GUYANA MEDIA TREATED WITH CONTEMPT BY US CONGRESSMEN

Aug 25, 2018 Letters

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Dear Editor,

Even amidst the flurry of social media posts yesterday (22nd August, 2018) about the aftershock tremor that hit Guyana around 9:30 am, it was hard to miss the rumble that came from Denis Scott Chabrol on his Facebook page.
Mr Chabrol and other members of the media were barred from questioning the visiting American Congressmen and given restrictions about the content that they could publish. Any time that the press is treated contemptuously in this country, it is an act of contempt against the people of this nation and an assault on democracy. This current government has repeatedly disrespected the press, and the public keeps overlooking it. However, this occasion is the clearest statement yet that we have a leadership crisis at the highest level of Government. The Government of Guyana is so impressed with a small visit to Guyana by a few US Lawmen; it values the interests and concerns of American Congressmen over and above the interests and rights of Guyanese citizens so much that it would kick its own press. The behaviour of the Government of Guyana is nothing short of pathetic and disgraceful. The people of this nation need no further evidence that the country is being run a set of individuals who are cozy with ‘secrecy’, ‘wheeling and dealing’ and not at all knowledgeable nor comfortable with statesmanship and professional negotiations. We need no further evidence that the Granger-led administration is incapable of negotiating with Oil Companies nor can they adequately represent the Guyanese people. Mr Chabrol expressed shock and disbelief: “To think that Guyanese elected officials, with some media background, will be co-conspirators in this scheme of neo-colonialism is heart-wrenching.”
Let us be clear that no American Congressman disrespected the people of this nation. The contempt came from our own spineless Government. Well, Governments come and governments go, but the people of the country remain. We have in office a set of individuals who have behaved, from the onset, as if they have no need for the people of this nation, as if they are in power forever. They have disappointed their supporters from their earliest days in office and now they are failing the entire nation as they are showing ever so clearly their lack of self-respect in their deep starry-eyed reverence for ExxonMobil and the US Government officials. The Government may be weak and may have no self-respect and no self-confidence, but they do not represent the rest of us in this nation.
The sad consequence of this weakness of the current administration is that it is setting a precedent for how oil companies will negotiate with our nation. If the oil companies are able to deal with the Government of Guyana as if it is a band of brigands or incompetents, any future administration attempting to negotiate professionally will be kept out of power, by virtue of political interference. The people of this country are slowly waking up to the fact that we are already in trouble.
We are a peaceful people, struggling we struggle. The last thing that any Guyanese wishes to do is to antagonize the United States of America. We have lived through tumultuous times, including a long brutal dictatorship which included nationalisation, and we have lived and survived the wrath of international sanctions. What we have learned from American interference in our politics is that American interference is driven by fear. When the fear disappeared, the US Government itself helped Guyana return to democracy in 1992. When it comes to oil, it is critically important that the People of Guyana, not the politicians, develop our own understanding of what oil and gas resources means to the rest of the world. In order to remove their reliance on politicians, we, the people, need to give assurance to the oil companies that we support their access to oil resources found within our nation’s boundaries. In tiny Trinidad and Tobago, governments come and go, but the oil industry remains unaffected. We need, more than anything else, political stability in this country. Unfortunately, the way negotiations are taking place under the current administration are leading us down a path to hell. The Government of Guyana is showing no backbone, no strength of character, no vision and no respect for its own people.
The time has come, for each and every one of us Guyanese citizens to understand that there is substantial oil and gas resources within our boundaries. We know about Iraq and Libya and other oil rich nations. As Denis Chabrol expressed it, he was ‘Smelling POO (Power of Oil).’ Well, we are now faced with the POO and, as a nation; we need to deal with it condignly. And it needs not have a disastrous outcome. It is critically important that we get this right. There needs to be a U-turn in the Government of Guyana’s pathetic attitude to dealing with our oil and gas resources. This will only come about if the people demand it. A government with a dictatorial attitude that does not listen to the will of the people will have to be voted out of office.
Guyanese must understand that oil companies have the technology and are expending tremendous amounts of resources to access the oil. We must also understand what has happened in Venezuela with ExxonMobil and we MUST be sensitive to the fears of this company. We need open discussions, transparency and partnership, not secret meetings. We are already seeing that we cannot allow politicians to articulate our narrative. The people of this country need to express our feelings about the oil and gas industry. We also need to demand respect, statesmanship, professional negotiation instead of the nonsense that prevails. We don’t need handouts and ExxonMobil throwing money around, corrupting everyone in the process. We don’t need Conservation International giving handouts to our indigenous communities. The development of the Indigenous communities is the responsibility of the Government of Guyana. We need some self-respect and sanity to be restored to this nation. What we need most of all in this country is a strong Government of Guyana, supported by a professional and truly independent Public Service, committed to the development of all the people of Guyana.
The People of Guyana need to intervene now to arrest the tide of stupidity that is flowing in this nation around Oil and Gas. We cannot allow foreigners and weak politicians to corrupt our future and lead us down the path of neo-colonialism. We need a more intelligent class of politicians to save us from the POO and to set us instead along a path to political stability, peace and development.
Sincerely,

S. Khan

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