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Why wasn’t Guyana’s political issue raised at last week’s CARICOM talks?
DEAR EDITOR,
It is sickening to see that CARICOM Prime Ministers continue to ignore the damning political situation in Guyana following the Caribbean Court of Justice ruling that the December 2018 no-vote of confidence in the Guyana House of Assembly was fully constitutional, contrary to the Guyana’s jurisprudence.
We hear coming out the talks that the heads discussed the Haiti and Venezuela situations at last week’s conference in St. Lucia, but not a word on Guyana, which continues to be the spoilt child in CARICOM. This means that the entire leadership of the CARICOM is guilty of discriminatory practices when the name of Guyana boils up. Similarly, it tells us that CARICOM is playing hide-and-seek when it comes to Guyana because not a word or a drum was heard on Guyana.
Editor, what CARICOM leaders are perpetuating is lawlessness to the maximum, yet they all postures with democracy, free and fair elections and the like, when in their own caucus, there is the culprit whom they ignore at all times.
We have had it with, Forbes Burnham who was one of the initiators of CARICOM in Chaguaramas in 1973 christened as the Chaguaramas Declaration for a new leadership among the Caribbean countries, as most of them were independent or about to become. In his presence were the might of Dr. Eric Williams, Michael Manley and Errol Barrow. Burnham reportedly did what he wanted at the behest of the British Government and proportional representation. It is alleged that he stole elections after elections until former US President Jimmy Carter established his Free Elections and Democracy Grouping in Atlanta, and forced free elections under Burnham’s successor, Desmond Hoyte in 1992.
Today, in 2019, the shadows of Burnham are on play with David Granger and Moses Nagamootoo with a defaulting partnership and they were able to form Government by a one-man majority. Any child would tell you that 33 votes were more than 32, remember with 33 votes, Granger was able to govern, but the same 33 votes could not throw down the Government.
Call a CARICOM meeting and move its headquarters from Guyana, as if it continues to be present there, it would certainly signal and represent the demise of democracy and free elections in Guyana. And all leaders, both past and present, are to be held responsible for this decay in Guyana, and probably in other CARICOM countries. We are not hearing a word about Guyana. But we hear about Maduro’s actions in Venezuela. We hear about Haiti. CARICOM leadership is totally fake, false and fruitless.
I shudder to think that the CARICOM countries are on the brink of decay. CARICOM assemblies are a total waste of time and human resources. The CSME issue keeps boiling up, but decisive or fruitful decisions are on the way.
Perhaps, it is time that we scrap CARICOM and let each individual country row its own boat. Let’s take a look at what is happening with the European Union, as soon the bell would ring for its demise.
Paras Ramoutar
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