Unmoored in Westmoorings December 5
I found a decent doctor nearby, I only hope I can keep him. He is thorough and able, but he is not cheap—nor are his patients. His practice seems to specialize in diseases of the wealthy, and his comfortable poolside reception area in Regency Gardens is a picture of the good life. To share the spirit, I lift a copy of The Westerly, a monthly opinion newspaper that boasts a readership of “thinkers, doers, and true patriots.“ These are the one-percenters so despised by the ninety-nine-percenters, and I am living among them. Indeed, I am working for them. And while I am compensated for my complicity—over a billion Venezuelan bolivars, by some estimates—the hidden price gnaws, which The Westerly reminds me, in oversize gloss. Between profiles of a model-shipbuilder and a gourd-headed squash champion, lined with advertisements for management professionals and gourmet shops and cosmetic treatments, there is a harmonious chorus of opinion:
“You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.“
“You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.“
“Declining patriotism, increasing citizen emphasis on what can be gained from national development rather than on what can be contributed, and poor worker attitudes—all serve to weaken the society.“
The Westerly blames socialism, pointing to Havana and Caracas as cautionary examples. 18-billion dollars were wasted to keep thousands employed for so long at Petrotrin. Make-work policies and subsidies, coupled with “sensual laissez-faire culture,“ have crippled the country. “We agree some temporary programs may be necessary,“ Opinion concedes, presenting a list which includes school lunches, prosthetics, and disaster relief. The real concern is that the disaster is already here.
But there is at least one solution to Trinidad’s stagnation: “It’s time to privatize tourism.“ Starting August 2019 and yearly thereafter, “an expo celebrating all nationalities“ is proposed for a week on Queen’s Park Savanah, the biggest roundabout in the whole wide world! “Tourists will experience our diverse cultures, our entertainment, food, dance and shows from each country represented, for an entrance fee and tickets sold to each activity. This is not a holiday, the work days in T&T continue, we will earn money, but after hours we can join in the celebration and fun.“ Sounds like a riot, or at least the fuel for one.
Today my doctor’s office at Regency Gardens is surrounded by Special Operations Response Team (SORT), helmeted, black-masked, and armed to the hilt. Police Commissioner Gary Griffith is on the scene, in open defiance of those who threaten to kill him and his wife. Through the bars of the gated community, he gives an impromptu press conference (something unheard of in Mexico), in which he confirms that the illicit contraband is worth more than $10 million TT. Five people are in custody. He brushes aside rumors that one of the suspects is the stepdaughter of a senior government minister. He vehemently denies that one of those captured is an informant, calling the allegation “fake news.“
Bravado is about all that the Commissioner can offer at this point. With the fall of civil order in Venezuela, the Colombian cartels can move their product relatively freely through Port of Spain, and the built-in security of Westmoorings-by-the-Sea provides obvious safe harbor for the next leg north—until today. Any message to the powers that be? “Happy hour ov-uh,“ replies Griffith, folding his arms and raising the fur on his shoulders.