US Congressman Jeffries calls American ‘intervention’ in Guyana’s politics ‘outrageous’

May 10, 2020 News

– had formerly urged for US intervention under previous administration

Prominent American Congressman, Hakeem Jeffries, has called what he termed US interventions in Guyana’s politics as “outrageous” and urged that that the Trump administration seek to fix its own issues of elections and foreign interference before seeking to meddle in Guyana’s.

The press release, published on Congresswoman Yvette Clarke’s official website, on Clarke’s and Jeffries’ 2015 letter to John Kerry.

Responding to an online interview question from A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) activist Rickford Burke, about whether the US government’s pronouncements on the developments in the wake of the post-elections controversy were appropriate, Jeffries was adamant.

“Not at all,” Jeffries said, “and the United States government needs to cut it out.”

Of the global players that have repeatedly insisted that Guyana’s controversy-riddled 2020 electoral process should be transparently resolved, the United States has been most strident in hinting at consequences if it is not, with criticisms coming most importantly from US State Department officials including resident Ambassador, Sarah-Ann Lynch; White House Assistance Secretary for Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Michael Kozak; and Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.

Jeffries, former corporate lawyer is current Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and a rising star of the Democratic party since he began representing New York’s 8th Congressional District in 2013. He has been one of the more strident critics of the administration of Donald Trump, voting in favour of all two articles of impeachment against the American president last December and serving as one of several house managers of Trump’s impeachment trial when the President was charged with soliciting Ukrainian intervention in US elections. Trump was charged after asking Ukrainian government officials for evidence of corruption against Hunter Biden, son of then Democratic frontrunner, now nominee in this year’s US presidential elections, Joe Biden.

Congressman Hakeem Jeffries.

In his interview with Burke, Jeffries drew a connection between the Ukraine scandal and his position on the Trump administration’s current policy on Guyana’s elections.

“The Ukrainians,” Jeffries stressed, “shouldn’t be involved in an American election, the Chinese shouldn’t be involved in an American election, the Russians shouldn’t be involved in an American election – that’s a settled principle. At the same time, if we are alarmed at foreign interference in our electoral process, why in the world is the United States government engaging in foreign interference in the affairs of an independent nation in Guyana? It’s outrageous.”

In response to several questions Burke posted to him, Jeffries expanded on the concept of the principle of non-intervention, saying that the US can “broadly look” at assuring that elections are run smoothly, and that such affairs fell the House Committee on Foreign Relations, currently chaired by Democrat Eliot Engel. Jeffries contrasted the US government’s policy on Guyanese elections and it’s own current electoral troubles:
“I do find it somewhat ironic that at the same time when the US government may be trying to direct Guyana as to how it should conduct itself in the form of an election, that we’ve been so irresponsible in many parts of the country, like in Wisconsin where there is a refusal to permit universal access to mail-in voting and you compel people to vote in densely packed polling sites as was done in a Wisconsin election in early April in a manner that may have contributed to community spread in terms of COVID-19. So it seems to me that we are not in a position to tell anybody, until we get our own act together as it relates to how faithfully we conduct a free, fair election that protects the wellbeing of the American people, that we are not necessarily in a position to tell anybody else about how to go about doing their job.”

A question in the interview, dealing with possible sanctions depending on the outcome of the current situation, was cut on both the video published on Burke’s page as well as a Youtube publication of the interview. Also heavily edited was Jeffries’ response, parts of which returned to his earlier theme of non-intervention.

“Now traditionally,” Jeffries offered, “we can monitor how democracy is playing itself out in different parts of the world, but to interfere in such an extraordinary way and in a manner that appears to favour one party, the opposition party, potentially to the detriment of the ruling party, is deeply troubling to a lot of us in Washington DC…”

This position, however, seems to contrast with the congressman’s past interventions in this country’s politics, particularly five years ago when he and congresswoman Yvette Clarke had written then US Secretary of State, John Kerry, on February 2nd of 2015, urging that the Obama administration official look into the President Donald Ramotar’s behavior. The correspondence in part read:

“We are deeply concerned by the decision of President Donald Ramotar of Guyana to dissolve the National Assembly when members started to debate a motion of no confidence. Democracy cannot exist without the consent of the government – in a republic such as the United States or Guyana, expressed by their elected representatives. Under the Constitution of Guyana, the National Assembly has the authority to enact a motion of no confidence which, if successful, requires general elections within three months. The apparent attempt by President Ramotar to prevent general elections has effectively disenfranchised the people of Guyana by precluding a majority of the members of the National Assembly from acting in the interests of their constituents. We urge Secretary of State Kerry to investigate this situation in collaboration with the community of nations and to work with elected officials in Guyana to secure fair elections in which the people the ability to control the future of their nation.”

At the time, Ramotar, faced with the threat of a no confidence motion, was in his third month of the prorogation of parliament but had just two weeks earlier, after tremendous pressure from local and international stakeholders, already named March 11 as the date for elections. Four months later, at a mid-June APNU+AFC victory rally in Brooklyn, Jeffries was one of the special guest speakers, where he outlined the role that he and other US politicians personally played in ensuring that Guyana conducted “a free and fair election”, adding that the work is not all done yet. He stressed, in that speech, that he would make sure that he stands with the coalition government against all enemies, both domestic and foreign.
Jeffries’ interview with the New York-based Burke came a day after US State Department Director of Caribbean Affairs of the Western Hemisphere, Katherine Dueholm had reiterated the country’s policy on Guyana – that the process must be conducted in a credible and transparent manner – during an audio-conference with the Guyana International Inclusive Alliance (GIIA), a diaspora group.