Online Reporter
Communion with Bishop Lazarus
Howdy folks. It feels so good to be back.
Belated complements of the new season.
If you are reading this, it means God the Almighty has given you the undeserved grace and favour to see what looks like a consequential and eventful new year.
With multiple major events packed in the first 38 days of the year, as fleeting days and weeks continue to zoom by, it already feels like it is going to be a very long year.
On January 3, before the hangover of the festive season binge had hardly worn off, Bishop Lazi, just like the other eight billion souls across the world, woke up to the stunning — if not “discombobulating” (confusing) — news of the capture of Nicolás Maduro Moros and his wife Cilia Flores by the Americans, amid smouldering Caracas skies that had been surgically prized open by the symphony of American firepower.
It was a typical brazen and intrusive American operation that was scripted to coincide with the 36th anniversary of a similar raid and capture of former CIA asset, Panama’s Manuel Noriega.
In the immediate aftermath of this naked invasion of another sovereign state, the Americans, as they are always wont to do, packaged this egregious and unwarranted act of violence, through which 32 Cuban military personnel and hundreds of brave Venezuelans met a savage end, as a genius show of unrivalled military might.
Save for the seven American soldiers that were wounded — if American propaganda from crowing officials is to be believed — the US elite forces suffered no casualties.
But it seems Washington was more than determined to project its supposed military supremacy, as it began sponsoring the myth that its elite forces had used a hitherto unknown sophisticated sonic weapon that not only effortlessly disabled Venezuelan radar and defence systems but also mystically immobilised Maduro’s security.
What began as a whisper slowly morphed into mainstream newspaper reports that a mystery weapon had been deployed to neutralise Caracas forces.
“We were hundreds, but we had no chance. They were shooting with such precision and speed . . . it seemed like each soldier was firing 300 rounds per minute. We couldn’t do anything,” incredulously claimed a purported anonymous (likely fictitious) Venezuelan soldier.
“At one point, they launched something — I don’t know how to describe it . . . it was like a very intense sound wave. Suddenly I felt like my head was exploding from the inside. We all started bleeding from the nose. Some were vomiting blood. We fell to the ground, unable to move.”
These rumours, whispers and reports were ultimately given wings by Donald Trump when he told the media that the secret weapon, which he described as “The Discombobulator”, had the formidable capability of making the equipment of Venezuelan soldiers malfunction.
This is the razzmatazz of American war propaganda, which is meant to cast Uncle Sam as an invincible warrior that is not to be messed with.
But if you have lived long enough like Bishop Lazi, you would know that America is anything but invincible.
Where was “The Discombobulator” when the US failed to defeat the tenacious Viet Cong in Vietnam, culminating in that famous April 29, 1975 picture by Dutch photojournalist Hubert Van Es that immortalised the chaotic final hours of Operation Frequent Wind, through which American citizens and allied South Vietnamese were hastily evacuated, tail between their legs, from Saigon as the Viet Cong closed in?
Where was “The Discombobulator” when three American Black Hawk helicopters were shot down by Mohammed Farah Aidid’s men in October 1993, resulting in the capture of an American pilot, Michael Durant, and the unforgettable horrific footage of bodies of American servicemen being dragged through the dusty streets of Mogadishu?
And more recently, where was “The Discombobulator” when American troops, again with tails between their legs, beat a hasty retreat and left Kabul, Afghanistan, in a huff on August 30, 2021, marking the end of a two-decade-long campaign against the sandal-wearing and AK47-wielding Taliban?
The greatest lesson we learn throughout history is that no weapon can be so sophisticated to defeat the collective tenacity and willpower of a people. None!
It is a painful lesson that even colonial forces painfully learnt in Africa, particularly in Zimbabwe, which endured probably the longest and arduous struggle for independence.
But get it from the Bishop, it was not “The Discombobulator” that led to Maduro’s capture.
He was actually sold out by those closest to him, who gave critical intelligence to the CIA and deliberately compromised Venezuela’s command and security apparatus to allow American troops unimpeded passage to complete their mission.
You see, the most dangerous enemy is not the enemy without but the enemy within.
The coming struggle
Everyone, except the lunatic fringe, now knows that, shorn of the rehearsed talking points from Washington that sought to cast Maduro as a drug cartel boss in order to sanitise the subjugation of Caracas, the reason for the invasion of Venezuela was for its oil, which America desperately needs to give its ailing economy a fighting chance.
You might not see it, but Washington, as an inexorably declining empire, is currently in the throes of an existential struggle, especially as a new power rises from the East.
In its desperation to cling on to its fast-waning status, it has now dispensed with the diplomatic niceties and pretences in favour of “discombobulating diplomacy”, through which it literally holds the gun to the heads of sovereign states to force them to part with their resources.
It is a desperation that betrays the fall of the modern-day Babylon.
When Bishop Lazi thinks about America, he cannot help but reflect on Revelations 18:9-13:
“When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry:
“‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!’
“The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes anymore — cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves.”
It is not fortuitous that countries that are presently in America’s crosshairs hold critical minerals and resources that it needs the most to sustain its wealth.
Iran, which might be soon under siege, if not already, has one distinct similarity with Venezuela — fabulous oil deposits.
Not that America does not produce enough oil for its own consumption.
Far from it, it is rather hell-bent on safeguarding the “petrodollar” through ensuring the perpetuation of a market in which most of the world’s oil is sold in the US dollar, providing an anchor for the fiat currency that continues to be printed and churned out by the US Federal Reserve.
The day the dollar collapses is the day America, as we know it, spectacularly collapses.
This is why those who challenge the system always meet a bloody end — Muammar Gaddafi easily comes to mind.
As the ground slowly shifts from beneath its feet, Washington is now foraging for minerals as it seeks to build supply chains that will make it keep up in its great-power rivalry and contestation with China.
Recent announcements of “Project Vault”, a US plan to create a US$12 billion strategic stockpile of critical minerals, and the formation of a US-EU rare-earth alliance, are ominous for Africa, which is scandalously rich in these minerals.
As hosts to these minerals, which now increasingly define the future of global power, the continent is again in the spotlight.
One would assume that we are now wiser than before.
We need to ensure that this time we find ourselves on the table as partners and not as part of the menu.
We are already seeing a lot of mischief in West Africa, where colonial forces are tirelessly working to overthrow “uncooperative” regimes in favour of pliant ones.
The choices we make today will ultimately define the future of the continent.
This is why President ED’s message at the World Governments Summit in Dubai last week, both on Venezuela and global alignment, continues to reverberate in world capitals.
“We don’t need to please the West or please the East. We please ourselves,” he said.
It was a terse response, which, however, held a deeper meaning.
Africa has to look out for its own interests and leverage its own minerals to create the best outcomes for its people.
As we have seen in Venezuela, the imperialists and colonisers will stop at nothing to get their way.
We need to be smarter — our lives and future depend on it.
Bishop out!
Tinaye Agere