It is understandable that many Trinbagonians are still very perturbed by former Prime Minister Patrick Manning's calling of an early election which ended in agonizing defeat for him and his party, the People's National Movement (PNM). Understandable because most of them, including citizens in the wider world haven't a clue as to how politics truly functions. They wholeheartedly and sadly believe what they see on television, hear on radio stations and read in newspapers and magazines. But things heard and seen in the print and electronic media concerning politics are almost always 26 light years away from reality.
Knowledge of surreptitious individuals slithering behind stage curtains hidden from public scrutiny and dictating to political leaders is an essential before discussing politics. Monarchs, Presidents, Prime Ministers and Dictators throughout history have always answered to them and are fully aware of the penalties surrounding disobedience. These are the faceless juggernauts that call the shots and possess all the power, resources and money to fulfill most of their temporal desires in the present socio-economic-politico construct.
In Trinidad and Tobago, some call them the oligarchs, in the wider world and to researchers like me, those lacking respect for national sovereignty, boundaries or independent governments and pull the strings of public figures are known as the global elite. Eighteenth century British Prime Minister Sir William Pitt had this to say on the topic, "There is something behind the throne greater than the king himself, there is a power behind the throne." Mayor of New York City in the 1920s John Hylan stated that "The real menace of our Republic is the invisible government." German socialist and financial advisor to Kaiser Wilhelm II and the French Rothschilds, Walter Rathaneau said in 1934 that "There is a committee of 300 men who rule the world and call the shots." And 32nd President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt wrote, in 1933 that "The real truth of the matter is as you and I know, is that a financial element in the large centers has owned the government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson."
Political scientists and analysts taking seriously the left, right, republican, democrat, liberal, conservative, labour or any other system designed to divide human beings, are either intentionally leading persons astray or have no idea what they're babbling about. There isn't any side, only the manipulators and the manipulated.
In Trinidad and Tobago the oligarchs who answer via stealth networks to the global elite amalgamated and decided that Prime Minister Patrick Manning had to go. They wanted him gone not because he committed any political sin but because of his unwitting meddling in their affairs. You see Trinidad and Tobago has a parallel drug economy, inclusive of a potent money laundering operation worth 52 billion TT dollars a year. Manning with his drive to destroy the local trade, which is partly responsible for much of the murders in the country was also trampling on their international transshipment turf with his various anti-drug efforts. The International Narcotics Control Strategy Reports, issued by the U.S. State Department have long listed Trinidad and Tobago as the prime transshipment hub for tons of 95% pure South American cocaine going to especially Western Europe. And it surely isn't youths on petty crack blocks with chopped ounces involved in moving that tonnage in sea and air vessels. They don't possess the connections (blood, business or otherwise) and are completely ignorant of the delicacy needed and logistics involved in such an undertaking.
Encouraged by the international authorities to lend support to the so-called war on drugs in the Caribbean, Prime Minister Manning unveiled an ambitious plan in response to the call. It included the Special Anti-crime Unit or SAUTT; a radar system in the eastern and southern Caribbean; an airship called the blimp which monitored things from the sky; modern helicopters; and interceptor crafts and fast patrol vessels. It was a fledgling enterprise which understandably didn't yield many significant arrests considering the years those involved had under their belts perfecting the trade. But was a daring start which scared the genuine organized cartels along with the independent bottom feeders and in fact limited the amount of product on the streets of Trinidad and Tobago. But whether big baron or small peddler they all clearly understood the implications of such a plan gelling over time and functioning as a well oiled machine. They all knew that the narco business in and around T&T was living on borrowed time.
Already startled, the organized syndicates in Trinidad and Tobago became further agitated when the Prime Minister announced his intention to purchase 3 large Offshore Patrol Vessels or OPVs to secure the coast lines as well as the Gulf of Paria. Alarm bells of panic reverberated throughout the upper echelons of the narcotics world and the united cry was "something had to be done." That something was Manning's removal from office. Two ways would've been naturally pondered, bloodletting via an assassin or constant vilification in the media. Too dangerous on various levels, the first idea would've been abandoned even before formal discussion and thus the second, the most effective way of destroying a public figure without leaving loose ends was chosen.
While his removal was being hatched the major opposition party dislodged its longstanding leader Basdeo Panday and replaced him with Kamla Persad-Bissessar, a woman touted as the poster-child for change and new politics. She was subsequently built up in the press as Trinidad and Tobago's saviour, equipped with the necessary talents and capabilities to drag the country further than any past leader. The gender issue was also exploited, abused and milked completely dry. Prime Minister Patrick Manning on the other hand was constantly demonized and chastised in the press as a tyrannical failure and arrogant megalomaniac whose tenure was inimical to the twin Republic. All of his contributions, accomplishments and hard work were conveniently forgotten or completely ignored.
Making a caricature of several controversial issues, the compromised press succeeded in forcing vast sections of the population to foolishly believe that Persad-Bissessar was an archangel perched atop a white horse and Manning a creature with cloven hooves, horns and a long tail. Convincing a populace prone to thinking with emotions is always easier than a Sunday morning and the hidden masters who controlled the media had a shinning star in this new and improved wonder woman.
The reputed father of Public Relations Edward Bernays stated that "If you manufacture an authoritative figure who repeats the same messages over and over again, this will appeal to the subconscious desires of the masses. The unwashed masses will helplessly follow the leader and go along with any message they spout." Even those who halfheartedly followed the election could easily recall Kamla Persad-Bissessar's constant repetitiveness regarding "change", "unity", "real development", "new politics" and "we will rise".
The artificially created atmosphere which heralded the May 2010 election witnessed mendacity, deceit and picong taken to novel levels. The opposition parties formed a coalition called the People's Partnership and easily trounced Manning and his PNM at the election polls. The oligarchs were triumphant; the stone in their shoes was removed and replaced with a cruel hoax. Now Trinidad and Tobago has a pathetic administration which promised deliverance of the sun, moon and all the other planets; a leader who's not only a demagogue but also has pathological issues with the creature; and verdant ministers not au courant with the realities of governing a polarized, problematic, cosmopolitan twin island nation. At an economic standstill, the country also floats dangerously near the low tides of regression.
More disturbing is the new government's meticulous dismantling of all Manning's anti-drug initiatives and the scant regard shown to securing Trinidad and Tobago's borders, coastlines and waters. Vilified as nugatory for almost a decade the feared blimp was immediately erased from the skies; accused of spying on the new Prime Minister, SAUTT's head was sacked, general operation stultified and the entire unit subsequently disbanded; the high-tec helicopters, fast patrol vessels and interceptor crafts are rarely used; no one is sure as to the current status of the radar system; and purchase of the dreaded OPVs has been permanently cancelled. The British company charged with building them has also slipped into very hot legal waters in the USA making complete the destruction of Manning's anti-narcotics machinery.
The global elite are obviously elated with Manning's removal because while they pretend to not be a part of the narcotics scene, they're in fact the owners of this multi-trillion dollar trade in the destruction of human life. It was they who created it when the decision was taken to "rightly balance trade" by dumping tons of opium on Chinese society in the 19th century via the British East India Company. They later created and introduced heroin, fomented the Vietnam War to, in part help further the availability of this addictive narcotic during the flower power period, and from the late 1970s skillfully constructed the South American cocaine cartels via transnational intelligence agencies. Some of the faces they control on the global political stage know exactly what is going down while most others are none the wiser. They supervise a mock war on drugs, ask leaders in the developing world to assist them in this farce and cut those leaders down if they display any genuine desire to fight the trade. Like their stooge Karl Marx, they continue to turn Hegel on his head.
Former Prime Minister Patrick Manning was a victim of this type of duplicity and many of those in the Trinidad and Tobago media who viciously maligned him were prostituted in the interest of the sinister narcotic enterprise. Others jumped on the Manning bashing bandwagon without asking from whence it came or what its destination was. The smear campaign against him had nothing, in reality to do with John Calder Hart and UDECOTT, the Guanapo Church, The Property Tax, the Trinidad and Tobago Revenue Authority, smelter, squandermania and constructing tall buildings. These issues, important as they were, were only used to hide the real motive for the sustained media attacks on the Prime Minister. Manning and his OPVs et al stood in the way of the smooth continuation of a multi-trillion dollar illegal business venture which involves the waters and coastlines of, along with a lot of seemingly legitimate individuals from, Trinidad and Tobago. His plans also threatened the opulent but dishonest livelihood of others in South America, the Caribbean, North America, Africa and Europe.
Today you can hear citizens in wonderland and without a clue as to what is really going on still blaming Manning for "mashing up the PNM" while others, embarrassed by the raw incompetence of the new government they supported, claim that Manning was the problem and not the PNM. This is precisely what the global elitist; Caribbean oligarchs; the long list of dishonest money laundering business people and venal politicians desires all and sundry to forever believe. Trinbagonians were hoodwinked, bamboozled, flimflammed, swindled, fooled and lied to by a compromised, reliably uniformed media all in the name of DRUGS. What a lowdown, dirty shame it all is.
