There are no friends, only permanent interests

Sep 14, 2020 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

I don’t have to scratch my head to figure out the startling announcement of this surprise visit of US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, to Guyana. As I ponder, I am wondering what this is all about: Mr. Smith goes to Washington? Or Cotton comes to Harlem?
Editor, I tell you this: these visits of such high echelon American public servants are not conjured on a moment’s notice and involves intricate arrangements and coordination between visiting dignitary and host country. Now, here it is that the new government is barely six weeks in office, and the Secretary of State himself comes to town. This is so time-sensitive, so filled with meanings, that the Assistant Secretary for Hemispheric Affairs is not sent (and he would have been very high by himself), but Secretary Pompeo comes himself, since only he can be trusted to carry the weight required, lean on balking politicians, and push the right buttons. Well, he will be here by weekend, and I think he visits for two purposes only.
The first is that matter involving Venezuela, which has hung around too long, and which needs to be dealt with through sustained strength and finality. I think that Guyana will be pressed to be the channel for operations that will come to light in time. The bottom line is that this country must serve as a land bridge for whatever the Americans have on their drawing boards at the Pentagon, or Langley, Virginia. I think that that is the biggest item on Mr. Pompeo’s agenda. But there are two other considerations, which I believe are integral to this visit by the big chief of Foggy Bottom himself. The simple political existence of Guyana just got immeasurably foggier.
First, it is mid-September and Mr. Pompeo comes, on short almost abrupt notice, a jarring lack of details and, as it would appear, a Guyanese government caught unprepared. On this one, it deserves a pass, for I get the impression that it was the equivalent of: I am heading your way. Saying ‘no’ was not an option. Not after all those powerful hands of electoral partnership. But this is where American rubber meets the Guyanese road; it will be never be the same after this. Trust me, on this one. Why by September? I think it is because Mr. Pompeo’s boss ordered him to get cracking, bearing in mind the November presidential election.
The US Chief Executive has hinted (perhaps, more than that) that he has a vaccine to address the pandemic. I will take that one with some Johnnie Walker; maybe a bottle would be needed. But if he can deliver Venezuela as a fait accompli before that first Tuesday in November, he wins. For that would mean more cheap oil, more reserves, more profits, more taxes (maybe not), and four more years in power over weak opposition. That is my interpretation of things, re this visitation from Washington.
In the same vein, Mr. Pompeo himself is reported to have his eyes set on a run for the presidency in 2024. Bringing Venezuela home would be a feather in his cap. There is no richer bacon than that around. As all of this unfolds, poor parochial Guyana, and the Ali Administration, basking in electoral triumph (compliments of the Americans) is going to wonder what bargain it made, what it did to itself. But it is too late now to wring hands and lament. Just go with the flow, to use American lingo.
I close by reminding my fellow Guyanese (and President Ali) of that famous scene from The Godfather. Don Corleone wanted a favour on the baker’s daughter wedding day. When it was denied, the poor man was reminded that 25 years before, he had come on his knees and was not turned away. The new government is there because it went on its knees in its moment of elections’ need (like the baker), now it must step up and pony up. Welcome to the American Way of doing things. As I had warned repeatedly: there is no free lunch. One more thing: there are no friends, only permanent interests. It is time to get with the programme.

Sincerely,
GHK Lall

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