Sanctions – should Guyanese press for them?

Jul 14, 2020 Editorial

The calls for sanctions to be handed down are coming from more Guyanese. The calls are for tailored sanctions, with America taking the lead, to be targeted against unconstitutional and undemocratic Guyanese political leaders. Specifically, sanctions appealed for from Guyanese are for obstinate coalition leaders, who stand in the way of progress and the future of the peoples of this country, its peace, and its place in the comity of recognized and favoured nations.
We do not want to, but we find ourselves drawn. Drawn to what, it appears, that the world is clamouring for, and what Guyanese believe will bring President Granger and his fellow partners in political provocations and leadership derelictions to their senses, and to an appreciation for the severe consequences of their ongoing rejections of rule of law. As we look at his, and listen to what makes the rounds, we hear much of what is punitive, even vindictive sometimes. Truth be told, if there is any group that is deserving, it is this Guyanese political coalition, which has first disappointed and disgusted many citizens, and then heaped upon that disenchantment and disillusionment. The thinking is prices must be paid.
We at this paper feel all those things and deeply. But whatever sanctions are in mind, it is our position that they must be more of the corrective, and less of the punitive. The punitive brings out the worst in some men. They stiffen their spines and pretend at being victims unfairly targeted. And when they hurt and feel pain (in any form), they pass that on to the rest of the hapless population. The overwhelming majority of the population is left in worse shape than before, through much hardship and suffering. Rogue leaders in pariah states around the world have developed a knack of shrugging off the blows of sanctions, of living with them (living well, too), and of not caring for the plight of their peoples, who reel under harsh burdens, because of their leadership’s weaknesses and the woes that flow from them.
Even if, by some miracle, this was not the situation experienced by larger Guyana, there still has to be a roadmap that charts the way either adjacent to the application of targeted sanctions, or that paves the way for what lies beyond such implementation. They are sure to come from all around, not just from the US, as make clear by US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. Guyana’s trading partners and advisory reservoir from the B and C and E countries are certain to follow suit. The Asian nations, be they Japan or India or South Korea, will be watched to assess their reactions to any such developments concerning sanctions, if and when they were to come.
If they all were to give some degree of support – in both tangible and less physical forms – to Western originated sanctions, then the walls would have close in tightly around Guyana and Guyanese. This would not just be felt by leaders in the coalition and its extensive cabal of cronies. For when sanctions come, no matter how targeted at the top and the cream of the perpetrators of multiple injustices, it would encircle also those less fortunate citizens for whom there is no wiggle room, who had no financial cushion to speak of, at the beginning. There would be no escaping for them from the squeezes. Already some unavailability has happened under the radar with medicines, and pressures from prices for needed goods.
This is harrowing in the contemplation. It is why we tread gingerly in adding our voice to calls for sanctions, even targeted ones. This is not due to any empathy for coalition leaders, or any of its inner influential circles, who have refused to detach themselves from what is flagrantly wrong, or to come forward and speak out against what is against conscience and is all about bad faith serially practiced and displayed, without shame. We have no good feeling for any of them, what was there before has evaporated.
But we feel for the people. The poor and struggling in this country, who hope and are betrayed. They deserve better.

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