Why is the President in Washington?

Jul 27, 2022 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Kaieteur News– Former President Forbes Burnham was desperate in 1977 to meet the then United States President Jimmy Carter. He had requested an audience with the US President for either October or November of that year. He was rebuffed. Despite the best efforts of the Guyana Embassy in Washington and the Foreign Ministry in Georgetown, Burnham was unsuccessful in securing an audience with Jimmy Carter.
Burnham had his reasons. He played both sides of the ideological divide. Despite pursuing relations with the communist bloc in the USSR, North Korea and East Germany, Burnham was keen to appease any concerns the west may have had about his tilt to the socialist bloc. As such, he wanted very much to pay a courtesy call on Jimmy Carter before setting off on his jaunt to the communist empire.
It is not as easy to secure an audience with a US President. That is considered a great honour. But Heads of States should never show any excitement at reaching second-tier government officials such as Deputy Secretaries.
The President of a country should never accept being met by second-tier officials of the US government. It erodes the dignity of the office of the Head of State to be going overseas to meet with second tier government officials.
On Monday, it was reported that the President met with the Deputy Secretary of Commerce. This is like meeting with a junior Minister. This President should have declined and should have instead delegated his Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce to attend. But she is not even part of the official delegation.
Based on media reports, it would appear that the highest ranking official which the Guyanese President will meet on this trip will be the United States Secretary of State. There is no mention of the President meeting President Biden or Vice President Harris.
The United States of America is very skillful at diplomacy. Sometime during the meetings between President Irfaan Ali and US officials, the true reason why a delegation from Guyana was invited to Washington will be made known.
The US has not invited the President simply to improve trade relations. The United States accounted for one-third of Guyana’s imports in 2020. This was far more than China’s exports to Guyana. The United States is also a private sector driven economy. The government is not going to buy any goods from Guyana; that will be left to the private companies in the United States.
The United States is also not going to lend Guyana any sums. Guyana is now an oil producing state. It has hundreds of millions of US dollars of its oil revenues parked in the United States. The country is attracting tremendous investment, including from American companies. Loans or development assistance is not likely to be on the cards during this mission.
If Guyana wants loans from the United States, it is not going to get any. The United States is going to direct the Government of Guyana to the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.
If Guyana is looking for investment, the US government will direct it to business organisations. Indeed, the delegation is reported to be meeting with businesses and their associations.
The presence of the United States Ambassador in Washington suggests that there will be formal talks with US government officials. Once there are official talks, the US Ambassador is required to be present.
So what can be the real reason why a high-level Guyanese delegation is in Washington? Security does not appear to be an issue. Venezuela has close ties with Russia and Iran with the latter helping to boost the refining of crude in Venezuela. However, if the Americans were concerned, they would have insisted that the Guyana delegation include the Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force or the National Security Advisor.
So if it is not economics, it can only be geo-politics. Venezuela is not likely to feature in the talks. The United States is seeking to engage Venezuela in talks to buy oil. Nothing yet has been concretised but that option has not been foreclosed.
This leaves China. The Americans are concerned about China’s growing influence in Latin America. It would have no doubt been upset by the Guyana government about-turn in having relations with Taiwan. But Taiwan is not likely to be the reason why Guyana’s President, Vice President, Foreign Minister and Foreign Secretary are in Washington.
The real reason may be Su and the allegations which have arisen in relation to Chinese companies operating in Guyana. The Guyana delegations may have been summoned to Washington to be told quietly but firmly that Su-gate must be investigated. The talks with the business organisations and second tier US government officials may be the smokescreen.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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