H@RD TRUTHS BY GHK LALL – Case for a base

Nov 16, 2023 Features / Columnists, News, The GHK Lall Column

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Kaieteur News – I will come right out and say two things if other Guyanese think about them, but are too timid to say so in public.  First, if America seeks to have a military base here, then let the Yanks have it. Second, if the US hasn’t asked as yet, let that overture be made in the clearest terms. When the oil is gone, neighbours will still be there. So also will the covetousness for territory; or the using of Guyana’s land as a bait to lure the masses away from their misery.

It is worth repeating an old position of mine: regardless of who says what today, who adjudicates however they do, the controversy is not going away.  Even if there was some meeting of the minds between Guyana and its neighbour, the original claim would still be exhumed and brandished a hundred years from now. Further, given our porous borders, and helpful official figures from different layers, (plus the oil magnet), native born Guyanese could be a minority sooner than estimated.

Now, all of this brings me to where I am.  Frankly, an American miliary base here cannot make Guyana more American than it is right now. Indeed, this is how saturated this country is. The PPP leadership makes some half-hearted noises about not wanting to get underfoot when elephants fight, and not being pawns in big power feuds. I think this country is too far along for that to hold any water, for any such position having any staying power. If not the Americans, then who? The Chinese?  Which European power has the vested interest, the brawn, and the will to count for something around here?  Or to be about what gives Guyana some breathing space by having our perimeter sealed and safe?

I think all locals have to stop pussyfooting around this base issue. Or being too clever by half. Guyana’s leadership should start seeing this country as the gateway into the whole of Latin America. It is doubtful that CARICOM is fully committed to this country; not with recent anglings and posturing by some of our sister countries in the half century-old regional body.  Further, the OAS has to play a balanced hand and, if anything, could be no more than about jawboning those who step on Guyana’s toes with their greedy ambitions. From my perspective, the process of elimination ends right there, and leaves Guyana with one choice.

I do not envision that the capital city, present or new, would be overrun by men and women in jungle gear. If arrangements are well drawn up, Guyana does not have to be overrun by Brooklynese, Southern drawls, and nasal New England tones. Incidentally, that is already part of a growing picture and more and more an element in environmental ambience right now. But Japan, or South Korea, or Germany, is not quite how I think any American presence should shape up here.

The Philippines have Clark Base and the Subic Naval Facility.  Thus, the US has a commanding presence at the gateway of the Pacific. I am thinking of an American military installation in Guyana that serves as the former’s gateway in this hemisphere. The Treaty of Tordesillas, as masterminded and drawn up by a Roman pontiff divided the world between Portugal and Spain. It is due for a new reordering. I think that it is imperative that the United States reprioritises its visions (something it is almost certain to have already done), with the Americas featuring as a prominent cornerstone. The NATO bond would still be there, and there is always CINPAC for matters farther afield.

Though both the people in Guyana and America are being coy on any such idea percolating, my sense is that the conversation has been ongoing, more than likely intensifying. I would be interested in the quid pro quo for Guyana. To those who pretend not to want to have anything to do with this kind of thinking, I am asking them to do these simple bed checks. Who are the ones swaggering all over Guyana today? Who leads the way in calling the shots about what goes on here? Who is deeply enmeshed in Guyana’s affairs, including those of state? In each instance the Americans are the biggest kids on the block. Here is another gut check: observe how subservient to America’s guiding hand are President Ali and the senior co-president Dr. Jagdeo. Senior and co are not contradictory, but insistence that some are more equal than some.

In my view, there is a new Great Game already in motion in this part of the world. Guyana would do well to ensure that it is on the right side of history. In fact, I would say that this country has a head start, considering how much power and reach America has in Guyana. Most of it has been of the soft and subtle variety of power. A base would project hard power. For those who argue about sovereignty, I ask where is it, when our leaders, and our highest house, stand neutralised relative to the oil contract? Better to make it official. Let an American base be. I prefer that rather than one erected by Venezuela.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)

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• controversy, GHK Lall, Guyanese, H@rd Truths, Yanks

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