Mintoff, Gaddafi and Mao

So according to I.M. Beck, Malta needed saving in Dom Mintoff's era from the likes of Ceaucescu, Kim il Sung, Gaddafi and Mao. Apparently he read this in a recently published book. Whoever thinks or lets it cross his mind that Mr Mintoff could ever play second fiddle to any one of the above-mentioned has made the worst analysis of who Mr Mintoff was or still is, for that matter. Mr Mintoff never ever could be used by anyone on the world or local political stage (ask Alfred Sant). He was a born maverick if ever there was one.

From Col Gaddafi he purchased oil for the Maltese at a price well below the international price. That Col Gaddafi was ostracised was not because he was some warmonger but because he managed to control the fruit of his country's oil for his own people and not let the Americans dictate to his country. So thanks, Col Gaddafi. The only person who went to Lybia to sip kahwa with Col Gaddafi after he stopped us from drilling for oil in a disputed area was Eddie Fenech Adami, then Leader of the Opposition. Mr Mintoff took Col Gaddafi to the international court and we won our rights without going to war.

As for Mr Ceaucescu, I once saw a photo of the Queen of England sitting with that not-so-nice fellow in a royal car. The Queen did not approve his actions.

Kim il Sung helped us in the way he could. He sent our farmers shiploads of fertilisers for free. He supplied us with guns which we would have had to buy anyway for our army. The ones who should have complained were the Western countries that lost the market for guns which they try to swamp every country with, of course at a cost. About chairman Mao I suggest only that I.M. Beck and his ilk go to the Upper Barraka and have a look at that Red China Dock. Come to think of it, we did not have to pay back the Chinese in gold (the people's) for the loan they extended to us. So we were told by the economical gurus of that era.

As for the economic state of those years, our airline was set up from scratch and was making money, Sea Malta was set up and making money etc. Our kitty was full, some €900 milion in the black as against €3.2 billion in the red that we are experiencing now.

May I suggest to I. M. Beck that there is more than one way to interpret history, and that includes a Maltese point of view.