An insult to all Guyana

Aug 21, 2021 Editorial

Kaieteur News – It takes a lot to stun us, but we admit that Guyana’s President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, succeeded in doing so. It is becoming clear that President Ali does not think before he speaks and, what he has stated embarrasses himself. When he does stop speaking, there is also no reflection on what was delivered before local and foreign presences, with the same shallowness repeated.
This was what surfaced before assembled foreign dignitaries, and locals, as headlined by us: “Jagdeo-led oil team did not snub Surinamese counterparts -Being at Exxon-sponsored conference a coincidence -Ali” (KN August 20). We disagree that the absence of Guyana’s main oil player, Vice President Jagdeo, can be justified as a coincidence. It is excusable for President Ali to offer this line of reasoning. But the nation’s leader must strive not to come across as a simpleton, and a simpering one at that, since the dignity of Guyana is at stake.
This is what President Ali had to offer: “when you are in government, you have many competing demands…you don’t deal with a single task in a single day.” We have news for Guyana’s President: that is so obvious, it is a statement of sheer, unmatched ignorance. Poor families deal with that, businesses, too; and national governments have still broader responsibilities. Having put his foot in his mouth up, President Ali delivered this stomach-churning statement: “for us it is never about personalities.” When even the blind and deaf look and listen to his government, it is clear that there is one powerful personality, one voice, one presence (Jagdeo only), with the rest reduced to mere water carriers and messengers.
To excuse the VP’s absence to competing demands does not fly. The Vice President is Guyana’s leading oil sage, maybe in his mind even its Rockefeller. Whether Guyanese agree or not, Dr. Jagdeo should have been here and at the table of discussion. His absence is equivalent to the West Indies fielding a second or third string team at the World Cup. Dr. Jagdeo’s absence could not have been a coincidence. This was an oil summit at which he had to be present, especially since Suriname has done so much better than Guyana with its oil wealth. Guyana could learn plenty from Suriname. Guyanese leaders, if they are on the up and up, could be enlightened by their Surinamese counterparts.
When poor countries are being kept under the boot of oppressive foreign powers, inclusive of countries and corporations, then their best allies, their only ones, are nations struggling to get out of the same impoverishing boat. This official visit from Suriname is not a surprise flying visit. It was well-planned, and we believe well-known way in advance. It was, therefore, in Guyana’s best interests for Vice President Jagdeo to be here, and to put heads together to gain needed oil wisdoms from fellow strugglers, and to come up with strong strategies on how to erode, bit by bit, the hold that Exxon has on this country.
Guyana does not need Vice President Jagdeo to be in the belly of the beast, Texas, hobnobbing with ruthless corporate enemies who are determined to keep us weak, so that they feast on our blood and guts. Regarding guts, we don’t have any left, when the delegation that went to Texas is considered. There is history of a certain kind present, which Exxon is sure to know, and sure to capitalise on for its advantage. In other words, to get vulnerable Guyanese with records to jump to its tune, and then cover-up, their dirty deeds. When we think of them, it is obvious that with those Guyanese representing this country before Exxon, then the worst is to be expected, which is more darkness, more skullduggeries. That is why Texas took a higher, the highest, priority, and President Santokhi had to be content to deal with the second rate. It is where the dirty action is, and what the Surinamese leader had to offer would be sure to conflict with the programme of the PPP Government’s programme and Exxon, which is one and the same. That is, rob Guyana like it has never been robbed before.