Mark Wignall | This is what suits Trump

The reader recently wrote to me on the current situation in Venezuela.

“The first time I wrote to you was many years ago when I offered you the chance to compare a verse selection from Kipling that closely mirrored a set of governmental-connected murders that had just been committed in Jamaica. It was that crazy time again and you would have understood and made the perverse connections.

“I know a lot of Appleton has flowed under the bridge since then but perhaps you may recall the occasions. This is just a note on the very strong motive that is (quite apart from his other lusts) a solid reason for Mr. Trump’s desire for the special type of black gold in Venezuela.

“Here is an extract that may interest you. Clustered along the US Gulf Coast are some of the largest and most complex heavy oil refineries in the world. These sprawling industrial hubs owned by major oil companies stand ready to emerge as some of the major victors of Donald Trump’s swoop on Venezuela.”

“In some ways these refineries are a relic of another time; built to process the heavy, unctuous crude imported from Latin America before the boom in lighter shale oil emerged earlier this century.”

Venezuelan oil is particularly dense and sticky. The high sulphur crude more closely resembles a semi solid tar than the far clearer liquids produced in US shale heartlands, making it more difficult to extract and process into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and feedstock for the chemical industry. But it is exactly what many refineries there were built to treat.

As a result, the US remains a major importer of crude to feed its refineries despite being one of the biggest oil exporters in the world. Access to Venezuelan crude at an attractive price could play an important role in sating Trump’s appetite for cheap energy to fuel the ‘reindustrialisation’ of the US economy.

This is just what suits Trump.

They won’t have to figure out or adjust anything to know what to do with it. They are dying for it.

GOOD GOING FOR FLOYD GREEN

Agriculture Minister Floyd Green is reporting that consumers across Jamaica are now benefiting from significant reductions in vegetable prices, with market data confirming cuts raining from 14 per cent to 77 per cent across most vegetables.

Green has attributed the reduction to swift post-hurricane interventions and the strong response from farmers, which have resulted in the rapid recovery of crop agriculture. Apart from tracking the agriculture minister to ensure that he doesn’t sell us a political bag of fool-fool goods (not that he tends to be such a person), not only is it my duty as a newspaper columnist to generally track these movements but I regularly walk the aisles of supermarkets, shops and street-side vegetable stalls to gather the demands of the population and to listen to the talk of those buying (and not buying) and take the info back home and into the pages of this publication; it especially pleases to do so on a regular basis.

Long before Minister Green mined gold at the agriculture ministry I’ve been tracking him. In general I’ve found him to be an honourable man. Long before the PM placed ‘Minister’ in front of his name and ‘burdened’ him with that responsibility I’ve had him on my radar. In the wake of monster Melissa I’ve been stuck with him in a good way while watching prices inside shops, supermarkets and listening to the humming of street-side vendors.

NO REST FROM THE RESTLESS TRUMP

The online publication, Alternet writes: “Iceland demands Trump’s ambassador explain joke about taking over nation. President Donald Trump sent the military into Venezuela to seize the then-sitting president and he has since decided that the US will take over the Arctic island Greenland. Now the ambassador is making alleged jokes about Iceland, but the founding NATO member isn’t laughing.”

Politico reported Thursday that the Icelandic ambassador from the US has been called to explain himself to those in Reykjavik fearful that they’re next after Greenland.

These words of Billy Long, who Donald Trump has nominated as ambassador to Iceland, may have been said in half-hearted terms, but they are insulting to Iceland. “They may have been said without full meaning but they are insulting to Iceland and Icelanders, who have to fight for their freedom and have always been a friend of the United States,”a petition started by Icelanders said.

They are now calling on Long to be rejected as the ambassador of the island.

Mark Wignall is a political and public affairs analyst. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and mawigsr@gmail.com.