BONUS EPISODE 3: "Crisis at the Border" - A Conversation with Clairmont Chung

In this special bonus episode, Pablo engages Guyanese filmmaker, public intellectual and writer, Clairmont Chung, in a meaningful conversation about Mr Chung's recently published essay titled, "Saving the Essequibo from Becoming Another Gaza". Guyana sits on the northern coast of South America bordered by the Brazil, Venezuela, Surinam and the Caribbean Sea to the south, west, east and north respectively. Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, emboldened by a recent referendum in which 90 % of voters (11 % voter-turnout reported) pledged support for Venezuela's annexation of oil-rich Essequibo, two-thirds of Guyana's territory, in violation of international law, said he would soon be giving out licenses for oil-exploration in Essequibo, among other annexation plans. Is it all bark and no bite? Will Venezuela invade Guyana and seize Essequibo? Or is there much more to this border dispute than meets the casual eye? And what about EXXON and the US? And what are the similarities between Gaza, Ukraine and Essequibo? "IT'S THE OIL, STUPID!" ~ Clairmont declares. In his thoughtful editorial, Mr Chung writes, "European nations fought endless wars among themselves and against Indigenous peoples to annex the world and to divide it among their empires. After all that, they get to preside over border disputes they created. There lies the problem." In a related article on Wired868.com, international agreements by colonial and neocolonial empires are described as  “the fruit of the poisonous tree”. Hmmm.... Please watch and share this episode, then join the conversation on Facebook @PabloSpeaks AYO