Keep something in reserve.  Ali laffed.  Jagdeo mocked.  I do my duty.  American soldiers fighting by the side of Venezuelan soldiers.  In January, American soldiers were killing Venezuelans while extracting that remarkable gentleman, Nicholas Maduro, (remember him?). Meanwhile, in June American soldiers are waging war alongside Venezuelans soldiers.  Who will fight for Guyana, but poor, ole slobs, like me?  Flyover or no flyover at the last presidential inauguration.  I said once that it is good to be American.  Still stands.  But is Pres Ali still laughing?  Is VP Jagdeo still smirking?  I reintroduce Benjamin Netanyahu as a timely, haunting, reminder.

The Venezuelans were uncanny, unambiguous, and mighty unsavory, too.  No ICJ!  I ask Excellency Richard Van West Charles to convey my apologies to the Bolivarian plenipotentiary here and the powers in Caracas.  No to the ICJ means that there will be a land-for-peace deal sometime or the other.  Remember Netanyahu.  Remember my words.  For by that time, I will be gone, Trump gone, Routledge gone.  Only Drs. Ali and Jagdeo left.  Doctor’s diet and good ole fashioned oil living.  But what of Guyana and its special relationship with America?  Oh, that!  A pyrrhic victory is still a victory.  What choice left?  What’s left with leaders like Ali, Jagdeo, and the whole kaboodle?

Israel has assets, will go on battling.  Guyana has Excellency Ali, who went from Captain America to Captain Bligh.  On a boat, with neither partner nor paddle.  I pray for this country.  Pray for me, somebody.  One last thing: God bless America.  Guyana also.