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Black Immigrant Daily News

Here we go again!!! Venezuela’s kvetching that Pres Ali declared before the General Assembly last month: “In the matter of Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity – challenged and threatened by Venezuela as it is, we remain – to quote the Secretary General at the opening of the General Debate yesterday – “committed to make the most of every diplomatic tool for the pacific settlement of disputes, as set out in the Charter of the United Nations.” The tool, of course, was “judicial settlement” – as recommended by the Secretary General!!

Can you imagine that?? Venezuela’s Maduro’s bitching that we used the forum – the UN system of which it’s a member along with some TWO HUNDRED OTHER COUNTRIES – to settle the controversy they precipitated back in 1962!! Payback’s a bitch!! At that time, ironically, it was conniving with the US that wanted to get rid of the PPP Government under Cheddi Jagan. It was another prong to the CIA-inspired riots unleashed in the country on Black Friday, Feb 16 1962!! Now the shoe’s on the other foot!! On our own, we’d taken refuge to the World Court back in March 2018 and it confirmed in 2020 that it had the jurisdiction! Now Venezuela had already officially complained that it doesn’t recognise the World Court’s jurisdiction…so what’s their point now??

The bottom line in 1962…and the bottom line now…is that it doesn’t matter who’s in power in Venezuela, it’s an article of faith to every man jack in that country that Essequibo is theirs!! It’s taught to every schoolchild…it’s in every book…on every map that Essequibo is their Zona Reclamacion…the zone to be reclaimed because they wuz robbed by the big, bad British back in 1899!! In the twists and turns of history, the Americans were then wary of British expansionism and they were the ones that arranged the Tribunal to begin with!! As the golden rule of International Affairs declares – there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies – just permanent interests.

So while we’re condemning Maduro for not holding elections and keeping their Opposition out, let’s be reminded that it doesn’t matter who heads that opposition – capitalist Guido or communist Maduro!! If either gets into power, they’ll use that power to try annexing Essequibo!! And let’s not forget that they have the largest oil reserves in the WORLD – THREE HUNDRED BILLION compared to our 11 billion. If an American-friendly Government takes over, who’d you think the US is gonna back if push comes to shove?? Interests baby, interests!!

Anyhow, our Opposition should be issuing very strong statements condemning Venezuelan bullyism. Jagan did back in the day – even though Burnham had just pulled off one of his several election riggings!!Let’s hear it Aubrey…all for one (Guyana) and one (Guyana) for all!!

…the outside provocateurs

Let’s face it…while your Eyewitness thinks overseas Guyanese also want what’s best for Guyana, because they’re not here to live with the consequences of some of their suggestions, you’d hope they’d be a bit more circumspect in their advice. Why would some push for a return to “slow fyaah; mo’ fyaah”?? Even a return of the “freedom fighters”?!! Did those strategies fix whatever it was the PNC was complaining about back then?? Aren’t those the identical complaints being ventilated now? “Discrimination”…”marginalization”…”ethnic cleansing”…”elections rigging””??But in addition to not fixing the problems, have our outside peeps considered the EFFECTS of those strategies on the PPP’s AND PNC’s constituencies?? Hasn’t Guyana lost a whole generation on the killing fields of Georgetown and the East Coast – from both sides of the divide?? Does the “satisfaction” of saying “me gie dem good!!” justify the callusing of the moral fibre of those who were recruited to do the killing – on both sides of the divide??Some said, “Not in my name”.

…corruption

Surely the PPP Government can’t be surprised at the crescendo of corruption complaints. With more money flooding the system – and human nature remaining the same mixture of the sacred and the profane – what else can be expected.But forewarned should’ve been “forearmed”!!

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Black Immigrant Daily News

NEW YORK (AP) — Incidents of fraud and scams are occurring more often on the popular peer-to-peer payment service Zelle, according to a report issued Monday by the office of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, giving the public its first glimpse into the growing problems at Zelle.

The report also found that the large banks that partly own Zelle have been reluctant to compensate customers who have been victims of fraud or scams. For instance, less than half of the money customers reported being sent via Zelle without authorization was being reimbursed.

Warren, D-Massachusetts, a long-time critic of the big banks, requested data on fraud and scams on Zelle from seven banks starting in April. The report cites data from four banks that tallied 192,878 cases worth collectively $213.8 million in 2021 and the first half of 2022 where a customer claimed they had been fraudulently tricked into making a payment. In only roughly 3,500 cases did those banks reimburse the customer, the report found.

Further, in the cases where it’s clear funds had been taken out of customers’ accounts without authorization, only 47 per cent of those dollars were ever reimbursed.

Since being launched in June 2017, Zelle has become a popular way for bank customers to send money to friends and family. Almost $500 billion in funds were sent via Zelle in 2021, according to Early Warning Services, the company that operates Zelle.

Zelle is the banking industry’s answer to the growing popularity of peer-to-peer payment services like PayPal, Venmo and the Cash App. The service allows a bank customer to instantaneously send money to a person via their email or phone number, and it will go from one bank account to another. More than 1,700 banks and credit unions offer the service. But the service has also grown more popular with scammers and criminals.

Once money is sent via Zelle, it requires a bank’s intervention to attempt to get that money back.

The cases of growing fraud and scams at Zelle have been highlighted in previous news reports, including two by The New York Times. But those stories cited mostly anecdotal evidence. Early Warning Services has previously said that 99.9 per cent of all transactions happen without complaints of fraud or scams. A group of Democratic senators asked for usage data on Zelle after the report in The New York Times.

Banks are required under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to repay customers when funds are illegally taken out of their account without authorization. Banks have argued that in cases of fraud — meaning a customer’s account becomes compromised somehow and they send an unauthorized payment — they do reimburse customers. Banks are more reluctant to reimburse customers who claim to have been scammed, arguing that customers would make such claims more often and it would be hard to tell whether the customer is telling the truth.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has also been looking into Zelle and other payment platforms, and is expected to issue regulations that could require banks to reimburse customers for a wider array of scams and fraud.

The banking industry, aware of Washington’s increased scrutiny of Zelle, has been on a campaign to show Zelle is a safe way to send money. The industry typically likes to point out that fraud and scam claims occur more often on the non-bank payment platforms like Venmo or the Cash App.

The data for individual banks shows the increase in fraud and scams. PNC Bank had 8,848 cases on Zelle in 2020, and is on pace to have roughly 12,300 cases this year. US Bank had 14,886 cases in 2020 and had 27,702 cases in 2021. Truist had 9,455 cases of fraud and scams on Zelle in 2020, which ballooned to 22,045 last year.

In response to Warren’s report, Zelle’s owner said the increased cases reflected the fact the service has become more popular.

“Zelle usage has grown significantly since its launch, from 247 million transactions in 2017 to 1.8 billion in 2021, while the proportion of fraud and scams has steadily decreased,” Early Warning Services said in a statement.

Warren made fireworks at a congressional hearing last month involving most of the CEOs of the big Wall Street banks that use and partly own Zelle, where she pushed each of the CEOs to release fraud and scam incident data at their banks. The seven are JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, PNC Financial, Truist, Bank of America, Capital One and US Bank.

The hearing featured an exchange where Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, apologized to Warren for not getting her the data she requested and promised she would have it at the end of that day.

Warren’s office says ultimately JPMorgan’s data on Zelle did not provide the information they were looking for, so data from JPMorgan is not included in the report. The other banks that did not provide data to Warren’s office were Wells Fargo and Capital One. JPMorgan did not return a request for comment.

By Ken Sweet

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

News

Marissa Edwards –

MURDERED mother Marissa Edwards was beaten and strangled, her autopsy revealed.

Edwards, 39, was an administrative clerk at the Department of Paraclinical Sciences at UWI’s Faculty of Medicine. Her decomposing body was found in a drain in Waterloo on September 26, just over a week after she was reported missing.

Her boyfriend Simeon Roopchand’s body was found hanging in the Tabaquite forest on September 24, four days after his car was found abandoned a kilometre away.

Speaking with Newsday on Monday afternoon, Edwards’ sister Lisa Edwards said according to the autopsy report, Edwards died of blunt force trauma and strangulation with a copper wire, which was found around her neck.

Lisa Edwards said the funeral for her sister will be finalised by the end of the week.

Since the discovery of her body, there have been nightly wakes.

“This is like a blessing in disguise, because she really liked her gospel music, so we get the chance to play that for those who are coming.”

She said she wondered how her sister spent her final moments as she expressed her anger at how she died.

Last Friday both the principal of UWI, St Augustine campus, Prof Rose-Marie Belle Antoine and Dr Sue Ann Barratt, head of UWI’s Institute for Gender and Development Studies, denounced Edwards’ killing.

In a media release Antoine said the killing of Edwards was irrational and pointed to “deep-seated defects” in society that needs to be addressed.

Barratt said: “We call for an ‘all-of-society approach’ in identifying, and eliminating all forms of tolerance that facilitate the growth, expression and acceptance of these interlocking and varied forms of violence.”

Edwards was one of two women murdered in September. The other was Krystal Long, who was first believed to have died after falling during a night of binge drinking.

Long, the 37-year-old mother of three, died on September 9, after going out drinking with a man she had known for just over a year. Her autopsy, done on September 19, said she died of multiple blunt force injuries. She was buried on September 23.

Long’s male friend was arrested at his Arima home last week in relation to her death.

Relatives told Newsday Long was afraid of the man, who used to beat her. One of the occasions, weeks before she died, was recorded on camera and showed a man dragging Long by the hair into a car, which drove off.

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

Interview

Samedi, à la résidence départementale du Gosier, il était question d’autonomie et d’évolution institutionnelle. A l’initiative du président du Département, élus et universitaires ont joint leurs réflexions lors d’un séminaire débat parmi eux, Fred Reno, professeur de science politique à l’Université des Antilles.

France-Antilles Guadeloupe

1423 mots – 03.10.2022

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