Worst case scenario: US could freeze Guyana’s oil funds – US political consultant

Jun 28, 2020 News

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By Kemol King

A restriction of access to Guyana’s oil funds is entirely possible in the worst case scenario, if the will of the Guyanese people is not respected. So says Washington-based political consultant, José Cárdenas.

Guyana’s Natural Resource Fund currently sits at a New York Federal Reserve Bank.
In an interview with local media yesterday, Cárdenas noted the restriction as an example of the measures Washington may take, and pointed to Venezuela as an example of the effectiveness of US sanctions.
Sanctions
Cárdenas told reporters that if “there’s somebody that tries to thwart the will of the Guyanese people in that respect, Washington absolutely has measures it can impose on that individual that relates to their ability to, for example, have a bank account in the United States or otherwise do banking in their private lives, that touch the US economic system. That person can also lose their ability to travel to the United States. Their visas can be revoked.”
These sanctions, he explained, would be fit for specific individuals who are clearly conspiring to thwart the will of the people.
“If it is decided to be a larger conspiracy, and I’m just speculating here but it’s important to understand what the options are in the United States for all concerned, is that if there is determined to be a government-wide conspiracy to thwart the will of the Guyanese people, absolutely, the US can place sectoral sanctions which would of course threaten the oil patrimony that Guyana now possesses.”

Guyana’s Natural Resource Fund was noted.
“If those funds sit in a US institution, they certainly can be frozen,” Cárdenas told Kaieteur News.
A Washington-based lawyer, Bart Fisher is quoted in the state newspaper as saying that talks of sanctions is “preposterous”.
Cárdenas made note of Fisher’s comments, and responded “I think that’s completely erroneous.”
Fisher is a principal of JJ&B, a firm that is being paid by the incumbent APNU+AFC to defend its interests in Washington.
“It’s rather stunning,” Cárdenas said of Fisher, “that a Washington attorney would make such a statement. You pretty much have to sleepwalk through the last 10 years when it comes to your next door neighbour in Venezuela to, in any way, question Washington’s authorities to issue sanctions…”
Recently, Reuters reported that tankers carrying nearly two months’ worth of Venezuelan oil output are stuck at sea “as global refiners shun the nation’s crude to avoid falling foul of U.S. sanctions…”
The US federal government continues to tighten sanctions on the Bolivarian Republic, making it more and more difficult for Venezuela to make money. What has resulted is a mass exodus of refugees over the past few years, thousands of whom who have opted to seek greener pastures in Guyana.

‘Good Democracy’
The consultant, who has 30 years of exposure to Washington politics and inter-American relations, noted the controversy over Guyana’s protracted electoral process, stating that “it generates an amount of concern for the health of Guyanese democracy” in Washington DC.
The US has received criticism from the coalition and its allies over its posturing, but Cárdenas refuted the claims of foreign interference.
He pointed to the Inter American Democratic Charter signed in 2001 by countries across the hemisphere, in defense of the US.
“In that document, it says… that other countries have an obligation to defend democracy wherever it is lacking or threatened or non-existent.”
US Ambassador Sarah Ann Lynch had responded to criticisms in April, reminding that Guyana strove to defend democracy in the hemisphere too when it refused to recognise the legitimacy of the presidency of Nicolas Maduro and declared, in concert with partners in the region, that the Venezuelan electoral process of May 2018 was not credible.
“Here in the Western hemisphere, we are a hemisphere of democracies and we’d like to keep it that way,” Cárdenas said.
For an individual to have bad intentions and bring those to fruition with impunity, Cárdenas explained, is dangerous and reckless.
Since the March 2 polls, there have been several attempts to present an election result that does not reflect the will of the voters. In every case, the attempts sought to hand victory to APNU+AFC.
Two notorious attempts came from Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, who made fraudulent declarations on May 5 and May 13.
The National Recount of votes has proven his figures to be false.
A similar occurrence involved Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, who submitted a preliminary report to the Commission suggesting that 269,619 valid votes should be discarded, on trumped up claims of voter impersonation and irregularities.
Lowenfield’s second attempt is now playing out, with another revision of the results of the recount. His report seeks to dump 115,844 valid votes, without justification.
The CEO claims he was guided by an Appeal Court judgment that “more votes cast” in Article 177 (2) of the Constitution means “more valid votes”, but the recount certificates had already certified the 460,352 General Election votes as valid.
The matter has been appealed to the Caribbean Court of Justice which is set to hold hearings on Wednesday.
It has been more 115 days since the elections.
‘President Granger will do the right thing and concede’
Cárdenas said that in observing President David Granger, he sees a man who has dedicated his life to making Guyana better for his people.
The results of the recount show the PPP/C to have won 233,336 valid votes ahead of the coalition’s 217,920 valid votes.
“The Opposition won the election,” Cárdenas noted yesterday.
He noted concerns that were raised over irregularities, but explained that every election has problems.
“If an aggrieved party can torpedo an election whereby the international observers have basically concluded a free and fair election, then you know, there is no election anywhere in the hemisphere that’s going to be able to pass the test of perfection,” the consultant said.
He explained that that’s not a precedent that should be set. To concerns about the process, Cárdenas opines that they should be handled after the election.
Cárdenas hopes that the President will concede, then “begin the process of competing fairly and freely in the next election.”
He pointed out the US Presidential Election in 2001, in which the then Democratic Presidential Candidate, Al Gore lost to George W. Bush who went on to assume the presidency. The race was so close that the two men had a difference of just a few delegates between them.
“To his credit, [Gore] conceded because he did not want to put the country through anymore uncertainty. And so I think that that should stand as a model for President Granger.”
Late last night, the Ministry of the Presidency stated “David Granger has reaffirmed Guyana’s commitment to Western Hemispheric values and to the furtherance of mutual goals and ideals.”
No mention was made of the numerous calls for him to respect the will of the people.

 

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