Guyanese love sellout leaders so much, they can’t love themselves

Oct 28, 2023 Letters

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Dear Editor,

As the gravity of the situation worsens in Guyana for most Guyanese, by inflation, stifling heat, crime, unchecked immigration, exploitation, corruption, etc., Guyanese continue their inaction in standing up for betterment from all this wealth left to them by their ancestors, which can remedy their dire situations.

What is happening in Guyana would not be happening in any other democracy, yet it happens here, where the plundering of Guyana’s oil and other resources continues unabated, with no insurance protection and nothing trickling down to the poor. Yet the MPs who tolerate this under their watch will win elections and continue to remain in power because Guyanese love their political parties and leaders more than themselves and Guyana. In Sri Lanka and Bangladesh which have no oil or valuable resources, the people still protested against government incompetence for making their lives tough, risking imprisonment or being killed by government forces.  In Europe, people are protesting for the environment.  In North America, there are protests for gay rights and now there are protests for the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, yet Guyanese stay silent as their wealth for their future is being separated from them.

As Guyana’s oil wealth continues to leave Guyana, the party in power continues to provide nonsensical excuses for allowing this to happen, which are never heard of in the oil industry. As pressure mounts on the Opposition that controls almost half of the parliament to oppose the mismanagement of the oil sector, they too have their nonsensical excuses for staying silent, their members stating, that if they protest, the PPP will infiltrate their protest to cause trouble and blame the Opposition. Yet these are the same APNU who love to call the names of Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Malcolm X, John Lewis, and others, people who faced death and suffering, yet they sacrificed their lives to represent the oppressed.

This APNU’s showing of timidness and spinless characteristics is a travesty for them, as they continue to sell to voters that they are strong enough to rule Guyana in their election campaigns. APNU and all Guyanese should take a cue from 65-year-old Ray Daggers and a grandfather publisher from Kaieteur News who had his staff killed and even survived an attack on his own life.  Yet Daggers, Lall, and a few others did a countrywide march for better contract renegotiation to benefit all Guyanese. With all of this going on, Guyanese will continue to elect the PPP and APNU to office, then they go into complain mode to say governments are not working for Guyanese, as if this has not been the obvious for over the last 5 decades.

Other than the known three, there were six other political parties that contested the last elections, why don’t they speak up now on Guyana’s wealth for a chance to improve on their last performance or will they just register for the next elections only to make the ballot sheets longer and more confusing for voters? VP Bharrat Jagdeo said he always wanted to be involved in Guyana’s political leadership to help the country progress, yet will not fulfill his campaign promises as Opposition for renegotiating and ring-fencing the oil contract, with a newly invented excuse every time he speaks. This same VP who has a track record of transferring all Guyana’s assets owned by the people of Guyana to private and foreign interests for a pittance of their market value, and was even willing to give up Guyana’s Maritime rights to Venezuela, why are PPP supporters silent in all of this, since this was never a PPP nor Cheddi Jagan’s policy?

But the VP can do these things because he will win elections as his supporters love him more than themselves, their families and Guyana. Hess Corp. whose value increased significantly since coming to Guyana, has now been sold to Chevron for US$53 billion.  If one oil gangster is not enough to loot Guyana, how about two now, Exxon and Chevron, Guyanese should Google Chevron and see what they have done to Third World countries, as many of these countries still have many unsettled cases in court. The new Corporate Actions activities with foreign companies in Guyana are like casino gambling with monopoly money, which is real money from Guyana’s wealth for the foreign companies. This is what the financial gurus of the foreign companies do for their companies in Guyana, getting rich from corporate actions, like acquisitions, dispositions, transpositions of ownership shares, and paying no taxes.  Meanwhile, Guyanese get nothing from their riches because Guyana has people in charge who masquerades as financial gurus going up against real financial gurus of the foreign companies.

When Burnham banned food imports, the most vociferous Burnham supporter in my village who supported this, he and his family got white mouth from malnutrition, we used to laugh and had all kinds of nicknames for this man. Today you can see how some adults groom and coerce children to put malas on political leaders have made me stop joking about the white-mouth man, as some PPP supporters see their political leaders as divine and heavenly.  At least you can see the reluctance in some of these children about to put malas on politicians.  Maybe the moment overwhelms them, or maybe the instincts in their little minds can sense the politician they are about to mala is selling out their future.

Guyanese will you continue to be like these people, or will you take matters into your own hands for your own betterment?  Leaders will not help you, as the PPP defends the exploitation of Guyana with all kinds of nonsense and APNU is mostly concerned with a clean voters’ list. Guyanese, Glenn Lall protested on October 27th for oil block relinquishment, ring-fencing, and more for Guyana from the coming oil projects. Guyanese the 20% of oil blocks have 1 billion barrels of oil @ US$85 today, that’s US$85 billion, with ring-fencing and applying the new PSA terms to future oil projects, with this money Guyana can buy a piece of Dubai.

Guyanese do you love your political parties and leaders more than this amount of money? Guyanese if you did not protest on Oct 27th, then you will have made your choice and your inaction will frustrate those who are fighting for you.  Maybe the foreign exploiters and local enablers are now taking bets to see how long Glenn Lall’s frustration at Guyanese inaction on fighting for their rightful share of their wealth will tell on Glenn Lall before he gives up.

Sincerely,

R. David

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• crime, exploitation, heat, immigration, R. David.

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