Dr Luncheon somersaults on WikiLeaks

Sep 07, 2011 News

Leaked cables, in which US embassy officials claimed that President Jagdeo pushed the embassy to revoke the visa of Police Commissioner Henry Greene, among other revelations, are but hearsay, opinions and unsubstantiated statements, Dr Roger Luncheon, the government’s chief spokesperson, said yesterday at the Presidential Complex.
“The overall mood is that the leaks by far and large reflect predominantly opinion, predominantly unsubstantiated statements,” Luncheon asserted.
However, when the state media (Chronicle and GTV) and the one owned by the Head of State, reported on WikiLeaks comments about the Publisher of Kaieteur News, neither Dr Luncheon nor President Jagdeo stopped to think that they were promoting predominantly unsubstantiated statements.
And they did so for three consecutive days.
“It would seem that it is only when the bug bites the government that these reports are dishonest and damaging,” said one member of the diplomatic community, when approached for a comment.
Dr Luncheon accused sections of the media, whom he said pander to an “anti-government” stance, of selectively reporting on the contents of the cables. However, while Luncheon and other government officials have sought to discredit the cables, the state-owned and controlled entities have been reporting selectively on the contents of the cables.
The government media was doing the same but he remained silent when this was happening.
Dr Luncheon said that the contents of the leaked cables show “the level of the hearsay, the level of opinions, and the level of unsubstantiated statements” that frequently formed and became part of the US embassy’s report to its headquarters in Washington.
However, he pointed out that the US administration does not wholly rely on reports from the State Department, but also from agencies that are housed within US missions, such as representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and Trade and Political Affairs directorates.
He said that the reports of the latter representatives are at least thought to be, more factual and give some balance.
On the flip side, Dr Luncheon said the records would show the zeal with which the cooperation between the government here and the Americans is pursued, and “the lengths to which we have both gone to enable the diplomatic relationship to be fostered and grow.”
He said the records show how zealously the government has defended this country’s sovereignty and national interests, but he also hinted at interference on the part of the US government.
“I don’t want to say how interfering and how involved…,” Luncheon said, adding that “much of their interventions in Guyana are of a sort prescribed in their national legislations.”

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Dr Luncheon somersaults on WikiLeaks

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