Another great escape

May 25, 2023 News

---

Kaieteur News – We have some characters here, who are blessed with more flair and fortitude than Steve McQueen in his cinematic ‘Great Escape.’  For Guyanese, the problem is that this is not Hollywood, but real life, withal countless anxieties and fears swirling.  With yet another spectacular prison caper, the inevitable comparisons must be made to the Mash Jailbreak of 2002, which is one aspect only.  The other was the harrowing aftermath.  Here are others: authorship, sponsorship, relationship, fellowship, and who in high places in this country is amidship.

I focus not on the mechanics or results of this stunning Mazaruni escape.  My preference is to concentrate on the weaponry, the facilities, and the skill with which this human heist was executed.  Daring and planning first come to mind, then singular craftsmanship in closing out the deal, which has receded into the mists and forests to some extent already. We could be jarred into remembrance with the reappearance of Mr. Williams and his band in the worst ways possible.  Shades of post-2002?  I hope not.

What I do now is cut through the thickets, and drive to the heart of the implications of this newest escape, and the strategy and methodology with which it was managed.  We would have a government or parliament like that, and we would be in good hands (save for the guns and whatever else).  Relative to guns, do we appreciate how much, what kind, we live with, and their potential uses for purposes purely criminal, maybe possibly social?  Think about our present differences.

If an escape of this magnitude for a prisoner of this supreme value could have been successfully accomplished without so much as a hiccup, I assert that other more imperiling exploits could be managed efficiently and disastrously (for Guyanese). It is my belief that there are more pockets-bands, gangs, clusters-of similarly equipped and similarly versatile fellows on the sidelines, with plenty of time on their hands, and lots of ideas in their heads. There is no shortage of manpower of those who have ideas about justice and parity; others about who is and who should be at this particular time in Guyana.  They are not big into spreadsheets and economic calculations, for those are abstractions to them, no matter how relevant.  They deal in the here and now, and with a clear head and strong eye relative to imbalances.  As to who they answer to, that’s another story.  Suffice it to say, the reality is that we have been vacuumed clean of any convincing answers when these episodic affairs unfold.  That is, when any official answers have been forthcoming at all.

Now, it is one escape involving one man.  But we have lived with the experiences of how one man, or a small band of brothers, at different times have waged a reign of bloody mayhem and terror that carved wide swathes across this tortured land.  Those were in poor times.  Yes, I head in this direction, for who knows who has ideas, who is unhappy with the way matters are husbanded in this town.  I have said repeatedly to the powers in control to stop wasting resources targeting law abiding citizens (ornery and objectionable, undoubtedly; even provocative mostly), and appreciate what could be percolating in the nether depths, and the import of that for wider Guyanese society.  Then again, one has a struggle to separate the prison criminals from the political ones.  I do, and beyond that I will not proceed. What should be of most interest to Guyanese is that there are those whose thoughts stray, then settle on officialdom as behind this unscheduled prison departure. No, they are not prison officer public servants, but elected ones.  Go back to the other big facility failure of Mash 2002, and the fingers point high, and they point straight at some with great power; those who never seem to be able to come clean and stand in the light.  Some would say tell the truth about anything.  I offer this despite the solemn and severe pronouncements of those in charge.  I read what they say, and I think of Popes and Bishops, and all the secrets they hide, and all the horrors that follow.

What is astonishing in this situation, is this one truth: we have all of this official firepower.  There is hardware.  There is software.  There is a human network (paying attention to the wrong people [I know, I see them all the time]). There are electronic systems, and regarding whose interests prioritized that is better left unsaid.  And these are only what have been officially identified, either to comfort or to intimidate citizens.  Yet, one of the highest profiles, if not the highest, institutional inhabitant has taken an unapproved leave of absence.  I have to say it in the most unambiguous manner: something is not adding up here.  Something smells, and it is not perfumed.  It is just like that business from Republic Day, two decades and a year ago.

My conclusion is that in this murky democracy, there are more clouds than credibility.  Now put arms around this: there are more criminals than citizens.  And I don’t mean those in jail.

---

---