VENEZUELA – PAST, PRESENT AND THEN?

“WHERE?” people ask, “will US missiles land next?” Panama?

- BRIAN INGPEN

Ottawa? Greenland? Tehran? Pretoria? Which leader will be abducted next? Will Putin or Xi-Jinping emulate the US model to conduct their own similar missions against their adversaries?While some might celebrate the Venezuelan leader’s involuntary departure, the principle remains that a country’s sovereign integrity should be respected. It seems that the US, like Putin, has little regard for the niceties in life.

When a handlanger in Safmarine about six decades ago, I had a range of duties, among which was updating the ships’ voyage records lest, in an emergency, crewmembers might have to be flown to join a vessel. Although my geographical knowledge was good, I discovered ports of which I had not heard. Among these was La Guaira in Venezuela.

Apart from an occasional bunkering stop at Trinidad where some cargo was discharged, La Guaira often was the first port of call by Safmarine's Victory or Global ships on the hectic service to Central America and the US.

La Guaira was founded around 1600 as the gateway to the then tiny settlement called Caracas, but its current semi-blockade by a large US naval fleet is not the first, and the coast has known conflict between various Spanish, English and pirate ships over the centuries. Thus, the arrival of the US fleet - including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford - is the latest but certainly the greatest threat to the Venezuelan port and indeed to the country.

About 40 nautical miles off the Venezuelan coast is the island of Curacao, a country within The Netherlands.