Congressional Chair Meeks will support democracy in Guyana

Dec 08, 2020 Letters

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Dear Editor,

Reference is made to news items on Greg Meeks being selected as Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee of the US Congress; it is a very powerful position. Meeks has a long history with Guyanese. He is a man of integrity who will support consolidation of democracy in Guyana and continue to abhor fraudulent elections as he did from March to July.

I know Meeks well with a history going back to late 1997. We would meet at public events where he was an invited guest and speaker; he is a terrific speaker who capture your attention with a strong, lucid voice. The last constructive meet was in February in Richmond Hill where we talked about selection of the Democratic nominee. I asked him publicly if he would endorse Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination; he was non-committal and in fact seemed to be supporting another candidate. He in turn asked publicly who I would support because he knows I volunteered for every election campaign. I indicated I was volunteering for Joe Biden and that he would win the nomination as well as the Presidency. Both are now facts.

Meeks represents the 5th Congressional District that includes greater Richmond Hill and areas where Indo-Guyanese predominate – over 100K of them. Guyanese would recognize the name as the African American Congressman, who along with a few others, called on the Granger government to accept the outcome of the recount of votes undertaken by the High Level Caricom team; two other Black members of Congress, Yvette Clarke (Jamaican American) and Hakeem Jeffries purportedly opposed the recount and its outcome and USA’s involvement to pressure the Granger administration to accept the outcome of the elections. Jeffries and Clarke represent districts where thousands of Afro Guyanese are settled. Clarke and Meeks along with Albio Sires of New Jersey, the White Chair of Western Affairs sub-Committee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, visited Guyana late January 2020 to assess the situation for free and fair elections meeting the President and Opposition figures. On their return, Meeks and Clarke met Guyanese in February in two separate meetings — Richmond Hill and Flatbush — reporting on their visit; they both said that Granger committed to and they themselves called for free and fair elections. Meeks was consistent in his position on FFE in Guyana throughout the five months ordeal while Clarke’s position disappointingly shifted. I know Clarke when she first ran to replace her mother in the City Council from Brooklyn. I attended her first fundraiser in Richmond Hill for City Council. She returned to Richmond Hill for fundraisers when she ran for Congress; she raised substantial funds. Indo-Guyanese political leaders in Richmond Hill were disappointed that she was not very supportive of the community.
Meeks and I have a long history. He is grateful for Guyanese support – votes as well as funding, staff, and volunteers. I am perhaps the first Guyanese to have worked for him (volunteered for his campaign and he said so publicly on several occasions as he recognized my presence at functions) in late 1997 and January 1998 when he sought the 6th CD seat to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of the powerful Floyd Flake. (Boundaries later shifted and the seat became 5th CD). He once told his daughter in my presence and that of others that he owes his election to Congress to me. Despite working on several campaigns and assisting many politicians to get elected, none was as forthright as Meeks in expressing gratitude for voluntary work done. I would never forget his comment to his daughter. He said to her: “This is the gentleman who is responsible for my getting elected to Congress”. In earlier encounters, he said the same to his charming wife. Actually, Meeks exaggerated my role and contributions in his first run for Congress. Others played far more important role than me. Indeed, I volunteered for his campaign. We met a few times in his office in Jamaica as I would go there almost daily after my teaching duties and on weekends; he had few volunteers and a skeletal staff of 3. Funds were tight. I helped organized fundraisers in Richmond Hill. Ram Jodha, Ed Ahmad, Philip Baldeo, among others also organized fundraisers. The real estate community and some lawyers offered financial support. He told me, “I never saw so much donations for any of my campaigns”. He was very thankful and grateful for the support.
He asked for my CV. He said it was most impressive that I had completed several post-graduate degrees and whether I would be interested in working for him should he win. I was not interested. My skill in conducting opinion polls caught his attention and he said he would be interested in finding out his support in the district and chance of winning the seat. I did conduct an informal survey querying thousands of people and making telephone calls on how they would vote. I reported to him that he would win a landslide. In addition to polling, I went around with a paid staff member putting up posters all over Richmond Hill, Rosedale, Jamaica, Queens Village, etc. and also on fences of Black churches. I spent several afternoons leafleting at subway stations days, in mailboxes, and on the streets. Closer to Election Day, I distributed palm cards. I accompanied him to several public meetings and introduced him to the audience. I took him to several mandirs on Sunday mornings in Richmond Hill and Jamaica and I prepped him that he had to take off his shoes and begin and end his talk with “Namaste” (his pronunciation was off then but perfect now). He would never forget my introduction to him on Indo-Guyanese culture and Hinduism and on traditional strong curry that he partook at fundraisers. (His wife is Guyanese American – I recall him telling me his father-in-law lived in the Bronx (?). And the few times I interacted with his wife, she talked about the father and Guyana).
Meeks replaces Elliott Engel as Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and would continue in the footsteps of his predecessor, a strong advocate of FFE; Engel also called for respect of the outcome of the March 2 election and the recount. I also know the Bronx Congressman Engel quite well. I lived in Bronx for six years when I first came to USA to study. Mike Persaud and I lobbied him to issue a statement to call for free and fair elections in Guyana in 1992. In late 1991 or early 1992, we convinced him to deliver a talk on Guyana in Queens Village at the cinema owned by Ram Jodha and Herman Singh (?) in exchange for a campaign fundraiser. There he made a public statement calling for FFE in Guyana. He later issued a public press release on FFE that was carried by the press. Regrettably, we were not successful at the fundraiser as ACG was not supportive. After Jagan’s victory, Engel issued a congratulatory letter. Meeks would continue in the tradition of Engel. I have every confidence that he would be supportive of efforts to consolidate democratic gains in Guyana.
Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram

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